DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 15: Ryan Blaney 12 Team Penske Menards/Peak Ford waves to the crowd prior to the running of the 68th NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Series Daytona 500 on February 15, 2026 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, FL. Photo by Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire AUTO: FEB 15 NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon2602151951500

Apr 21, 2026, 1:17 PM CUT

AJ Allmendinger Says Ryan Blaney's Decision Triggered Pit Road Clash at Kansas

While Ryan Blaney has been fast on track, pit road has been a completely different story. In Kansas, however, it wasn’t just him who was affected by the pit road challenges.

On lap 39, during Stage 1, Blaney pitted under green flag conditions because his front-right tire was showing cords.

As Blaney was exiting, AJ Allmendinger in the Kaulig Racing #16 was approaching his own box, which was four ahead of Blaney’s. The Team Penske #12 slammed Allmendinger’s Chevrolet Camaro into a spin.

Allmendinger, who felt his car was competitive, finished 31st after a lengthy pit stop. Allmendinger said, “It was just disappointing. It was one of those things where we pitted (Blaney was, I think, three or four boxes behind us). I was watching him the whole time, and I was going to check up if he ever dropped the jack before I got to his box.”

Allmendinger said he was already committed entering his box, but Blaney turned out and spun him. “I should have just spun the car back around and gotten back in the box to save us a lot of time," he said.

According to him, the incident messed up his race by forcing him to return to the box for tires.

Blaney’s Pit Woes Pile Up

The Penske #12 driver started ninth, but after the stop, where he slammed Allmendinger, Blaney was left with splitter damage, which led to multiple pit stops to fix it.

While making the repairs, Blaney received a penalty for too many pit crew members being over the wall. Eventually, Blaney’s difficult run ended with him in 24th place, slipping from second to third in the championship.

Speaking after the race, Blaney said, “I thought we had decent pace at the start.” He said it was unclear if the splitter damage caused their struggles, but it didn’t help, and they managed the rest of the race as best as they could.

Blaney has spent significant time dealing with pit problems this season, with several slow stops costing him around 80 positions across the first nine races.

Loose wheels and loose lug nuts have also been issues for the pit crew, which ranks 35th out of 36 in performance. In Kansas, Blaney had a new front jackman.

Written by

Debrup Chaudhuri

Edited by

Pulkit Prabhav