Ryan Blaney clarifies Denny Hamlin 'hack' comments after battle at Homestead-Miami
Ryan Blaney pulled no punches when it came to Denny Hamlin at Homestead-Miami, but the Penske wheelman walked back some comments on Wednesday.
Late in the final stage of the NASCAR 4EVER 400, the two drivers, jockeying for position in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, were going at it on the track, fighting for position. They restarted side-by-side after Kyle Larson’s wreck entered pit road. Hamlin raced Blaney hard all the way down to fourth place. Then, Hamlin found the wall himself.
After swapping positions back and forth a few times, Hamlin slid ahead of Blaney. He kept sliding, too. For whatever reason, Hamlin’s steering stopped. He was going to likely race to a top-5 finish but his car plowed and went straight for the wall.
Thankfully, Kelly Crandall of Racer Mag was listening to the radio for the 12 team at the perfect time, and picked up an interesting remark from Blaney.
Seeing Hamlin wreck, Blaney laughed and said “F**k you, d**khead.” Afterward, his spotter or crew chief told him “We’re going to pit. We’re going to get the lead.” Then another charged statement. “We’re going to win the son of a b****,” according to Bob Pockrass of FOX.
While Blaney didn’t win at Homestead, he did have some choice words for Hamlin after the race as well.
“Oh, he tried to slide me two or three times and failed miserably, and then just decided to use me up,” Blaney said after the race. “I mean, if you’re going to slide somebody, slide somebody, commit. Don’t halfway do it and use me up. What does he, what does he say? Hack? I think he was that today.”
In hilarious fashion, Blaney was making a reference to Hamlin’s infamous comments about Alex Bowman a few years back. However, when he was able to listen back to his comments on the radio, as well as his post-race interview, the Penske star decided to walk them back a bit, instead of doubling down on his remarks.
“You know, I feel like that got blown out of proportion, personally. It was a half-joke anyway,” Blaney claimed, via Pockrass. “I don’t mean to say — hey, it’s intense stuff. He and I were racing hard, you know. You know, I probably said stuff that you know, on the radio, that you know, wasn’t you know, just kind of in the moment stuff. But you know, at the end of the day, we’re racing hard.
“Did I feel a little crowded? Yeah, but you know, when you look at it, alright, it’s just two guys you know, running real hard. Hey, you guys have been saying for awhile, I’m too nice. So you know, and I did say a couple of years ago, if I start not being as nice, I don’t want to hear about it.”
Perhaps it’s a sign of respect for Denny Hamlin, or maybe Ryan Blaney is recognizing that the two drivers could be racing for the win at Martinsville. Nevertheless, it’s been a fascinating battle between two of the best in the Cup Series, and maybe we’ll see some more fireworks this weekend.
On3’s Jonathan Howard contributed to this article.