Ryan Blaney ready to refocus after All-Star win

Ryan Blaney is ready to close the window on last week’s race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Officials “prematurely” displayed the caution flag moments before Blaney took the checkered flag in the All-Star Race. That sparked a chain of events that led to confusion, including whether Blaney’s window net was properly fastened after he unlatched it, thinking the race was over.

The All-Star winner plans to commemorate the victory by putting that window net on display.

“I want to hang it up somewhere,” Blaney said in a Thursday teleconference. “I don’t know. They said they can get it for me, so I think I will save that one. There is a neat story behind it. I am looking forward to getting that and I think I have a decent spot picked out for it right now. Maybe it will move around throughout the years. I am excited to keep that thing.”

Controversy surrounded the race’s conclusion, with conversations centered around both the call to display the yellow flag and whether NASCAR should have allowed Blaney to complete the race without being certain his window net was secured. Denny Hamlin, the race’s runner-up, vocalized his frustrations on his radio after the race noting Blaney was “holding it up.”

“Heck, it isn’t like I put it down two seconds after we crossed the start/finish line,” Blaney said Thursday. “I waited for a whole lap to take it down. That is when I found out it wasn’t over yet. I don’t know. We joked that next time we win I am going to come out the roof hatch. I am not even going to undo my window net. I am not even going to touch the thing.

“It was a weird deal with the rules and thinking we took the checkered (flag), but we joked that if we win another one, I will come out the right side or roof hatch just to kind of stick