NASCAR star collapsed after Pocono race as Cup Series garage struck by illness
Ryan Blaney collapsed numerous times after Pocono, with Brad Keselowski believing many drivers were still feeling the effects of the Mexico City race.
Many drivers had a less-than-stellar time at Pocono following NASCAR's outing in Mexico City, with Ryan Blaney, and other stars affected.
Following the Viva Mexico 250, eyes shifted to the Great American Gateway 400, which saw Chase Briscoe win, Denny Hamlin coming in second and Blaney rounding out the top 3. In the top 10 was Brad Keselowski, finishing ninth after making a call that backfired with the race approaching its waning moments.
Despite finishing in third and generally being a force throughout the afternoon, it was clear the race took a lot out of Blaney, who was spotted struggling after getting out of his car.
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Eyewitnesses reporter that the 31-year-old collapsed to his knees several times and was clearly exhausted as he fell to the ground and waited to be taken to the care center after battling through an interview.
He faced problems with his cooling shirt during the race and appeared to be cramping with exhaustion and dehydration. But Keselowski also revealed that illness had swept the garage after the race in Mexico.
"Observation from driver intros - Most all of the drivers are still sick and dehydrated from last week. I’ve never seen so many sick drivers before the start of the race," the NASCAR star wrote in response.
After the race, Blaney provided more context on what happened with his cool suit and his overall outing Sunday. "It was hot [with a malfunctioning cool suit]," he explained, per NBC Sports. "I flipped it on probably lap 15. I was like, ‘Oh, it’s going to be a long day, so... ' Was able to just keep going.
"Really proud of the whole 12 guys from starting in the back, making good ground. Then me speeding set us back again. Having to come back up there. [Crew chief Jonathan Hassler] and the whole 12 team did a good job of kind of figuring out what to do from the start of the race and after my mistake.
"Yeah, just kind of stuck really there at the end, all three of us just kind of running the same pace. Obviously, I would have liked to have won. I think after having to start in the back, then the mistake I made, I feel like we were recovered really well. Our car was fast enough to do it. Overall I feel we made the most of our day. Just a little extra would have been one or two spots team. Overall really proud of the effort of the whole 12 team.”
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On the other hand, Keselowski added more context to his day and his decision to zig rather than follow everyone else and zag, which ultimately contributed to his ninth-place finish. "I’m just a big believer you can’t win by doing the same thing everybody else does. You got to be better than them and you can’t be better if you’re the same," he began.
"There are a couple of really interesting things from today. For whatever reason, and this is my fault, let me just be clear with this. We held pit road every pit cycle for three laps. And normally, they hold pit road for one lap. So when you get to lap two, it’s just automatic pit. And so when we were going down the short chute, the team said pit this time.
"And I had no reason to challenge them. And ultimately, I hold the steering wheel. And I’m the one that’s got to check. I didn’t check the crew chief and the spotter, and that’s my fault. I’ve got to give credit to my crew chief, Jeremy Bullins. He asked me to pit the lap before and I was in a clean air spot and I wanted to keep running, taking advantage of my tires.
"If I would have pitted the yellow came out while we were on pit road, we probably would have cycled inside the top 10 with new tires. Might have had a shot to win a race, so I feel bad about not taking advantage of that.”
