The end of the Cup Series race in Martinsville on Sunday was chaotic, to say the least. Christopher Bell was penalized for accidentally riding the wall. Then there was William Byron, who was accused of manipulating the race with his fellow Chevrolet mates, and Bubba Wallace was caught in the storm for possibly faking an issue with his tire. But what all this did was overshadow an incredible performance from Ryan Blaney.
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The defending champion went into the race needing to close down a 38-point gap to make it to the Championship 4. He had to win the race, under any circumstance, if he wanted to have a chance at retaining his crown.
A brilliant 500-lap drive later, he reached the checkered flag first and fixed a berth for the season finale in Phoenix. His race deserves more attention and praise than it is being given.
Former driver Kyle Petty expressed the same opinion to NASCAR in his regular post-race breakdown. He said, “We saw one of the greatest drives of the season with Ryan Blaney. We saw him do something extra special yesterday with his back against the wall.”
“He makes it to Phoenix. He wins when he has to win.” What makes this even more special is that Blaney was coming off a major disappointment in Miami.
He nearly won the race before losing out to Tyler Reddick during the final lap. Petty continued, “He could see the win. He could see Phoenix from Turn 4. And what happens? He comes home second. He gets sent to the house. He comes back a week later and he makes something happen.”
Petty comes down hard on the fans firing up controversies
Petty faced severe backlash from fans on social media after expressing that Bell was at fault for riding the wall regardless of intention and that the Chevrolet teams did not manipulate the race.
He wrote on X, “1st there is no rule against blocking and manufacturers have been working together for years! (See Daytona and Talladega) 2nd wall ride is against the rules, that’s a fact. Conversation over…”
On the race breakdown, however, he blamed fans for focusing on the wrong thing and for whining about the time that NASCAR took to draw a verdict about the whole Bell-Byron situation. He said, “Everybody wants to whine about it. Why did they take so long? Listen, it’s called an investigation.”
The bottom line that needs to be drawn is that Bell is out of the Championship 4, NASCAR most likely will not penalize Byron or any of the others for race manipulation, and it is about time the spotlight is put on Blaney. He could end up being the first back-to-back title winner since Jimmie Johnson and this deserves all the clout there is.
