Dust-Up With Larson Doesn’t Slow Blaney At Gateway

Ryan Blaney rallied for a top five at World Wide Technology Raceway. (Rusty Jarrett/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

MADISON, III. – While the playoff pressure is on for everyone in the NASCAR Cup Series postseason, most of the title contenders have already dealt with challenges.

At World Wide Technology Raceway, Ryan Blaney overcame a potentially game-changing setback to stay on course following the Enjoy Illinois 300.

Blaney finished fourth on Sunday to secure his seventh top 10 in his last eight races. Despite a stage two run-in with Kyle Larson that sent him for a spin, he bounced back to finish strong and put himself in a comfortable position to advance to the Round of 12.

The contact in question came on lap 135 – with six to go in the second segment – as the pair dueled for fifth position. Larson sailed his Chevrolet into turn three, washed up, and tapped Blaney’s left rear to send the No. 12 Ford around.

Though Blaney rebounded, he still wanted to have a post-race conversation with Larson for understanding.

“I just wanted to know what I did to deserve it. He [Larson] just said he made a mistake. That's fine. Mistakes happen,” said Blaney. “But at the end of the day, I still got turned. [He] came from all the way at the bottom of the racetrack [and] hit me in the left rear. I know he most likely didn’t mean to do it, but it happened anyway.”

Blaney said the contact wouldn’t be something he would hold a major grudge on, but that he would keep the receipt for the remaining eight weeks of the postseason.

“That's one I’ve got to remember. I was happy we bounced back, didn’t get too turned around, and did a good job of coming out where we need to be,” added Blaney. “Having a good enough car to get back to fourth makes me proud of our effort. I appreciate Menards, Pennzoil, and Ford for a good day and a good recovery. We’ll go onto Bristol next week and try to put ourselves into round two.”

The 31-year-old began the race starting fifth. He was a mainstay around the top 10 throughout the race until the incident with Larson, gaining six stage points during stage one and still blending back inside the top 10 even after the contact with Larson.

Blaney averaged an eighth-place running position, led five laps during the final green-flag pit cycle, and leaves St. Louis 42 points above the cut line, fifth in the overall standings. His 114.0 driver rating was second only to race winner Denny Hamlin’s 142.2.

Kyle Larson (Nigel Kinrade/NKP photo)

Larson took responsibility for the incident afterward, lamenting the contact as unintentional and a misjudgment on his part.

“I wasn't meaning to go in there and hit him,” said Larson. “The lap before I had got in there and got inside of him, slid up, got to his door, and got him tight to where I could race him down the frontstretch.

“I was just trying to do that again. I was a little further back into [turn] three than I was the lap before,” he added. “Just misjudged the point of where I wasn’t going to get next to him and tuck in. I just clipped him. Obviously hurt his day where he could have gained more points.”

Larson finished 12th, unable to claw back quite as well as Blaney did, but is the highest seeded driver without a win to advance to the Round of 12.

Blaney, meanwhile, secured his third top six in four races at ‘Gateway’ and continued his streak of leading each year at the mile-and-a-quarter track.

The Hartford, Ohio, native has two straight finishes of sixth or better at Bristol, site of the Round of 16 cut-off race. Most recently, Blaney was fifth in April in a race dominated – ironically – by Larson.

“I think [we will be fine to advance] if we go have a decent race. I think Bristol has been a place where we've gotten better the last two or three races there,” Blaney said. “I feel like we've gotten a little bit better there. Keep trying to improve there at that racetrack little by little, and just go [in hoping to] have a solid night.”

Coverage of the Bass Pro Shops Night Race from Bristol is slated for Saturday, Sept. 13 on USA, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.