Amidst the controversial circumstances towards the end of the All-Star race stemming from some questionable officiating, Denny Hamlin argued that race-winner Ryan Blaney should’ve been black-flagged. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was incredibly angry at NASCAR for the way they handled the affairs.

However, on the other side of the spectrum, the Team Penske driver handled things with grace and explained why Hamlin’s reaction is understandable.

“I would be upset too if I was in his position. I mean, you’re on a second, the guy makes a mistake and puts the win on that down and you expect it to be handed to you and the leader to be black flagged,” he said. “I can understand his frustration for sure, but obviously I’m not going to say I’m frustrated about it.”

“It worked out for us.”

“We had the best car, we were leading by three seconds before the last caution. But I can understand where he’s coming from, but that’s just the product of running second compared to winning,” Blaney continued.

“He would be over the moon, elated, if he was in my position, if he won the race. I’d be ticked off just like he would if I was second.”

Ryan Blaney thanks NASCAR for fixing the situation towards the end of the race

In a post-race interview, the Team Penske driver described that in his mind, at that moment, he thought the race was over before it went to overtime.

“It was looking real bad for us. I thought the race was over and I let the window net down. I do want to thank NASCAR for letting kind of fix it and not make us come down pit road,” Blaney said.

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He described how after the overtime got underway, he had to get the net back up and “do it all over again.” But nevertheless, Ryan Blaney was happy with the result, even if doesn’t add anything to the points tally.

“I know it’s not a points-winning race but it’s going to be a lot of fun and the party’s going to be pretty big,” he added.

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