Ryan Blaney: “Yeah, I think it changes a little bit.”
Last weekend at Martinsville Speedway, Ryan Blaney used the front bumper on Josh Berry. Berry elected to pump the brake pedal and brake check him in return.
Watch the video of Josh Berry brakes checking Ryan Blaney
Blaney picked up significant nose damage after the brake check. It took him out of the race.
NASCAR elected to issue a penalty to Josh Berry. And, Carson Hocevar was also penalized for the same brake checking violation.
Berry currently drives for Wood Brothers Racing and the team is closely tied to Team Penske, another Ford team. For 2027, Berry has already signed with Legacy Motor Club, a Toyota team.
On the trip home from Martinsville, Berry started making calls. He spoke to Blaney and team owner Roger Penske. He also left a voicemail for Blaney’s crew chief, Jonathan Hassler.
Josh Berry comments
“I regret the decision I made there in the heat of the moment,” Josh Berry said.
“He got into me in the center of three and four. And, I just overreacted to it, really.”
“The contact rubbed me the wrong way, I got upset and made a bad decision in that moment that I regret. Obviously, wish I would have made a better decision there. Can’t change anything about it now.”
“I don’t really expect him to forgive me overnight,” Berry explained. “It will take time to get better.”
“I felt like I’ve had a good relationship with all those guys over the last two years. If it takes time to heal these things, that’s fine. But I don’t see it going any further than it did on Sunday.”
Josh Berry signs with Legacy Motor Club
Ryan Blaney comments
“It was very surprising,” Ryan Blaney opened.
Especially the circumstances that it was an incidental contact that he and I had there in the middle of the corner. It was pretty light. That surprised me, but he made that decision and that is what it is. But yeah, being an affiliate teammate and he and I had a good relationship, I was pretty surprised at that.”
“Yeah, I think it changes a little bit,” Blaney stated of the relationship. “It’s not on fire, but it’s not rainbows and sunshine.”
NASCAR penalizes Carson Hocevar and Josh Berry
