It’s not a secret that Ryan Blaney is a different person altogether when he gets behind the wheels of the No. 12 Ford Mustang. He’s outspoken, angry, and livid when rubbed off by his rivals on the racetrack. With a championship race on the line, you can only imagine his demeanor as a racecar driver has amped up. This was evident from his radio rant after being crammed into a tight spot by a non-championship driver, Kyle Larson.

Zane Smith crashing into the wall brought a caution late in the final stage, and it forced the championship contender to pit. Everyone but William Byron opted for fresh rubber, and as expected, the next restart was chaotic. Ryan Blaney just couldn’t get a clean launch and was blocked off by the #5 of Kyle Larson, which cost him track position.

Furious with how he was raced, Blaney took to the radio and just went on an angry rant. “What the f–k?! F—ing a–hole. What the f–k do you think I’m doing, trying to get there?” With 60 laps to go, Blaney will have to make haste and get himself in a position to race for the title on the final few laps.

The late race restart certainly was the difference-maker

On a racetrack like Phoenix, track position is indeed vital and the best time for a driver to move ahead in the field on the chaotic restarts. Tyler Reddick bumped himself into the top 5 after running tenth, all thanks to the restart. But with 55 to go in the race, Blaney found himself on the bitter end of things being blocked by both Kyle Larson and then Reddick.

The Penske driver did get past the traffic after battling for a few laps, and he even got past the #24 of William Byron. All he needed to do was cut down lap time and reach the back bumper of his teammate Joey Logano. While most drivers would get nervous and edgy seeing the charging #12 car getting bigger in their rear-view mirror, Logano is just built differently. He dumped dirty air on his teammate and followed his spotter’s instruction to cut off any aggressive moves.

And while Ryan Blaney could’ve made the pass on the #22 with a lap or two, the defining moment of the race for him was the restart. “I had to work really hard to get by the #5 and the #24. I didn’t know Joey was pretty far away, and I had to work really hard to try to get to Joey. The restart didn’t play well for us. I felt like if I came out behind Joey and didn’t have two cars between us, I would have been able to have a better shot. This race didn’t work out. That’s just the way it goes sometimes.” The Penske star said after the race.

Although Blaney had not-so-sweet words for Kyle Larson on the radio, the HMS star understood ‘100%’ of his frustration for not being able to close the race out.

Kyle Larson was just giving his 100 percent

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No rule states the Championship 4 drivers get special treatment from the other drivers competing on the racetrack in the final race. While Larson failed to make it past the Round of 8, he certainly wasn’t going to let his foot off the gas in search of better results. Even if it meant trading blows with one of the title contenders. Larson also gave a cheeky nod to the race manipulation at Martinsville when asked about racing Blaney hard.

“We’re seven days away from everybody b—ching about ‘100%’, so I was giving 100%. I’m just trying to fight for every position I can. If Yellow comes out, 20 laps into the run while we’re third. We get a caution and have a good pit stop, and then I restart the leader, and you never know what happens to be in a 30-lap run. So, fighting for everything, I had to go racing for my team.” Larson said this to Bob Pockrass.

He was also asked if he had any bitter feelings after Blaney’s angry rant was aimed at him on the radio. To which he replied, “Sure, if I’m in his shoes, I’m frustrated as well. You probably just assume that everybody is going to lay over for you because you’re in the final 4. I don’t doubt that he’s frustrated; I’m sure he was making hand gestures like he was making with Ross last year, but it’s just racing.”

Well, both Blaney and Larson will need to find an extra gear or two for the next season. Especially the #5 team, who would like to put a pause on this dominating era of Penske drivers.