February 28, 2020 | By Lee Spencer

Relieved to hear from Ryan Newman, Blaney moves on after Daytona wreck

FONTANA, Calif.—With the horrific way Ryan Blaney’s season started at Daytona International Speedway, losing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last Sunday after leading the Pennzoil 400 with five laps to go was simply one of life’s disappointments.

The letdown couldn’t compare with the anguish Blaney experienced after accidentally triggering the Ryan Newman crash in the Daytona 500. 

Hearing from Newman two days after the wreck was the best possible medicine for the 26-year-old driver. 

“Good, getting better,” Blaney said of how he was coping with the aftermath. “Obviously, that Monday night was a tough situation. Nobody knew anything. That was a tough night for a lot of people, I believe. Actually, Tuesday I got to talk to Greg Newman, Ryan’s dad. I called him on the phone Tuesday night and talked to him a little bit. I told him I would love to talk to Ryan whenever he was up and feeling alright enough to do it. 

“Ryan called me Wednesday night. That was really nice to talk to him. We only talked for five or 10 minutes but I really—that did a lot for me talking to him. There were no hard feelings or anything like that. I look forward to seeing him soon. It's amazing how fast he has recovered from that stuff. Like I said in my little post, I don't think you will find anyone tougher than that guy. It's remarkable. As he progressed and got better, it made me feel better as well.”

Blaney had a solid support system to assuage his concerns. His parents were waiting at his house when he arrived home from Daytona. Two of his childhood heroes—Jeff Burton and Bobby Labonte, reached out to console the driver. And probably most important, Blaney ignored social media in the aftermath of the accident. 

“I didn’t want to talk to many people at first,” Blaney said. “I just wanted to be by myself, but my parents insisted. They met me at my house. They were in my house when I got home. That was nice for them to be there. Bubba (Wallace) came over on Tuesday and hung out for a few hours and we talked about some stuff. I stayed off social media and all that stuff. You have people that aren’t even involved and have never even watched the sport that have their own opinion on bad things. 

“The outreach I got from the calls from former drivers and current drivers that week was pretty remarkable. Their support was good. Even though it's unintentional and it's racing, it still takes a toll on you when it's off of your nose. You never want to see anyone get hurt in this sport. We are all competitors but we are also a big family. Ryan and I have gotten along really well, and that was just a bad circumstance, and it's great that it worked out for the best. It was nice to have friends and family and drivers and teams' support. That really helped me out.”

Blaney watched a replay of the accident after he climbed from the car. While he doesn’t want to dwell on the experience, he’s grateful for the advancements in safety that allowed Newman to leave Halifax Medical Center on Feb. 19th. 

“I didn’t know how bad it was to be honest with you,” Blaney said. “That happens, you lose the race by a foot, you get out of the car and then you see a replay of that. I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ It was a big, big range of emotions within 10 minutes. It's tough to watch it. I don't want to see the in-car high-speed camera. I don't want to see that. 

“Yeah, I did see the wreck, and it's not comfortable to watch. I don't think it's comfortable for anybody to watch. It's literally the worst place you can get hit with these cars. It proves a lot about the safety of them for that to happen and Ryan to be okay but there is still a lot we can do to keep these things on the ground and not get over and be in a position to get hit like that. It's definitely not comfortable to watch. I don't try to watch it.”

On Friday at Auto Club Speedway, Blaney was ninth in single-lap speeds in first practice and second in Happy Hour. He was also fourth in Best 10 Consecutive Lap averages in final practice.  

As for dropping from first to 11th in the closing laps at Las Vegas, Blaney, who leads the NASCAR Cup point standings, said he was bummed for about 10 minutes.

“Yeah, it was over,” Blaney said. “Moving on. I went and stayed in a teepee (near Las Vegas) and forgot about it.
“I already had that planned no matter what happened. I like camping. I was out on a ranch in the middle of the desert for a couple of days and just hanging out and all that stuff. It was fun. I enjoyed it. I was just myself. I met some interesting people in the town and got to talk to them for a little while and had a good time.”