Ryan Blaney wants to know “what I did to deserve” Kyle Larson spinning him out

Two former NASCAR Cup champions had a surprising run-in with each other during Sunday’s race at WWT Raceway (Gateway).

While battling for fifth position near the end of Stage 2, Kyle Larson made an aggressive lunge to the inside of Ryan Blaney. He slid up the track and made contact with Blaney, fully sending the No. 12 Team Penske Ford around into a spin.

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While Blaney rebounded to finish fourth and now sits a comfortable 42 points above the cutline, he was still confused by the incident. As a result, he approached Larson after the race and TV cameras caught the drivers having a cordial discussion about what transpired before Larson commented to the media.

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

“That’s one I’ve got to remember. I was happy we bounced back, not to get turned around, did a good job of coming out where we need to be. Having a good enough car to get back to fourth. Proud of the effort.”

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Larson admits “I messed up”

Larson finished 12th, and also sits in a solid spot with 60 points between himself and the cutline. He took full responsibility for the incident, which only hurt Blaney by denying him a handful of stage points in the end.

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

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“I was just trying to do that again. I was a little further back into three than I was the lap before. Just misjudged the point of where I wasn’t going to get next to him and tuck in. I just clipped him.”

He continued: “Yeah, all on me. But wasn’t intentional at all. I hope he understands that. Obviously I hurt his day where he could have gained more points.”

Photos from Gateway – Race

Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

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Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

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Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

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Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

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Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

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Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

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Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

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Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

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Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota

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Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford

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Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

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Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford, Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

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Ty Dillon, Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

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Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

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Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota

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General view

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General view

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Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

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Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford

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Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota

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General view

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Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota

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Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

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Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota

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Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford

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Austin Cindric, Team Penske Ford

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Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

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Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

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Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

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Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

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Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

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Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

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Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

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Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

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Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

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Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

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Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

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Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

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Read Also:

Denny Hamlin earns Toyota’s 200th NASCAR Cup win at Gateway

Josh Berry must win Bristol after another disastrous crash in NASCAR playoffs

Austin Dillon “so sorry” for wrecking brother Ty, says he “felt like an idiot”

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