NASCAR followers noticed a little bit of chaos through the closing lap at Daytona this weekend, the place two wrecks introduced out a yellow flag that ended the race earlier than the vehicles crossed the end line.
A primary scrum caught a big numbers of vehicles, scattering those who obtained by the wreckage for one closing chase to the end. In that second dash, the No. 47 of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. obtained into the No. 12 of Ryan Blaney, sliding Blaney into the wall in a second wreck that left the No. 12 to complete in thirty third. Stenhouse crossed the road fifth.
On the radio, Blaney was instantly livid with Stenhouse, and didn’t maintain again whereas speaking to his crew chief.
“F*** No. 47. What the f***? What the f*** are we doing?” Blaney stated. “Proper down the backstretch and he f***ing hooks me.”
Watch: Blaney blasts Stenhouse for sparking last-lap wreck
However in line with Denny Hamlin, there was a bit extra nuance to the collision that was obvious at first.
Talking on his podcast Actions Detrimental, Hamlin stated that whereas the hit did look dangerous, after viewing the incident from a number of angles, he might see how the wreck got here to be in a manner that wasn’t simply Stenhouse driving offended for the sake of it.
“It’s a must to do extra investigative work to make it not look actually bizarre, however as you type of have a look at all of the angles from all the opposite folks as properly, it looks like the No. 47 and the No. 3 make contact barely earlier than the No. 47 obtained into the again of the No. 12. However I additionally assume the No. 47 was most likely attempting to facet draft as properly,” Hamlin stated.
Hamlin stated that given how briskly strikes are made on the observe, particularly on the final lap of a race at Daytona, Stenhouse’s consideration was possible straight forward.
“I am telling you in these situations, these are split-second selections. I assure you Ricky is just trying ahead, trying along side the No. 12 and saying, ‘I will facet draft him,’ and would not know that there is a No. 3 automotive barely hanging on his quarter panel, so if he goes low, he’ll make contact.”
Whereas Hamlin conceded that it was Stenhouse’s transfer that prompted the incident, he was way more understanding of the transfer than Blaney was over the radio.
“I feel it was initiated by the transfer of the No. 47 transferring down the race observe into the No. 3 that’s developing. He had simply averted a wreck, he is obtained to return again on the race observe. He is there, after which the No. 12 simply operating his straight line, being an harmless bystander of all of it.”
If there’s a silver lining to any of this, it is that the drop in Blaney’s end did not have an effect on his place heading into the postseason. Hamlin had already secured the highest spot within the Chase, and Blaney was in a position to maintain on to second place, so whereas the end was lower than the No. 12 deserved, it a minimum of did not hinder the crew’s shot at a title run within the coming months.
Watch: Race Rewind: Preece wins his manner into The Chase at Daytona
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