“I was in a do or die situation”: Michael McDowell justifies his move that led to collision with Penske’s Ryan Blaney 

Amid late-race cautions and rain tire anomalies, Ryan Blaney got moved by Front Row Motorsports driver, Michael McDowell during the closing laps of the USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Despite being apologetic about it, McDowell explained to the reporters that his move was necessary at that point in the race.

Ryan Blaney, who won last week's race at Iowa Speedway, was looking forward to bagging back-to-back wins. However, just as the Team Penske pilot came out of turn 1, Michael McDowell dive-bombed the former's #12 Ford Mustang. As a result, both cars slid across the 1.058-mile racetrack, thus bringing out a chain of smoke.

Recalling the moment, McDowell told renowned journalist Bob Pockrass,

"I was in a do-or-die situation. I had to go for it. I know it was a low percentage move, but I had to try. All the guys that went to the bottom in 1 or 2 on those restarts just got freight-trained, so I knew I needed to enter in the middle, and I just got the left sides right on the wet paint, and it just kind of took off."

He walked up to Ryan Blaney on the pit road after the race was over and apologized for his actions that ruined both their days.

"I hate it for Blaney, and I know it ruined his day, ruined my day too, and I apologize to those guys for that," McDowell said. "But I'm at a point in the season where I have to go for it too. You don't know until you get there and I was a little too deep."

Both racers were battling for the runner-up position at the time but unfortunately, none of them were able to finish in the top 5. While McDowell wound up 15th, Blaney had to settle for a P25 finish.

Michael McDowell currently sits 22nd on the NASCAR Cup Series point standings, with 331 points to his credit. On the other hand, Ryan Blaney is 8th with 526 points under his belt.

Ryan Blaney shuns Michael McDowell's apology

The duo had a civil post-race discussion on the pit road about the incident. However, Ryan Blaney was furious with Michael McDowell at the time of the contact. According to veteran journalist Jordan Bianchi, he radioed to his team, saying,

"What the f*** did he think was going to happen there? ... I know exactly what happened. He bombed it in there like a moron."

Nevertheless, his anger wasn't through the roof after his conversation with McDowell. Still, he was not happy knowing that an apology would not change the results of the race.

"An apology’s nice, but it’s not going to bring back what he did,” Blaney told NASCAR. “I mean, I knew what he was trying to do. It was like a low-percentage move. I mean, it’s wet down there, and you’re just going to shove it off in there, and what do you think’s going to happen? You’re going to take both of us out."

Although winning was the need of the hour for everyone on the field, the reigning Cup Series champion had expected Michael McDowell to be a bit more calculated in his moves during the race.

"I know he’s got to win and all that, and that’s his excuse, but you’ve got to be a little bit more calculated than that, and it just stinks that we’re at the expense of it," he added.

All said and done, the drivers will now prepare for next week's Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on June 30. The 300-lap event will stream live on NBC and Peacock, with radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR radio.