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Ryan Blaney says hard racing with Kevin Harvick at Martinsville was ‘nothing personal’

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Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney were battling all-day long at Martinsville and things boiled over after the race. How will it impact their relationship moving forward?

FORT WORTH, Texas — Ryan Blaney said his conversation with Kevin Harvick after last weekend’s race at Martinsville was a “stern talking to’’ but said he felt all was good between the playoff drivers.

Blaney and Harvick made contact throughout the Martinsville race and then had a discussion afterward on pit road.

“Obviously we weren’t happy with each other,’’ Blaney said Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. “Both of us had our conversations and what we were upset about. I felt like we handled it fine. It was a stern talking to.

“I have a lot of respect for Kevin. He helped me a lot when I got started a couple of years ago. It is just Martinsville racing pretty much. We had a talk, and I think we are fine. I am sure we are over it. Those were just to reassure that we were good.”

MORE: Blaney posts fastest lap in Cup practice
Blaney explained what bothered him about how Harvick raced him at Martinsville.

“The issue that I had was the first time he started running us over we were trying to pass somebody, and I can’t go anywhere when you are beating the bumper off me when I am trying to pass somebody,’’ Blaney said.

“After that, we were struggling and that is when it happened again. I think it was just two things, it is Martinsville and we are in the playoffs and I am not going to just let someone go, especially someone we are racing in the playoffs. In this round, there are so many good cars. I don’t think he was really pushing us around or being a bully or anything like that, it was just really hard racing. I have seen that plenty of times over the years at that place and watching on TV. It was nothing personal, just two drivers racing hard.”

Blaney finished eighth at Martinsville but is outside a transfer spot to the championship round in two weeks in Miami.

Texas, though, presents a strong chance for him to win and earn a spot in Miami or finish well enough to climb into a position to advance by points. He won both stages at this track in the spring. He finished 12th after sliding through his pit box on his final pit stop.

“I think we just need to have a solid weekend like we had in the spring race and try to finish it out better,’’ Blaney said. “We got behind there and slid through my box the last pit stop which put us back. We need to have a good, solid race.

“That is the best thing we can do. Cut down on mistakes like we have the whole playoffs. We haven’t had huge mistakes. We have been consistent and gotten good finishes. We are coming to a track that has been decent for us in the past and the 1.5-mile stuff has been really good for us. Hopefully we can have a solid weekend and a good run on Sunday and put ourselves in a decent spot going into Phoenix.”

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