During the first part of the race, Blaney and Bubba Wallace decided not to pit early, hoping to improve their positions on the track. They both ended up in the top 10 after the first stage because they had newer tires.
Blaney, who hasn’t won a race yet this season, was in a good position to do well or even win the race.
But on lap 129 out of 293, Byron was on the bottom lane, stuck in a three-wide situation with Martin Truex Jr. in the middle and Blaney on the outside. Byron seemed to move up, causing Truex to hit Blaney, sending him hard into the wall. Truex and Chris Buescher also hit the wall.
When asked what Byron should have done differently, Blaney was clear. He said Byron shouldn’t have tried to go three-wide where there isn’t enough space. If he wanted to do that, he needed to make sure there was room. Blaney was frustrated because Byron squeezed Truex into him.
Blaney was so upset after the crash that he drove off pit road and headed towards Turn 1 as if he was going to drive into Byron’s car. But he stopped himself and returned to pit road because his team told him his car couldn’t be fixed in time to continue the race.
Blaney said, “I’m not going to hit him. I’ll save that for another time.” He admitted he almost hit Byron accidentally because his car wasn’t handling right.
Byron wasn’t sure what happened in the incident. He said he felt like he was ahead of the others and didn’t expect to be in that spot. He admitted he could have given more room but thought the space was there.
Blaney ended up finishing last in the race, which he called unfortunate. He hoped they could learn from the experience for future races. Byron regretted the crash and didn’t want it to happen, especially so early in the race. He wished he had given more room but said it gets very tight in that area of the track.
