Getty Image
NASCAR Cup Series stars Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain are not friends, and it doesn’t appear the two budding stars will be friends anytime soon.
Blaney, the reigning series champion, began a feud with Chastain at last year’s season finale when he felt Chastain raced him disrespectfully despite not being in contention for a title.
In Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Chastain felt Blaney repaid the favor while the two were racing one another for third place late in the race.
Ross Chastain, when talking about the final 20 laps, couldn’t help himself to mention that Ryan Blaney was blocking him (remember Phoenix)? Chastain: “It was pretty cool to see his evolution with the air blocking. I was proud of him.” pic.twitter.com/5VNhjQLkpw
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) March 4, 2024
“I really just ran as fast as I could there at the end. It was pretty cool to see Blaney blocking me at the end. It was pretty cool to see his evolution with the air blocking. I was proud of him,” Chastain said sarcastically of Blaney’s attempts to keep him behind.
Of course, it didn’t take long for Blaney to fire right back.
https://t.co/Ae3q453b3q pic.twitter.com/DOsuToCv9s
— Ryan Blaney (@Blaney) March 4, 2024
He quickly posted a Star Wars GIF stating “it’s ironic” in response to Chastain’s comment.
Their initial incident in November led to Blaney intentionally running into Chastain to show his displeasure.
“(Expletive) right I hit him on purpose,” Blaney said after the race. “I mean, yeah, I hit him on purpose. He blocked me on purpose 10 times. So, yeah, I hit him on purpose.
“What do you expect me to do? He’s backing me up to the other championship guy, and I got to go. We were just racing hard. But do I think he was overaggressive on the blocks? Yes, very much so. Did I hit him? Yes, I did. That’s just part of it.”
Chastain did not return the favor in that sense. But Las Vegas Motor Speedway is much larger and faster than Phoenix Raceway, where the previous incident occurred. Meaning doing so would have been far more dangerous for both drivers involved.
As fate would have it, however, the series returns to Phoenix on Sunday, where Blaney won the championship but Chastain won the race just four months ago.
If both drivers are in contention for the win again this time around, it appears neither one is afraid to rattle the other’s cage if necessary.