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Prior to the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney made a hilarious comment on last week's altercation between Ross Chastain and Noah Gragson. One week after the clash between the two at Kansas Speedway, the NASCAR community is still hanging on to the incident.
Speaking to the media on Saturday, Ryan Blaney was questioned by Fox Sports journalist Bob Pockrass in such a situation should the security get involved. He wittily replied that each driver must get a fair shot at each other before security gets involved.
The #12 driver said:
"I think you should at least go one-for-one, Ross got one, Noah should be able to get one. Either don’t let it happen at all or let them get even, one for one. So, that’s, you can jump in after that. Maybe Noah would get the revenge shot. Which he did instigate it. Could go either way. Either don’t let them start it at all or at least let them get even."
In Kansas, it was rookie Noah Gragson who instigated the fight with Ross Chastain. However, the latter landed the first punch before security intervened. Gragson didn't get his chance to retaliate as his efforts were stopped mid-air.
While Blaney seldom gets into a fight with his fellow drivers, he did give his take on the fight. The 29-year-old was then asked how he would react in a situation, to which he replied:
"You’d have to make me really mad to want to do that. I don’t get to that level very easy, it’d have to be something pretty egregious to want to do that. I haven’t been in that situation, that mind space to just wanting to go clobber somebody. But you never know when that day can come. But, no, I haven’t been there yet."
The overall consensus of the rest of the drivers correlates with Blaney's comments as they want each one to get a fair shot at each other.
Super Consistent Ryan Blaney desperate for a win
Ryan Blaney has not won a Cup Series race in two years, with his last victory coming at the Coke Zero Sugar 400 in late 2021. His latest non-points-paying win came at the All-Star Race last season. While he has delivered consistent results at the front, his eighth cup race win eludes him.
At the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Blaney was one lap away from taking the checkered flag and ending his winless streak. Despite not winning, his results have propelled him to seventh in the standings, 54 points behind leader Ross Chastain.
Heading into the Goodyear 400, Ryan Blaney qualified 11th in the #12 Team Penske Ford sporting the World of Outlaws paint scheme dedicated to his father. he will be targeting the big result, as anything can happen at Darlington Raceway.
