Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidates Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney made contact with each other and spun in Turn 3 on Lap 87 of 267 in the Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts on Saturday at Kentucky Speedway.
Both drivers were running in the top 10 shortly after a restart when the right front corner of Blaney's No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford made contact with the left rear of Elliott's No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet SS.
"I got put in a bad spot on the restarts a few times," Blaney said on NBCSN. "We got in the middle of (Turn) 3, someone was on our bumper, and got loose, unfortunately. We took the 24 (of Elliott) out, which was not intentional. We both had really good cars."
Elliott entered and ended the night eighth in the standings while Blaney, who came in 15th, dropped to 18th and was 24 points beneath the Chase cutoff line.
"I tried to give as much room as possible," Elliott told NBCSN. "But hey, that's racing, I guess. We'll try to go get them next week."
Elliott returned to the race on Lap 145, 57 laps down from the leaders. Blaney returned on Lap 204, 116 laps down. Elliott finished in 31st place while Blaney was 35th.
Blaney aplogized for the wreck and to No. 24 fans on Twitter after the race, taking responsibility for the collision.
