“He should be upset. I just misjudged it.” Kyle Larson was visibly repentant after causing a mishap at the Enjoy Illinois 300 race. On lap 135, he battled Ryan Blaney for a fifth-place finish. Larson hounded the No. 12 Ford for several laps before getting impatient and mistiming his speed in the center of the corner. That is why Larson regretted his actions post-race. At the same time, however, Blaney toned down his reaction – contrary to his reaction to an incident that happened off-track.

With the NASCAR playoffs going on, drivers are under the peak of pressure. Every weekend, the Cup Series stars are riding on a thin line between disaster and glory. Hence, Ryan Blaney’s lack of a display of rage against his rival befuddled a NASCAR veteran. However, that just conforms to Blaney’s usual attitude, although it may occasionally stray off track.

Ryan Blaney confesses his ‘rude’ moment

Kyle Petty, an eight-time Cup Series race winner, was surprised after the Gateway incident. The veteran raced in an era when drivers settled scores with their bumpers first and their words second. So when Ryan Blaney simply said over the radio, “I don’t know what he was thinking there,” about Larson, Petty called him out. The veteran urged Blaney to be a little more aggressive: “You can be nice in the motorhome lot. You can be nice in the media center. But when you’re out there fighting for a championship, nice doesn’t get you to Victory Lane.” Indeed, the 2023 Cup Series champion is known for his trademark politeness and soft behavior. Blaney does lose his temper on the racetrack at times, but that is occasional. However, now we have solid evidence of his rowdy nature off the track.

In a recent podcast episode of ‘Casuals,’ host Katie Nolan broached Kyle Petty’s concerns, asking, “Is Ryan Blaney too nice?” Ryan Blaney said with a smart chuckle, “It’s better than saying, is he too much of an a——.” However, the Team Penske star went on to admit that the opposite side of the coin is also there. Blaney can bring out that side only occasionally, when somebody else has done something. He continued, “I can be, but it’s in certain regards. I don’t try to be…Someone was an a—— to me at the airport this morning.”

Well, airport queues can be tedious and frustrating, and Ryan Blaney had more reason to be upset. He continued his story: “They were boarding, and this guy’s standing. You know how people crowd the entry. Yeah, he wasn’t in line, but he was kind of in line. So I just kind of went around him. And it’s my turn to board, and I’m going. But apparently, he was in line, and the guy was like, Look at that guy. Just so privileged.”

Unfortunately, that individual must have felt embarrassed as the NASCAR star heard it all. Blaney said, “I had headphones on, but they weren’t on, so I actually heard him…And I turned around at him and said, Buddy, if you’re in line, stand like you’re in line. And I let him go in front of me. That’s probably as rude as I would get with somebody.”

This ‘rude’ side of Ryan Blaney did not emerge in reaction to Kyle Larson, however. Nevertheless, he clenched his teeth as another veteran also called out the incident.

Lingering thoughts about the tangle

Well, Kyle Larson usually does not spin out his rivals. That is why his tangle with Ryan Blaney at Gateway made many people scratch their heads, especially because both are solid championship contenders. Dale Jr. also scratched his head, saying, “Larson racing aggressive. What was that all about? He spins Blaney out. I’ve watched this replay, and I can’t figure it out. Came from five car links back.” Despite dropping to 17th, Blaney optimized on strategy and rebounded to 4th place by the end. Larson, on the other hand, was on the wrong side of a caution with 32 laps left. He washed up in 12th place despite leading for 52 laps.

Dale Jr. continued his comments about the incident, “It’s kind of the best drivers in the world, having to be perfectly precise and be overly aggressive, and trying to learn how to make this car pass at a track where it was difficult to pass.” Kyle Larson is 60 points above the playoff cut, and Ryan Blaney is above by 42 points. Despite this advantage and his ‘nice guy’ image, sinister undertones were audible in Blaney’s words. He said, “Even though it wasn’t done with malicious intent, I’ll still remember it. I still got the [expletive] end of it and got turned around and had to come from the back…It’s just those racing situations that you think about the next time you run with that person. You probably run them a little tighter and don’t give them as much space.”

Evidently, Kyle Petty may have misjudged Ryan Blaney a bit about his character. Let’s see if Blaney resorts to payback in the upcoming races.