Lap 1 wreck ousts Ryan Blaney from Watkins Glen race; other playoff drivers impacted

Multiple playoff cars were involved in a Lap 1 wreck through the Bus Stop at Watkins Glen International on Sunday afternoon, and no one felt the impact worse — literally, figuratively — than Ryan Blaney.

Contact with Corey LaJoie caused Kyle Busch’s No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to spin around and collect playoff drivers Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell through the exit, immediately creating postseason implications in the second of three Round of 16 races in the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs.

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Damage to Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford proved terminal, with Blaney’s car taken to the garage and set to finish the race in 38th place, last. Damage to Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota additionally forced him to pit road, costing him and the team one lap as repairs were made — and while Hamlin would get his lap back, he was involved in another wreck on Lap 46 racing three-wide with Keselowski and Kyle Larson.

“Yeah, I don‘t know,” Blaney said of his perspective of the incident. “Just running easy through the Bus Stop, and I don‘t know who got into who or spun. Thought I had it missed, and we all hit pretty lightly and I hit the left front in the wrong spot and it did something to it.

“Yeah, we made a half a lap. Very disappointing, but we will see how the day goes and have to go to work at Bristol next week.”

Blaney, the defending Cup Series champion, entered the day 45 points above the elimination line, highest among all playoff drivers to yet collect a playoff victory.

Also involved in the incident were Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Bubba Wallace and Ryan Preece. Stenhouse was unable to continue and will be credited with a 37th-place finish.

This story will be updated.