Ryan Blaney drops 4-word verdict in response to Dale Jr. asking for Talladega update

Ryan Blaney didn't hold back after becoming one of the first NASCAR drivers to exit the race at Talladega Superspeedway. He responded to Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was asking for updates on the race, and said he didn't have fun.

On lap 43, multiple drivers were about to enter the pit lane when Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski made contact and crashed. Blaney, the #12 Team Penske Ford driver, was collected after trying to avoid the wreck and spun off the infield grass on the frontstretch.

As a result, Blaney and Keselowski had to retire from the Jack Link's 500, while Busch carried on to finish 27th. His disappointment could be seen in his reply to Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s post on X (formerly Twitter).

"I didn’t have fun," the 31-year-old wrote.

The tweet was a response to the former Hendrick Motorsports driver, asking:

"I’m on a plane and I cannot see the race. Care to reply with a description of the event so far?"

Ryan Blaney drives the #12 Ford Mustang for Team Penske - Source: Imagn

With a premature exit at Talladega Superspeedway, Ryan Blaney now has four DNFs, the most of any driver as of this writing. His previous DNFs came consecutively at Phoenix Raceway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Team Penske teammate and defending Cup Series champion Joey Logano also had a tough race at the 2.66-mile track after getting disqualified from fifth place over an illegal spoiler. On the bright side, the Ford-affiliated team won its first race of the 2025 season with Austin Cindric.

Kyle Larson finished second ahead of William Byron, Noah Gragson, and Chase Elliott. Meanwhile, first-time pole-sitter Zane Smith dropped to 19th after leading for only five laps.

NASCAR will host its next race at Texas Motor Speedway next week. FS1 will commence its TV broadcast at 3:30 p.m. ET, while PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will man the radio coverage.

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"Another DNF is no fun": Ryan Blaney on fourth DNF in 2025 season

After Ryan Blaney got out of his car at Talladega Superspeedway, the Team Penske driver told Fox that another DNF was not fun. He didn't finish in almost half the races so far this year and experienced several setbacks that cost him better results.

The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion said (via Fox on X):

"Just stinks. Another DNF is no fun." [0:48]

"Hopefully, we can get it sorted out and get a little bit of fortune back on our side [...] Move on to Texas. Hopefully, we can have a clean race there and have a shot to win," he added.

In addition to the four DNFs, Ryan Blaney had some tough luck at Darlington Raceway off the pit road. He lost the lead to Denny Hamlin after all lead lap cars pitted on lap 292, eventually settling with a fifth-place finish.

Despite countless misfortunes, Blaney still leads the Team Penske camp in the points standings in eighth. William Byron remains the top-seeded driver, followed by Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin.