May 22, 2022; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney (12) fires the six-shooters in victory lane after the NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway in Forth Worth, Texas. Michael C. Johnson

FORT WORTH, Texas – Texas Motor Speedway fans got their money’s worth out of the NASCAR All-Star race Sunday evening. Not only did spectators cash in, but the million-dollar prize went to Ryan Blaney following huge wrecks, wild stages and even some late-race controversy. 

May 22, 2022; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney (12) takes the checked flag during the NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway in Forth Worth, Texas. Michael C. Johnson

In regulation, the 28-year-old Team Penske driver came around turn four and saw nothing but the finish line and a checkered flag. He and his team began celebrating, and after he crossed he went ahead and took the driver side window net down because – well, he thought he won the race. 

Not so fast. 

There was a yellow flag that came out moments before, triggering an overtime restart. 

Oh boy. 

After he thought he won and took the net down, Blaney circled the caution laps, struggling to latch his window back shut. 

“That caught all of us off guard,” Blaney said. “It was short lived panic mode and my spot of like, ‘How the hell am I going to get this window net back up?’ It almost takes two people to do it outside the car, let alone me.”

May 22, 2022; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney (12) celebrates winning the NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway in Forth Worth, Texas. Michael C. Johnson

Talk about a cliff-dive of emotions. 

“I had to switch mindsets up really quickly, a few different mindsets,” Blaney said. “From thinking you win the race to oh, you have to go through another restart to uh-oh my window net’s down, how am I going to get this up? The whole caution I spent trying to get that thing latched up.

“I finally got it on the front stretch with the Choose [Rule] and I had less than a lap to do it.”

With 25 laps to go, the seventh caution flag of the night was thrown, causing a decision to be made among the field: Do we take a pit stop now for fresh tires or grind it out in hopes of a clean finish? Eventual runner-up Denny Hamlin pitted and was fresh, while Blaney did not, causing even more concern for added mileage and time on his older tires. 

May 22, 2022; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney (12) celebrates winning the NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway in Forth Worth, Texas. Michael C. Johnson

“I was up in the middle of the racetrack, not even paying attention to my tires, cleaning them up or nothing,” Blaney said. “I was trying to get that thing latched and then finally got it and had like half-a-lap to clean my stuff up and finally get back into race and restart mode. Luckily I was able to get close enough to the right mindset to get a good restart, get a good push from the two [car] and get up in front of the 11 and hold them off.” 

Blaney prevailed, still getting the win despite the madness, and he said he “definitely doesn’t want to go through all those different mindsets again,” because, “that was grueling.”

Meanwhile, Hamlin felt NASCAR should have black-flagged Blaney for the window net. 

“It’s tough because he deserved to win the race, but if you mess up and you break a rule – not intentionally, but there’s rules and we have rules in place for safety,” Blaney said. “My crew chief is taking four weeks off because of safety. I nearly crashed him (Blaney) off of turn two when I got squeezed there. If I send him into traffic and he’s got no window net, then what right? Luckily, that didn’t happen and NASCAR avoids another controversy because there wasn’t a wreck in a car with no window net.”

Hamlin was visibly upset moments after the race, and didn’t take long before even going to Twitter regarding the incident. 

Denny Hamlin (11) started in 16th place and worked his way into a runner-up finish. Photo by Michael C. Johnson

“That’s the rule,” he said. “I don’t know what we’re talking about here. This is not a judgment call by me. This is just, that’s the rule. It’s unfortunate for him, but it’s the rule. You have to play by the rules.

It’s just frustrating because we just have no consistency in our officiating.”

The three-time Daytona 500 winner stated many times that Blaney deserved the win, especially since the caution arguably should not have happened in the first place. However, Hamlin felt since a rule was broken that those actions should have consequences. 

“Just because morally he should have won doesn’t mean you should win,” Hamlin added. 

May 22, 2022; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney (12) celebrates winning the NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway in Forth Worth, Texas. Michael C. Johnson

NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Scott Miller said he and a group of officials in Race Control overlook the track and monitor when to issue cautions. Miller said, the Race Director “has the final say of when the yellow gets put out.”

When they saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr. collide with the wall on the backstretch in the waning moments, that Race Director “looked up and immediately put it out.”

“Wish we wouldn’t have done that,” Miller said. “But we did that and we’ll own that we probably prematurely put that caution out.”

Regarding the window affair, Miller said they were in a tough spot and they felt since the net wasn’t hanging down the window, they couldn’t make Blaney come down pit road to fix it. 

“Obviously Ryan Blaney thought he won the race,” Miller said. “Another byproduct of special rules of the All-Star because every other race that we do besides this one, he would’ve won the race when the caution flag came out. We saw him struggling to get it back up but coming to [the] green [flag] he was warming his tires up on the back straightaway. You could clearly see both hands on the wheel, warming his tires up. The window was up, no way for us to know if he got it 100% latched or not and at that point in time, so there was no way we could call him down pit road at that time.”

May 22, 2022; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; NASCAR Cup Series Ryan Blaney’s car (12) with Texas shaped confetti after the NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway in Forth Worth, Texas. Michael C. Johnson

Well there you have it. 

Caution probably shouldn’t have happened, rule may or may have not been broken, but what really matters is, the best car won the race. 

“I can understand his frustration for sure, but obviously I’m not going to say I’m frustrated about it,” Blaney said. “It worked out for us. We had the best car all night. We were leading the race three seconds before the last caution.

“But I can understand where he’s coming from. But that’s just a product of running second compared to winning. He would be over-the-moon elated in my position if he won the race and I’d be ticked off just like he was if I was second, so [it] just kind of depends on the spot, can’t blame him.”

Among all the controversy and some of the favorites getting taken out of the race early, some outstanding racing took place Sunday evening for viewers to see. NASCAR brings about some wild endings, no doubt about that, but this race was one for the books. 

“Definitely going to remember that one,” Blaney said. “I wouldn’t say it’s as special as my first win or something like that, but it’s definitely up there. Something to remember. I’m going to have to try to frame that window net and put it over my mantle on my fireplace or something. Be kind of cool. But very unique night.”

Interviews:

NASCAR All-Star Race Winner – Ryan Blaney (No. 12 Team Penske Ford) – 

Jonathan Hassler (Ryan Blaney’s Crew Chief) – 

Scott Miller (Senior Vice President of Competition) –