Did NASCAR really discriminate against Ryan Blaney? Well, if you listened to the Team Penske star’s expletive-filled rant, you’d certainly think so.

As the crowd holds its collective breath, NASCAR’s controversial decision during the second-to-last restart has been a topic of much discussion. The incident took place when Brad Keselowski, leading at the time, entered pit road before the green flag as he ran out of fuel. Ryan Blaney, who was second at the time (running in the outside lane) was to be the one to gain control over the restart. But as per video footage, Larson snuck up on the vacated spot and appeared to jump the restart. However, as per NASCAR rules, Larson was supposed to wait for the leading car to pick up pace.

So, naturally, Ryan Blaney was then caught off guard and unable to respond. Larson’s No. 5 Chevy, brimming with fuel and speed, launched a daring pass on the restart. Larson’s bold move paid off duly, redeeming his failure from May and thus propelling him into the lead.

Frustrated to see himself on the bitter end of things, Blaney questioned the antic. He fairly suggested that NASCAR had served the win to Larson on a silver platter. In typical Ryan Blaney fashion, he went bonkers on the team radio, saying, “There’s no way they should’ve let that go green. That’s ridiculous. They just GAVE it to him (Larson). It’s f**king over, I’m on the top. I ain’t gonna win from the top. Gave it to f**king golden boy. Son of a b***h.” But that wasn’t all!

Continuing his tirade, the #12 driver further said, “That’s f****** bullshit. No f****** way. There is no f****** way he gets to jump up a row and I get f****** screwed because someone ran out of gas. That’s f****** bullshit NASCAR and you f****** know it.”

However, with another big pile-up on the overtime run involving John Hunter Nemecheck and Daniel Hemric, affecting Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe and Alex Bowman, the race had to be put under the red flag and a second overtime attempt. This time, though, the Hendrick Motorsports racer was ready with his offensive, shooting past his opponents to secure his first Brickyard 500 race.

And Ryan Blaney? Well, he seemed to calm down as he made his way to pit road to talk to reporters.

Ryan Blaney was mad at his luck for costing him yet another victory

Ryan Blaney’s was so close to clinching two back-to-back Cup Series victories. However, as NASCAR and a quick-advancing Kyle Larson seemingly rained on his parade, there was ultimately nothing he could do. Dejected, he finished the race in P3, which isn’t bad at all, but for the Penske driver, a painful reminder of how close he was to a win.

Blaney probably did everything right. He ran well, avoided unnecessarily tussling, and had a winning strategy. It looked like he could win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. However, luck ran out even though his fuel didn’t.

In a post-race conversation, the driver expressed his thoughts, saying, “5 got promoted and luck of the day right there, I guess. I don’t even know what to be mad about. Mad at losing this race because I thought we were in a perfect position, but once I lost control of the race and obviously I would’ve been on the bottom. It stinks to lose it that way.”

It’s not the first time we’ve seen Blaney run out of luck this season. In Atlanta, earlier this season, a three-wide photo finish left him in P2 by less than a hundredth of a second behind Daniel Suárez. Furthermpre, Lady Luck really did a number on him at the Enjoy Illinois 300 at Gateway, when he ran out of fuel with just a lap away from his first win of the season. Though Pocono gave him that long-revered maiden win of 2024, the Indianapolis debacle is going to stay on his on his mind for a long time.

During another post-race conversation at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the #12 lamented, “The break that (Larson) got and the hardship I got right there with that happening at that time just killed our race.”

“We put ourselves in the perfect spot to win and just that weird circumstance, it just benefitted him and it just killed our race … that’s what I’m upset about. I’m not mad at anybody. That’s just lady luck I’m just pissed off,” he further said,

The good news for the No. 12 team is that they’ve continued on their strong run. With two wins till now (the other one being at Iowa), 11 Top-10s and seven Top-5s till now, the 30-year-old driver sits in the playoff bubble comfortably at sixth. And as we have already seen last season, the #12 team is known for their breakthrough performances later in the season. So expect the 2023 Cup Series champion to come out strong after the two-week Olympics break, at Richmond.