“I hate to disappoint y’all”: Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace are ‘good’ after last week’s frantic finish at Talladega 

Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace collided together at the last lap at Talladega last week and Wallace took the blame for it.

After an incident like that, one might think their friendship could come to an end. But it's quite the opposite. When questioned about where he and Wallace stand currently, this is what he Blaney said:

"...yeah we talked about it. Yeah, we are good. I hate to disappoint y’all, but we’re fine."

Blaney's winless record grew to 56 races when he finished second on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, his fourth runner-up position since his previous victory, at Daytona in 2021.

That particular incident may have hurt more than the others, and not only because it added to the aggravation of being so near, yet so far.

In addition to finishing in the top two in four of the last eight Talladega races, Blaney has completed 17 top-fives and 28 top-10s in those 56 races. The finish on Sunday occurred after Blaney spun his good friend Bubba Wallace on the last lap.

Wallace got turned by Blaney for a good cause. Kyle Busch was getting a run on the inside while Wallace was in the lead with Blaney behind him in the outside lane.

Once they were in the inside lane, Wallace started to block Blaney's moves as he attempted to go high and then low again. Eventually, Blaney turned Wallace.

In the midst of the commotion, Blaney lost a position to Busch, the caution was issued, and Blaney was left one position short and extremely dejected.

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Ryan Blaney said that nobody was at fault for the final-lap collision

Ryan Blaney

Bubba Wallace accepted responsibility for the accident after fighting with his close buddy. Ryan Blaney found it difficult to be angry with Wallace, who was defending a position that, in some ways, couldn't be defended without being ruined.

"But everyone is a competitor out there. ... It definitely stinks when it's your buddy. Maybe if it's somebody you don't really like too much, you wouldn't blink an eye at it."

Wallace believed that he and Blaney could have stayed 1-2 going out of turn 4, putting them in the greatest position to duel for the victory down Talladega's lengthy front stretch. It was a day that both friends will like to forget.