Kyle Petty defends Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain’s hard racing late at Phoenix
Kyle Petty watched in awe with NASCAR fans around the world as Ross Chastain and Ryan Blaney battled it out at Phoenix.
What made it so unique was the fact that Chastain, as a non-Playoff driver, didn’t simply pull over for Blaney, allowing him to run away with the race last weekend. Some fans loved it, some fans didn’t, but it all worked out for both drivers in the end.
Afterwards, Petty explained his thoughts on the matter, and how it related back to racing etiquette.
“What everybody’s talking about is race etiquette. Did Ross Chastain do anything wrong? Did Ryan Blaney do anything wrong? One’s running for a championship, one’s running for a race win. His second race win of the year,” Petty surmised. ” It’s only fitting that the spoiler is, and the person we’re talking about, is Ross Chastain. He’s been a thorn in the side of just about everybody in the sport, since he started winning races with Trackhouse Racing. We saw it on multiple occasions, and we heard it on the radio. Well we didn’t really hear it, we just heard a bunch of beeps from Ryan Blaney’s radio.
“Finally, in between one and two, he gets in the back of Ross Chastain. He just bumps him hard. He was asked post-race, ‘Was that on purpose?’ And he said, ‘Yes, it was on purpose.’ And it was on purpose. It was so blatant. But is that right? Is that right for him to roll in and do it? I believe yes. I believe it’s okay for him to roll in and get into Ross, and try to get Ross upset, and try to get Ross out of the way. I also believe it’s okay for Ross Chastain to take away the line of the second place car, which was Ryan Blaney. No matter whether he’s running for a championship or not.”
In the end, Petty elaborated on the fact that he doesn’t believe either driver was in the wrong, and he’s glad it worked out for both Chastain and Blaney.
“So I look at, and it’s two wrongs. Two wrongs in some cases. But in this case? It’s two rights. Two rights make it okay with me,” added Petty. “We came away, no harm, no foul. Ross Chastain wins the race. First time in ten years of racing that a non-championship driver has won the race. But we have a champion, and it’s Ryan Blaney, and he was calmed down when it was all over with.”
Ryan Blaney is the champion, Ross Chastain got the win at Phoenix, and both can be happy with their results from last weekend.