You’d think reigning NASCAR champion Ryan Blaney would be unafraid of anything, but you’d be mistaken. Blaney has claimed that there are at least two drivers he cannot compete with: Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson.
“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.”
Blaney also admitted that he hates having to restart with either driver nearby.
“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,” he said.
It’s worth noting that both Hamlin and Larson have a history of abrasive driving, which hasn’t made them popular among fans or drivers.
