MADISON, Ill. — During Sunday’s NASCAR Cup playoff event at World Wide Technology Raceway, Kyle Larson took responsibility after making contact with Ryan Blaney that caused Blaney to spin with roughly 100 laps remaining. The incident occurred as both drivers battled fiercely for fifth place in the race.
Blaney, who managed to recover and finish fourth, approached Larson post-race to understand the cause of the contact.
Larson told Blaney,
“I just said I messed up,”
and added,
“I just misjudged it. Obviously, I’m not trying to ever wreck anybody on purpose, especially at the midway point of the race. I just misjudged kind of where my right front was and the timing of all that.”
Details on the On-Track Battle Leading to the Collision
Both drivers had been aggressively competing for position late in the race’s second stage before the collision brought out a caution on Lap 136 of the 240-lap race. Larson described the moments leading up to the contact.
He explained,
“The lap before (the contact) I was able to get to his door and get him tight,”
but on the next lap, while attempting a similar move, he said,
“Next time I was trying to do the same and wasn’t going to get there, so I was going to try and tuck back in line and just clipped him. I’m sure he should be upset. I just misjudged it.”
Blaney responded after their conversation,
“I just wanted to get an explanation if he did it on purpose or not. He said he didn’t. I mostly believe he didn’t mean to do it, but at the end of the day I still got spun around.”
Blaney’s Reaction and Surprising Spin
Blaney expressed surprise at how the spin happened, noting Larson’s superior track position during the incident.
He said,
“He’s got 50 feet underneath him of race track,”
and recalled,
“I was as high as I can go. It surprised me pretty hard when (spotter) Timmy (Fedewa), all of a sudden was ‘left rear, left rear’ and I got turned around. Surprising.”
Recovery Efforts and Points Standings
Despite the setback, Blaney demonstrated resilience by rallying to secure a top-five finish. He currently stands 42 points above the playoff cutline heading into the upcoming cutoff race at Bristol. Meanwhile, Larson holds a 60-point cushion above the elimination threshold.
Reflecting on his race, Blaney said,
“Proud of our comeback after getting spun around and then coming back and running fourth, Really good resilience.”
He also noted overall performance:
“Overall a decent day. I would have liked to have had a little more pace. I didn’t think I ever had winning speed. Fourth to fifth was probably the best I was going to run.”
