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Ryan Blaney reacts after late contact with Denny Hamlin at Martinsville, where he said \u201che put me in the fence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ryan Blaney addressed late-race contact with Denny Hamlin<\/a> during the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400<\/a> at Martinsville Speedway<\/a>. The incident came in the final stage as both drivers raced for position on the short track. Hamlin, who led 292 laps, made contact that sent Blaney into the outside wall.<\/p>\n The impact caused damage and affected Blaney\u2019s position late in the race. The moment drew attention because it happened during a key point in the closing laps of the NASCAR Cup Series event.<\/p>\n Blaney later spoke about the incident and explained how it unfolded. He also shared details of a post-race discussion with Hamlin that helped clarify what happened during the contact and why it occurred.<\/p>\n NASCAR Cup Series: Blaney Explains How the Contact Happened<\/p>\n Blaney said<\/a> the moment came during a restart where track position was hard to maintain. \u201cWe were racing hard on the restart, and it was tough to hold the outside line, especially with a strong car on the bottom,\u201d Blaney said. \u201cI was kind of fighting for my life up there.\u201d<\/p>\n He explained how both cars moved through the corner before the contact. \u201cI was holding him tight, and he was using up some track,\u201d Blaney said. \u201cHe exited Turn 4 higher than I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n Blaney said the contact came as both drivers tried to hold their lines. \u201cWhen we connected, my left front to his right rear, we both ended up in the fence.\u201d<\/p>\n Post-Race Conversation Changes Perspective<\/p>\n Blaney confirmed that he spoke with Hamlin after the race. Ryan said the conversation helped him understand what led to the contact. \u201cHe got loose off Turn 4 trying to get back to the throttle, so he was higher than I thought he would be,\u201d Blaney said.<\/p>\n He said his initial reaction during the race was different. \u201cAt the time, I thought it was uncalled for,\u201d Blaney said. \u201cBut after he explained his side, I understood where he was coming from.\u201d<\/p>\n Blaney added that he does not believe the move was intentional. \u201cI got the bad end of it, but I don\u2019t think it was anything intentional,\u201d he said. \u201cWe were just racing hard.\u201d<\/p>\n Blaney Recovers to Finish Inside the Top 10<\/p>\n Despite the contact, Blaney stayed in the race and worked his way back through the field. He finished sixth, which added points to his season total. The result showed how the team managed damage and stayed competitive through the closing laps.<\/p>\n \u201cIt still stings, but it wasn\u2019t anything intentional,\u201d Blaney said. \u201cI don\u2019t have any hard feelings about it.\u201d<\/p>\n The race ended with Chase Elliott taking the win, while Hamlin finished second after leading most of the event. The incident between Blaney and Hamlin was resolved after their discussion, with both drivers moving forward without further issue.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDogli Wilberforce<\/a> is a writer covering NASCAR, Formula 1, and the IndyCar Series for Heavy Sports. He has also written for Sportsnaut, FanSided, Total Apex Sports, and Last Word on Sports. Wilberforce focuses on the NASCAR Cup Series, breaking down news, driver stories, and key moments with a clear, fast, and engaging style. His work connects headlines to context, helping readers understand what matters most in the sport. More about Dogli Wilberforce<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on NASCAR\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Ryan Blaney reacts after late contact with Denny Hamlin at Martinsville, where he said \u201che put me…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":576162,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-576161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/576162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}