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Newsweek
10-05-2025
- Automotive
- Newsweek
Ryan Blaney Faces Scrutiny Of NASCAR Insiders After Texas: "Something Is Going On"
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Ryan Blaney, who clinched the NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2023 and finished second in 2024, has come under the scrutiny of industry insiders, including Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. In 2025 so far, the Team Penske driver has suffered four race retirements. During the Dale Jr Download podcast, Earnhardt Jr. reacted to Blaney's troublesome race at Texas Motor Speedway which saw him make a "dumb decision," as the driver branded it, on one of the restarts. Earnhardt Jr. explained: "Ryan Blaney choosing the second row on the inside instead of starting next to [Kyle] Larson late in the race. And he got out and said, 'Yeah, I messed up.' "The only type of driver that I see make that move and I go, 'Oh, okay,' is a guy like [Ross] Chastain. I know that he's probably thinking, 'I'm [expletive] going three-wide here. But Blaney is not that guy. Blaney is not going to put his fellow competitors in a three-wide situation. Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Advance Auto Parts Ford, greets fans as he walks onstage during driver intros prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Jack Link's 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 27, 2025... Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Advance Auto Parts Ford, greets fans as he walks onstage during driver intros prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Jack Link's 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 27, 2025 in Talladega, Alabama. More"I feel like in those situations, I know you don't love restarting on the outside, but I think you have to. You just have to do it. If we get a chance to see Blaney, we've got to ask him what's going on. Something's going on with Blaney." Blaney claimed he made "dumb decisions" in Texas. He explained, as previously reported by Newsweek Sports: "The one time I didn't pick the outside, the 71 [McDowell] gets the lead, and then I couldn't get it back. "Just driver making dumb decisions and not doing his job. I appreciate the 12 car was a fast car. Just can't do nothing right currently, so hopefully it will work itself out." Commenting on the restart, Blaney added: "The top wasn't very good at all. It was pretty dirty. And the one time I have a shot to do it, and don't do it, the guy [McDowell] gets the lead. "So I just didn't do a good job. Then it was hard to get it after that. Just didn't get a good push, and just could never hang with them over in [Turns] 3 and 4." Blaney concluded, discussing his climb from 24th to 3rd: "Honestly, we really didn't do it with strategy. "We just kind of passed cars. So no, it was good and I thought our car was really good. I couldn't get control of the race. "So, overall, a proud day, fast car, and hopefully go forward. We've had speed all year, so it was nice that in the last couple of weeks, we've [Penske] gotten a car in Victory Lane. So that's good, hopefully we can join them."
Newsweek
28-04-2025
- Automotive
- Newsweek
Ryan Blaney Has Painfully Honest Four Word Talladega Reaction
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. NASCAR Cup Series Champion Ryan Blaney delivered a brutally honest assessment of his day in Talladega on Sunday as he responded to Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s X post. Earnhardt, not able to watch the race, asked his followers to fill him in: "I'm on a plane and I cannot see the race. Care to reply with a description of the event so far?" he asked. Blaney, who had his fourth DNF of the season yesterday, responded with only four words: "I didn't have fun." A multi-car wreck saw Brad Keselowski's No. 6 RFK Racing Ford clash with Kyle Busch's No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Both cars pushed up the track, eventually collecting Alex Bowman's No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Ryan Blaney's No. 12 Team Penske Ford in the process. Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Advance Auto Parts Ford, greets fans as he walks onstage during driver intros prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Jack Link's 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 27, 2025... Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Advance Auto Parts Ford, greets fans as he walks onstage during driver intros prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Jack Link's 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 27, 2025 in Talladega, Alabama. More"It was just a stack of guys trying to come to pit road as fast as they could, and we were kind of the ham in the sandwich that got squeezed," Keselowski admitted after the race via "I waved down the backstretch to let everybody know I was gonna pit, and I came off of four, and everybody was so tight behind me that I didn't even have a chance to turn left. I hate that it ruined not just our day, but several other people's day. I don't think I could do anything different." Blaney commented on what led up to the incident. "It looked like a group of guys trying to get to pit road and maybe some guys not knowing that they were coming to pit road and not giving them any room," Blaney said. "I saw the 8 and 6 kind of get hooked together, and they were going up the track, so I kind of picked the bottom and tried to get out of there, and I think they clipped someone outside of them, and the 6 came back into me, and I got clipped in the right-rear. "Oh gosh, man, another DNF. It just sucks. Just when we were kind of getting our momentum and didn't even get to race today. We'll just move on to Texas." The post from the driver quickly became popular with it amassing 7,700 likes, almost 400 reposts, and a reach of 226,000.
