Ryan Blaney Details Pit Lane Confrontation With Kyle Larson After On-Track Drama at WWTR

Ryan Blaney wanted answers. Kyle Larson spun around on Lap 135 at the World Wide Technology Raceway and patiently waited for two minutes while his rival fulfilled media obligations. Afterwards, both of them were seen cordially talking it out on pit road, with the Team Penske driver clarifying afterwards, “I just asked what I did to deserve getting turned.” With the stakes high in the penultimate Round of 16 playoff race, both drivers were aiming for a victory at the Enjoy Illinois 300, but fate had other plans.

The two former Cup Series champs were engaged in a heated battle for fifth-place at the 1.25-mile oval, a duel that spanned multiple laps. After plenty of back and forth, Blaney got the advantage, but Larson’s competitive instincts kicked in, and a Turn 3 incident brought about a caution when the No. 12 Ford spun uncontrollably on the track.

Ryan Blaney wanted closure after being spun by Kyle Larson

“I misjudged it,” Kyle Larson said, sharing his thoughts on the incident involving Ryan Blaney at the Enjoy Illinois 300. The Hendrick Motorsports driver drove off into Turn 3 and made contact with the left rear panel of the No. 12 Ford, initiating a spin. The California-native was on hot Blaney’s heels for a few laps at that point, and believing he had the faster car, the 33-year-old jumped at the opportunity to get ahead, but mistimed his speed going into the corner. He said afterwards, “The next time, I was trying to do the same thing and wasn’t going to get there and was going to tuck back in line and just clipped him. He should be upset.”

While Ryan Blaney was disappointed enough to confront Larson after the race, the Team Penske driver ended up finishing 4th, and the result made him view the situation more leniently in retrospect. Sharing his thoughts in the post-race interview, the Ohio-native said, “If we (hadn’t) recovered as well as we did, it probably would have been a different conversation. I just tried to get an understanding (why) he came from all the way at the bottom of the race track all the way up and hit me in the left rear, so I was just trying to get a clear understanding of that. Even though it wasn’t done with malicious intent, I’ll still remember it.”

While Blaney is willing to let bygones be bygones, the racer hopes to learn a lesson after being spun. With the Round of 16 playoffs almost at an end, the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been this season, and the Team Penske driver isn’t willing to take any more chances. He said, “It’s not anything grudgey or something like that; 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. There is no ill-will or anything; it’s just racing people how I get raced.”

Considering the circumstances, Blaney did well to secure his 11th top-five finish of the season, tying with Kyle Larson for third-most this year. It’s refreshing to see two Cup Series heavyweights settling such an issue amicably after the race, which may have something to do with the Hendrick Motorsports driver taking full responsibility for the incident. Larson said afterwards, “It wasn’t anything malicious, and I probably hurt his second stage and potentially his finish, but it wasn’t on purpose.”

As things stand, both drivers are in a solid position going into the Round of 16 elimination race at Bristol Motor Speedway, with Kyle Larson having the biggest cushion (60 points) of drivers that haven’t advanced through wins, while Ryan Blaney is fifth, 42 points above the playoff cutline.

Kyle Larson exchanges words with another driver on pit road

Looks like Kyle Larson had a lot to talk about on pit road after the checkered flag was waved at the World Wide Technology Raceway. The Hendrick Motorsports driver was seen talking to Bubba Wallace, who was explaining a restart incident, where his car got stuck in first gear and almost caused a big wreck involving the No. 5 Chevy. To prevent a misunderstanding of the situation, the Alabama-native thought it would be best to clear the air as soon as possible.

According to Kelly Crandall of RACER.com, Bubba Wallace said, “I did it the restart before, and it was fine. I need to go back and study how to do it better, but I hate it. I don’t know if it gave the five (Kyle Larson) damage, but they were solid cars.” The No. 23 Toyota driver ended the race in eighth place and is just behind ‘Yung Money’ in the playoff standings. With his team running in the ‘open’ category, results are more important than ever for the Brickyard 400 winner this year.

As for Kyle Larson, he opened up about the incident with Wallace as well, saying, “It was a great race for us. We had a great, great car. Just a restart when the 23 (Wallace) wasn’t able to get going, I think it messed our strategy up and whatnot after that. That was unfortunate.” While a finish outside the top-10 for the second consecutive playoff race is less than ideal, the Hendrick Motorsports racer will look to pick himself up, dust himself off, and aim to get back to winning ways at Bristol Motor Speedway.