Ryan Blaney threatened to WRECK Brad Keselowski during the Darlington Cup race over aggressive blocking

Ryan Blaney stands just below Brad Keselowski in the standings at P9.

Ryan Blaney threatened to WRECK Brad Keselowski during the Darlington Cup race over aggressive blocking

Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski (Via IMAGO)

The race at Darlington, which kicked off the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, was filled to the brim with twists and turns. After a hard-fought battle for a spot in the final 16, every driver was at an all-time high on aggression. One such incident reflecting this was Brad Keselowski’s defense against Ryan Blaney.

Keselowski had a good start to the race as he ran smoothly in the fourth position. However, due to a crash involving Kyle Busch and Todd Gilliland, a caution was brought out, which saw Keselowski go down to P16. However, he recovered by the end of the race as he overtook Blaney on lap 353. He maintained this position by successfully defending against many of Blaney’s attempts to try and overtake him.

YouTube video

Blaney, under immense frustration of being unable to pass Keselowski, displayed his anger on the team radio as he was heard saying he would wreck Keselowski if this continued. He said, “Eh keep blocking he’s going to get wrecked. You need to do tell TJ [Majors] that.”

FS Video

After the race, Keselowski ended up on P6, while Blaney finished P9. While it was unfortunate for Blaney, his fans surely expect him to brush the incident off and focus on the next race at the Kansas Speedway.

In case you missed it: Denny Hamlin lambasts Tyler Reddick’s team over Darlington debacle that screwed up Kevin Harvick, says it’s a ‘continued problem’

Brad Keselowski opens up about his team’s chances of succeeding in the Playoffs

Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski
Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski (Credits: Motorsport.com)

Brad Keselowski has shown solid consistency in his performances this season. While his team, RFK Racing, struggled in the earlier part of the season, they managed to turn things around in their favor as both Chris Buescher and Keselowski managed to qualify for the Playoffs. Keselowski recently discussed the opening race at Darlington and his chances in the Playoffs.

Keselowski was satisfied with the results, with Buescher securing P3 while Keselowski himself was in sixth. He said, “Just really really solid for us, scored stage points, third and sixth with our two cars and good momentum. Lot to be proud of, long ways to go.”

Keselowski pointed out that while their car is very effective on the superspeedways, they must work on their aero and engine package for better performance on flatter tracks, like the Kansas Speedway, where NASCAR is headed next week.

“The package that we have for the aero and the engines is really well put together and vice-versa for the flatter tracks, for the mile-and-a-half style tracks. That’s going to be a challenge for us,” he added.

Discover more: