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Ryan Blaney responds to Dale Earnhardt Jr., sums up afternoon at Talladega in four perfect words

Brian Jones Profile Picby:Brian Jones•about 14 hours•

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Ryan Blaney (5)
Apr 13, 2025; Bristol, Tennessee, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney (12) during driver introductions for the NASCAR Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

Ryan Blaney gave the perfect response to Dale Earnhardt Jr. when he asked how the NASCAR Cup Series Talladega race was going. On X/Twitter, Earnhardt wrote, “I’m on a plane and I cannot see the race. Care to reply with a description of the event so far?”

“I didn’t have fun,” Blaney replied. Blaney was involved in a wreck with Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski in Stage 1 of the race. The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion needed a tow, and his day ended early.

Ryan Blaney was looking to have his third consecutive top-five finish on Sunday. He earned P5 finishes at Darington and Bristol, and those came after he suffered finishes outside the top 25 in three of four races.

Back in March, NASCAR insider for The Athletic, Jeff Gluck, talked about the struggles Blaney was going through at the time. “First time in his career he’s had three DNFs. He has blown up in two of the last three races,” Gluck said on The Teardown podcast. “And Jonathan Fjeld from the Racing Experts tweeted, ‘Before this season Ryan Blaney had only five engine failures in his entire Cup career, but none since the 2018 Coke 600.’ So almost seven years ago. In the first five races this season he now has two. Pretty frustrating for Blaney because he was really coming here and kicking butt.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. weighs in on Ryan Blaney’s 2025 season

Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently shared his thoughts on Blaney and Team Penske. “I think pit road is such a critical part of being successful. If you’re consistently seeing some issues there, they absolutely should be concerned and there should be some conversations, some hard conversations happening,” he said on Dale Jr. Download. “I would say that the speed on the racetrack should allow them to have some confidence going forward. I know that they don’t have the wins, they’re leading all these laps.

“I would be resting on the fact that we’ve got speed. The speed in the cars are there. Let’s just keep doing what we’re doing, let’s not change anything. We may need to do some things different on pit road, we may need to move some people around on our crews, so forth, to try to find some balance. While Blaney may be struggling on pit road, his teammates might not all be struggling.”