Ryan Blaney’s frustration with NASCAR hit a boiling point after a major wreck on Lap 1 of the NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling At The Glen at the iconic Watkins Glen circuit ended his day prematurely.

The incident involved Blaney, Denny Hamlin, and Christopher Bell, with Blaney’s vehicle sustaining critical damage to the steering arm, effectively putting him out of contention immediately. Blaney entered the race with +33 points on the cutline in the Playoffs. This loss has potentially severe implications, as he couldn’t compete further or even attempt repairs on his car.

Blaney was visibly fuming. He explained during the broadcast:

“Give us a chance to fix it, how are they going to dictate if we’re done or not?

“They have no idea the damage. They said because I couldn’t drive it back to the pit box we’re done, but if you have four flats you get towed back to the pit box, you can’t drive it back. So, I don’t know what’s going on, why they won’t even give us a shot to work on it, but I don’t agree with it.

“I don’t even know what happened honestly, stacked up, I caught someone on the left front and it completely broke the steering arm.”

He continued:

“I don’t know if we could have fixed it but that’s the frustrating part, just don’t even give us a chance you just end our day and you’re not letting us get to look at it before it’s in the garage? That just, stinks.”

The crash, which entangled Hamlin and Bell as well, brought early chaos to the race. Hamlin managed to attempt repairs, albeit with a fragile points position that could push him into a must-win situation at the upcoming Bristol race.

The implications for Blaney are significant. His points cushion has eroded, and he’s left to await how much ground will be lost as his competitors rack up points he could not.

At the point of writing, only 38 laps of 90 have been completed. Ross Chastain, who started from the pole position, leads the pack closely followed by Shane van Gisbergen, Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs, and William Byron, respectively.