NASCAR Cup Nashville

Blaney after wreck: "Hardest hit I've ever had in my life"

Ryan Blaney went for a wild ride during the second stage of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway Sunday.

Nick DeGroot

Edited: Jun 26, 2023, 3:43 PM

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Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, Menards/Pennzoil Ford Mustang

After Brad Keselowski struggled to get going on a mid-race restart, the field stacked up behind him.

Blaney and Kyle Busch spun through the grass. While Busch escaped without much damage, Blaney's car headed straight for an unprotected concrete wall.

He radioed after the hit: ""Holy s***! I need help"

He gingerly climbed from the car, and was later evaluated and released from the infield care center.

"Yeah I feel better now," he told NBC afterwards. "Shame to end our night early. I thought we finally actually got decent there ... I don't really know what happened. Someone checked up on the restart I guess. I kind of checked up and I got hit from behind. I didn't know if they were wrecking. I just couldn't get it straightened out when I got out of the grass. I thought it was gonna come back around and I'd be okay but it just never got back right."

Blaney then criticized the lack of a soft wall in that area of the track: "I don't know why there's no SAFER Barrier there. That's pretty ridiculous honestly. Hardest hit I've ever had in my life. Happy to be alright."

NASCAR later released the following statement: "NASCAR safety engineers work closely with safety experts on the implementation of barriers around the track. As we do following every race weekend, we will evaluate all available data and make any necessary improvements."

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