Why Ryan Blaney didn’t bump Chase Elliott to win NASCAR Clash

NASCAR: Clash at Bowman Gray
Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images

If you wreck Chase Elliott for the win on a short track, fans may never forgive you for it.

Just ask Denny Hamlin, who hasn’t quite had the same relationship with NASCAR fans since getting into the back of Elliott in the closing stages of the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Martinsville Speedway.

Thus, Blaney says there was a real risk versus reward element of trying to get around Elliott in the closing laps of The Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium on Sunday night.

Elliott had led all but 28 laps, retaking the top spot from Hamlin on a restart early in the second half, but Blaney had charged all the way from the back of the field during that time.

“I think he just had better drive-off than me that whole last run,” Blaney said. “I turned better, he had better drive-off. It was kind of a tradeoff I feel like.”

When you can get into the corner better, that means Blaney had numerous chances to drive into the back of his longtime friend but …

“Honestly, I felt like our cars were kind of evenly matched,” Blaney said. “My car was better in one area and his car was better in another. I feel like if you just swapped our two cars, I don’t think we would have passed each other if I was in front of him or if he was in front of me. I think we were pretty evenly matched.”

“When I started to go, I didn’t have enough right rear. I’m like, Oh, shit, I’m not going to make this pass. I’m not going to bulldog into him and get chased out of here with pitchforks.”

It was Bowman Gray after all.

“When it was time to go, I didn’t have quite enough,” Blaney said. “I could turn really good, but I paid the penalty on exit to where he could just kind of keep the power down a little bit longer. The right rears seemed to wear out more than right fronts. It just helped him out a little bit more at the end.”

Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.

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