Michael McDowell and Ryan Blaney had a civil post-race discussion on pit road Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, with McDowell apologizing for late-race contact that cost both drivers solid finishes in the USA Today 301.
McDowell sent his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford deep into Turn 1 on a restart with nine laps remaining in regulation, with all cars on wet-weather tires in damp conditions following afternoon showers at the 1.058-mile track. McDowell’s Mustang slid up into the No. 12 Team Penske Ford of Blaney in their contest for second place, with both drivers making a long, smoky slide through the corner behind leader Christopher Bell — the eventual winner in overtime. Both drivers continued on to log lead-lap finishes, but neither returned to the top 10.
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Blaney — winner of the NASCAR Cup Series’ preceding race, last weekend at Iowa Speedway — said the remorse didn’t provide much solace after his 25th-place result in the 36-car field.
“An apology’s nice, but it’s not going to bring back what he did,” said Blaney, the defending Cup Series champion. “I mean, I knew what he was trying to do. It was like a low-percentage move. I mean, it’s wet down there, and you’re just going to shove it off in there and what do you think’s going to happen? You’re going to take both of us out. So I know he’s got to win and all that, and that’s his excuse, but you’ve got to be a little bit more calculated than that, and it just stinks that we’re at the expense of it. Man, I really thought we had a decent shot to contend.”
McDowell continued to finish 15th, admitting post-race that the move was prompted in part as a last-ditch effort to qualify for the Cup Series Playoffs. He’s currently winless and ranks 22nd in the postseason picture, 99 points below the provisional elimination line with eight regular-season races remaining before the 16-driver playoff grid is set.
“I was just explaining that I was in a do-or-die situation. I had to go for it,” McDowell told FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass. “I know it was a low-percentage move, but I had to try. All the guys that went to the bottom (lane) in (turns) one and two on those restarts just got freight-trained, so I knew I needed to enter in the middle, and I just got the left sides right on the wet paint, and it just kind of took off.
“So I hate it for Blaney, and I know it ruined his day, ruined my day, too, and I apologize to those guys for that, but I’m at a point in the season where I have to go for it, too. So you don’t know until you get there, and I was just in there a little too deep.”