The unthinkable happened as two Team Penske drivers battled for the race lead during the final stage of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway.
On Lap 96, Brad Keselowski went to the inside of Ryan Blaney entering Turn 2 while racing for the lead, but snapped loose and made contact with his Penske teammate. The cars slammed the outside wall, ending both of their days.
“I just lost it. It’s my fault. I feel really bad for my teammate, Ryan Blaney,” said a dejected Keselowski after being released from the infield care center. “He didn’t deserve that. Just came off of Turn 4 and the No. 4 (Harvick) car was behind me. He gave me a push and i swear, I went into the corner like 20mph faster than I had been all day, and got passed the No. 11 (Hamlin) and was about to get underneath the No. 12 (Blaney).
“It just slipped, lost the back a little bit, and when I went to collect it, he was there, and I wiped him out and myself out. I feel terrible for everyone at Team Penske and especially Ryan Blaney. Gosh, he didn’t deserve that. So, I should have whoa’d way up. I had been running wide open on the bottom all day and I thought I could do it again but with that big push, I overestimated the grip. Ruined our day.”
Blaney was disappointed, but understanding after he too was released from the infield care center.
“Yeah. It’s just unfortunate for the whole Penske organization,” he told NBCSN. “We had two fast cars battling for the lead and it just stinks that happened. He had a run, like he said, and he didn’t think he had as big of a run as he had and just got loose and, unfortunately, got us both. It’s a shame to end our day like that with the Knauf/Menards Ford Mustang. We were so fast. We had to battle back from having to pit again and got to 10th for the second stage and then got the lead. I was like, ‘All right, we can finally go back at it,’ and just got together there. That’s unfortunate, but it’s not gonna carry over. Things happen. Mistakes happen. It’s just a shame both of us got taken out.”
Blaney and Keselowski will finish 38th and 39th, respectively, a far cry from their fourth and second-place finishes on Saturday.
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