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Ryan Blaney explains what caused Las Vegas wreck, takes blame: ‘Probably my fault’

Brian Jones Profile Picby:Brian Jones•03/16/25•

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Ryan Blaney Las Vegas
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Ryan Blaney is speaking out on the accident he was in during NASCAR’s Cup Series race in Las Vegas. The 2023 Cup Series champion spoke to reporters about the wreck and blamed himself.

“We were four-wide there, and honestly I thought I had two inside, one outside of me,” Blaney said, per Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “I watched one little replay, and I had two outside, one inside. We’ll have to go back and gotta see if I heard it wrong or if there was some miscommunication. …It was probably my fault. I gotta go back to see if I heard it wrong or it was communicated wrong, so I have to go back and look.”

Ryan Blaney had his challenges during the Las Vegas race, including getting hit with a two-lap penalty after losing a wheel. And with the wreck taking Blaney out of the race, he earned a P35 finish on Sunday.

This is the second consecutive week Blaney earned a finish outside the top 20. Before his 35th-place finish on Sunday, the 31-year-old earned a P28 finish at Phoenix. This comes after Blaney finished seventh at Daytona and fourth at Atlanta to start the year.

Ryan Blaney ready for a big 2025 season

Ryan Blaney has emerged as one of NASCAR’s best drivers. After winning it all in 2023, Blaney followed that up with a runner-up finish in 2024. In those two seasons, Blaney won six of his 13 career races.

After Blaney finished second at the Clash in February, Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic praised him for being in mid-season form. “To me, this is a continuation of Ryan Blaney that we saw really take form in 2023 en route to his winning the Cup Series Championship,” Bianchi explained on the The Teardown podcast. “Before that, it was a Blaney that at times showed great speed but couldn’t necessarily close the deal. And now, we don’t talk about that anymore.”

Jeff Gluck of The Athletic added, “He is just so elite. …You just look at the ability he has to get around this place and position his car lap after lap the way he wants to do it. …It was really impressive just lap after lap trying to nail that line. Just being able to start from the back like that and drive through the field, that was really something.”