“I like it”: Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts to Ryan Blaney’s “mad” temper after Kyle Larson wrecked him at WWT Raceway

Former NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr. discussed the incident involving Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney and Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson on his podcast, the Dale Jr. Download, on YouTube. During the podcast, Dale Jr. also praised Blaney for using his temper as motivation.

The incident happened during the Enjoy Illinois 300 held at World Wide Technology Raceway on Sunday, September 7. At the end of Stage 2, Blaney and Larson made contact. The HMS driver went hard on Turn 3, resulting in the #12 Ford Mustang Dark Horse driver getting spun and sent to the back. However, Blaney recovered well from the incident and finished the race among the top five drivers on the grid.

Reflecting on the same, Dale Earnhardt Jr. praised Ryan Blaney for not losing his control and using his temper to secure a satisfactory result. He explained [27:29]:

"Yeah, I like it. Um, you know, I used to worry about it; we used to talk about it quite a bit on this show. Yeah. about Bllayy's temper and how maybe that had been problematic for him, but now I believe that, you know, in a short period of time, it's kind of he's transitioned to being able to use that as determination, as a tool, as a motivator."

Ryan Blaney parked his #12 Ford in fourth place in the 300-mile race, earning 39 points. Meanwhile, Toyotas dominated the track, and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin won the 240-lap race with a margin of 1.620 seconds over his teammate Chase Briscoe.

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Ryan Blaney made an exception while celebrating a win in the "cursed" paint scheme

The 2023 Cup Series champion, Ryan Blaney, won the Coke Zero Sugar 400, making it his second win of the 2025 season. The race was held at Daytona International Speedway on August 23. However, this time, Blaney celebrated his triumph by performing burnouts on the track.

The Team Penske driver does not generally perform burnouts after securing a victory, but he made an exception for his Daytona win. Blaney drove the #22 black Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang, known as the car with a 'cursed' paint scheme, in the 250-mile race.

Additionally, the car has a long history of wrecking and resulting in DNFs. But after securing his first win in the 'cursed' car, Ryan Blaney shared his excitement:

"Also, I mainly did it for Advance Auto Parts because that paint scheme at speedways has been cursed. I've gotten right hooked with that scheme more times than I can count. The CEO, Shane (O'Kelly), told me, 'I think we've paid our dues with that paint scheme at speedways.'"

"He's like, 'I've got a really good feeling tonight.' And it was super cool to pay that off and have their whole team here. It was a big night. It was a lot of things culminating, and I thought it deserved one," he added.

Ryan Blaney currently ranks fifth in the Cup Series points table with 2085 points to his credit. He has secured two wins, 15 top-10s, 11 top-fives, and two pole positions in 28 starts this season. Additionally, Blaney has a 42-point buffer above the playoff cutline.