Ryan Blaney names the two NASCAR drivers he least enjoys racing against

Ryan Blaney recently revealed to Jeff Gluck of The Athletic the two drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series he least enjoys racing against.

Blaney, the reigning Cup Series champion, named Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin, two of the better drivers week in and week out on the circuit.

“Everyone has their tendencies when you’re racing them,” Blaney said. “You learn that when you run against these guys for a long time. Do they like to put you in bad situations, trying to make you lift? Like Denny and Larson, they love to try to make you lift. It’s not a bad thing, but they do like taking a lot of space. … Like, if they’re on the inside, they like to do the shove-it-in-there-and-push-you-up-the-racetrack and try to put you in a tight spot.

“I wouldn’t say I don’t enjoy it; I love racing with those guys, because they are great racers. But if I do have a restart next to those guys, that’s in the back of my head: ‘Oh, they might take a lot of space and I just have to be ready for that.'”

Blaney’s answer should come as no surprise, as both Larson and Hamlin are both known to be hard racers. In fact, the two have even shared their own rivalry of sorts on the racetrack in recent years and have had multiple run-ins with one another this season.

Ryan Blaney upset after controversial restart in Brickyard 400

Blaney had some frustration in an incident involving Larson this past Sunday in the Brickyard 400. After race leader Brad Keselowski ran out of fuel and headed for the pits as the field prepared to take the green, Blaney suddenly became the control car. Larson, running P3 at the time, rolled up next to Blaney on the preferred inside line, thus gaining an advantage. Larson cleared Blaney for the lead in Turn 1 and held on to win his fourth race of the season.

Blaney was perplexed as to why NASCAR allowed the restart to go on after Keselowski ran out of fuel. Speaking with his team on the radio, Blaney accused NASCAR of giving the win to Larson, whom he referred to as its “fu*king golden boy.”

“There’s no way they should’ve let that go green,” Blaney said. “That’s ridiculous. They just gave it to him [Larson]. It’s fu*king over, I’m on the top. I ain’t gonna win from the top. Gave it to fu*king golden boy. Son of a b*tch.”