The reigning NASCAR Cup champion has been the unfortunate victim of several recent poor choices at Daytona International Speedway, including in his Daytona 500 qualifying race on Thursday night.
An accordion-like accident erupted with 14 of 60 laps to go while Blaney was battling in fourth. Behind him, Brad Keselowski got into the back of Kyle Busch, who then hit Byron, whose No. 24 Chevrolet then hooked Blaney’s No. 12 Ford.
Blaney went head-on into the wall and his car briefly erupted in flames. He was uninjured except for lingering muscle soreness.
The normally soft-spoken Blaney was rightfully quite agitated in interviews after the accident but said he realizes that pushing is a necessary evil of superspeedway strategy.
“You see more pushing now. The only time you pushed more was the tandem racing, but that was solid connection being on somebody and now the bumpers kind of being round you kind of see the cars get out of control more,” Blaney said Saturday.
“But, I think you have to push hard and I fully understand that. I’ve pushed people hard, but I try to take care of people. As the pusher, you are responsible for the guy in front of you.
“You have just as much responsibility to make sure that you don’t shove the guy in front of you through somebody and you have to understand where you have to let him go.”
That distinction may seem a small one, but it can make all the difference between helping a driver complete a pass and gaining a position or igniting a multi-car accident.
“Pushing is a huge game and I’m fine, you can push the hell out of me, but you’ve just got to be smart where you do it and how you get on somebody, and you have to be knowledgeable of what spots are good to do it and what spots are bad to do it,” Blaney said.
“I’m not upset with hard pushes because that’s what it takes to go forward in this game. You just have to be smart about where you do it and the timing of it and letting someone go.”
Moving on from the crash
Blaney said he tries not to let is frustration from bad incidents linger and by Friday morning he had for the most part “moved on.”
“You get over these things pretty quick, so it’s just when those things happen you get frustrated about it,” he said. “Like, ‘Gosh, I can’t believe I got right-reared for the third time at this place in a row.’ That’s the frustrating part about it and it’s like, ‘When is this going to end?’
“It’s like the tale of two race tracks for me. Talladega, for some reason, we have really good fortune and I don’t really get caught up in many incidents and run up towards the front.
“Here at this place the last few times I’ve been here I just can’t do no right and just feel like I get caught up in a product of someone else’s mess and that’s just a product of it.”
