Ryan Blaney nearly cried.
During his post-Coca-Cola 600 victory interview, the NASCAR Cup Series driver spoke with emotion Monday about capturing the rain-delayed event at Charlotte Motor Speedway and ending his 59-race winless skid.
For Blaney, it notched his long-awaited eighth career win.
For Team Penske, it marked a Memorial Day sweep. The motorsports organization also fielded Josef Newgarden’s Indy 500-winning machine.
“I might shed a tear,” Blaney told Fox Sports. “Cool weekend.”
Ryan Blaney celebrates with the fans. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/mdg45Ftdra
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 30, 2023
Ryan Blaney: ‘So Cool’
Blaney could get into a heated debate with anyone who spent the past few days in Concord, North Carolina. From Saturday afternoon until parts of Monday afternoon, near-consistent precipitation fell, causing cancelations and multi-day delays.
For the first time in race history, dating back to 1960, Cup Series drivers could not qualify for the longest race on the circuit’s calendar. Originally scheduled for Sunday, the Coca-Cola 600 was postponed a day and endured another in-race delay.
The Xfinity Series’ Alsco Uniform 300 was called off Saturday and shut down after 48 laps Monday because of rain and the need to dry the track for the start the Cup race.
Still, Blaney thought the weekend was “cool.” After all, when he was younger, he used to watch his father race at the 1.5-mile tri-oval track.
“So cool to be a part of (the Memorial Day race), let alone win it,” said Blaney, who earned his first checkered flag since August 2021 at Daytona.
Blaney clinched the win by beating eventual runner-up William Byron on a re-start with 19 laps remaining. With five rotations to go, he stretched his advantage to 1.3 seconds.
To most NASCAR insiders, it was only a matter of time before Blaney snapped his winless streak.
“The car was so good,” Blaney said “I knew we had the car to do it.”
And now, it appears his confidence has been restored.
“You start to feel you can’t win anymore when you don’t win in a while,” Blaney said, getting emotional. “It was kinda getting hard.”
Blaney looked up at the fans who withstood a trying weekend.
“Thank you, guys, for sticking around,” he said. “Really appreciate it.”
Bubba Wallace and Aric Almirola on the pit road shove. pic.twitter.com/QxUIq6huQp
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 30, 2023
Bubba Wallace Flips Off Aric Almirola, Sparks Feud
Following the race, Bubba Wallace drove up and gave his friend a congratulatory victory tap. It wasn’t the only “tap” Wallace received Monday. During the rain delay, Aric Almirola was seen confronting and then shoving Wallace in the infield.
Almirola attempted to explain his actions.
“Early in the race I felt like I was giving Bubba a lot of room when we were racing around each other,” he said. “When he got by me he shot me the bird. So I just went to go ask him why he shot me the bird and he started mouthing off, cussing at me …”
Almira shrugged.
“I told him I wasn’t going to have that, so …”
He attempted to pick a fight.
“It’s disappointing,” Almirola said. “That’s him. I know that.”
In a race that featured 31 lead changes and 16 caution periods, on-track drama dominated.
On Lap 186, in a fight for sixth place, Denny Hamlin’s machine made contact with Chase Elliott’s along Turn 4. The duel continued to the front stretch when Elliott’s machine made contact with Hamlin’s.
Hamlin, who spun out of control and crashed, called foul.
“I got right-rear hooked in the middle of the straightaway,” he told Fox Sports.
The defending race champion was asked if he thought Elliott’s move was retaliation.
“Yea, it was a tantrum and he shouldn’t be racing next week,” he said. “Right-rear hooks are absolutely unacceptable. He shouldn’t be racing.”
Elliott attempted to explain his actions.
“The 11 (Hamlin) ran us up into the fence there,“ he said.
Elliott was asked if he retaliated.
He described it in another way.
“Unfortunate circumstance,” Elliott said. “Once you hit the wall in these things, you can’t drive ‘em anymore.”
Fast Thoughts: There were some slight differences between the Elliott-Hamlin wreck and the Wallace-Larson wreck but if NASCAR feels Chase Elliott wrecked Hamlin on purpose and therefore suspends Chase Elliott, it would be justifiable. pic.twitter.com/JIeineHLih
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) May 30, 2023
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