Blaney, who’s the champ right now, was doing pretty well in the race. He finished sixth and then third in the first two parts of the race, so he looked like he might win.
But things got messy in the last part of the race. Blaney and Preece bumped into each other while trying to get ahead on the track. Then, on lap 181 out of 276, Preece hit Blaney really hard near Turn 2, which made Blaney crash into the wall.
That crash ruined Blaney’s chances of winning, and he ended up finishing way back in 33rd place. Preece, though, managed to keep going and finished in 12th place, which was one of his better finishes this season.
Blaney talked about what happened in a video call with reporters on Tuesday. He admitted that he pushed Preece too hard in Turns 3 and 4, which made Preece mad. Then, when Preece got back at him on the next lap, Blaney felt like he deserved it.
He said, “I was guilty as charged.” But he didn’t think what Preece did was too much or that NASCAR should punish him because he was the one who started it.
Blaney explained, “He had every right to get back at me.” He admitted he pushed Preece off the track earlier, so he understood why Preece wanted to bump him back. But Blaney also thought Preece hit him a bit too hard, which caused him to crash.
He wanted to make sure people knew that he started it by pushing Preece first, so it wasn’t just Preece being mean to him. He said, “It was deserving for him laying the bumper to me after what I did.”
