Blaney's Day Derailed By 'Unnecessary' Incident With Hamlin

Martinsville, V.A. -- In the end, the boxscore will show a sixth-place finish for Ryan Blaney in the 2026 Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway. Still, there's an alternate universe where the Team Penske driver likely reaches victory lane.

Blaney, who started the race from the 12th position, had a slow and meticulous climb through the field on Sunday, but as the race was beginning to draw to a close, he found himself where he finds himself often, in the thick of the battle for the win at Martinsville.

However, a late-race debris caution changed everything.

"We were getting a little bit better each run. So, that was positive. I felt like I got two spots better each run. I could kind of hang on a little bit longer and find rear drive. Honestly, without the yellow during the cycle, I felt really good," Blaney explained. "Like kind of biding my time, I was closing in. I don't know how it would have turned out."

The caution allowed a group of new players, including eventual race winner Chase Elliott, to gain valuable track position, which led to desperation from some of the dominant drivers of the day. Denny Hamlin, who led a race-high 292 laps, didn't want to see the win slip through his grasp.

But as he attempted to make quick work of Elliott on the final restart of the day, Hamlin made a misjudgment, which significantly impacted Blaney's day.

"Yeah, just put me in the fence, I guess," Blaney concluded after the race. "That's what it looked like from my seat, and if that's what it looked like from TV, then that's what happened."

After the excursion into the outside wall, Blaney, who was in the fourth position at the time, was sent to the seventh position. He had lost track position, and the pop into the outside wall also negatively affected his car's handling.

"I'm not sure if it knocked the toe out a little bit. I was pretty tight after that," Blaney said. "Luckily, we were able to kind of get one or two spots after that."

While he was able to salvage a sixth-place finish, the decent result still stung because Blaney knew he had a much better finish in store had it not been for the incident with Hamlin.

"I mean, from my seat, I feel like it's unnecessary," Blaney lamented. "I don't feel like I kind of got pinched; I feel like I just got driven into the fence. But I think everyone is going to have different opinions on it."

Hamlin would ultimately fail to chase down Elliott for the race win and would come home with a runner-up finish in Sunday's race at Martinsville. A disappointed Hamlin was asked about the late-race contact with Blaney and Blaney's assessment that the contact was unnecessary.

"Yeah, I wouldn't disagree," Hamlin said of Blaney's take on his late-race move that put Blaney into the outside wall.

A silver lining for Blaney and the No. 12 Team Penske team was that the pit crew, which had been much-maligned through the opening six races of the season, was quite strong Sunday at Martinsville. That allowed Blaney to crack a smile after the hard-fought day, and he is hopeful that the pit crew has figured out what ailed them as the NASCAR Cup Series heads into an off-weekend.

"Yeah, they had a good day. No mistakes. They were smooth all day, so that part was good. I'm proud of them for figuring out what they needed to figure out and us going to work on some stuff," Blaney said. "So, that's a step in the right direction. Nice day on pit road going into the off-week, and building off of that."

After seven races, Blaney ranks second in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings, and he sits 82 points behind Tyler Reddick, the series point leader. Blaney has already amassed a 113-point advantage to the Chase for the Cup cutline with 19 races remaining until the Chase begins.