Kyle Petty slams Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney for “stupid decision” that cost then Homestead win
Both Kyle Larson's and Ryan Blaney's hard work were left undone by Tyler Reddick's impressive race tactics in Miami.
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Ryan Blaney, Kyle Petty and Kyle Larson, images via IMAGO
Kyle Petty had been quite vocal about the mistakes made my former Cup Series champions at Miami. Tyler Reddick was able to capitalise on Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney‘s blunders and secured a place in the Championship Four. The subpar race craft by the two drivers infuriated the 64-year-old, who asserted that Larson and Blaney lost in Miami due to stupid decisions that the pair took in the dying stages of the race.
Tyler Reddick started the race on pole and seemed determined to not give up on his lead. He placed his car perfectly to not let Kyle Larson get through easily in Stage 1, which helped him emerge victorious by the stage end. However, moving on to the last few laps, the HMS driver lost the chance of winning by spinning with a few laps to go and ended up finishing outside the top-10.
On the other hand, Ryan Blaney was in control of the race till the last lap, where he got out manoeuvred by the 23XI racer with a beautiful move around the outside. However, the silly mistakes by the veterans were not appreciated by Kyle Petty, who lamented the pair’s driving.
All week long, everyone talked about aggression. Here’s what I want to talk about as we leave Miami: Stupidity, people making bad decisions. Tyler Reddick showed on Lap 7 what he was gonna do to win when he blocked the 5 car of Kyle Larson all the way almost down on the flat getting into Turn 1… We also saw Kyle Larson drive her off earlier in there to cause this caution. Three-wide, what’s he thinking? Stupid move. You can call it bad decisions, you can call it aggression — stupidity reigned at Miami. And I’m gonna tell you something, the 45 of Tyler Reddick and Joey Logano were laughing at everybody down there because they’re heading to Phoenix.
Kyle Petty said on NBC
With Reddick winning in Miami, two spots out of the four finalists have already been reserved. Moreover, championship favorite Larson currently resides on the fringes of the playoff bubble. Thus, the No.5 driver would have to ace the next weekend in Martinsville to get a spot in the run for the championship.
Tyler Reddick was in disbelief that his overtake on Ryan Blaney worked out
While the 28-year-old made a stellar move around the outside of much more experienced Penske driver, his overtake managed to shock Reddick himself. The 23XI driver revealed how a split second decision helped him snub the lead away from Blaney in an interesting turn of events.
The No.8 driver explained how he braced himself for the move as he had to go really deep without any judgement error.
I have been in this situation a few times this year, and I have screwed it up every single time… Once he left the lane open at the top, I just had to it in as deep as possible… Just a big shock that I was able to get that deep into that corner and not smoke the fence.
Tyler Reddick said on the Dirty Mo Media podcast
Despite his initial concerns, the overtake earned the Regular Season champion a confirmed place in the fight for the Cup Series championship. Thus, it has taken the burden off of his shoulders as he would not have to worry about how the next race in Martinsville pans out.
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Geetansh Pasricha
(772 Articles Published)