Ryan Blaney fumed at Josh Berry for "losing his mind" after accusing him of "abruptly slamming on his brakes" during lap 252 of Stage 2 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, causing him to spin out.

As Blaney, 32, and Berry, 36, battled for eighth position around Turns 3 and 4, the former made slight contact with the rear bumper of the latter's No. 21 Ford Mustang, which Blaney claimed was minor and completely accidental.

Berry, however, clearly didn't see it that way, as he responded by abruptly "slamming on his brakes," with the secondary impact easily caving in and crushing the front nose of Blaney's No. 12 Penske Ford, completely destroying his radiator and causing a total loss of water pressure.

Berry, driving for Wood Brothers Racing, escaped without major issues and went on to finish fourth, but Blaney ended up spinning out and spending over 50 laps in the garage for repairs as a result, eventually finishing a distant 35th.

Speaking to reporters after the race, Blaney accused Berry of a deliberate brake-check, maintaining that he barely touched the No. 21 car and that Berry overreacted, lost his temper, and intentionally chose to "slam on the brakes and end our day."

"The deal in (Turns) three and four, I just barely, accidentally, bumped the 21 [Berry], and he decided to slam on the brakes and end our day," Blaney told NBC.

"So, I don't really know why after just a little tiny bit of contact, not even on purpose -- just lost his mind. So, unfortunately ended our day.

"Like I said, I barely got him and it was an accident. We just kind of came together in the middle of the corner, wasn't even enough to move him up the racetrack where I had position. And he just decided to end our day. So, I really appreciate that (sarcastically). Yeah."

Berry, however, has denied brake-checking Blaney, arguing that his opponent actually hit him quite hard - knocking him out of the preferred racing groove - and asserted that he only applied the brakes in an effort to "gather it up" and save the car from spinning out.

"Obviously Ryan, got into me pretty good there and I got up out of the groove just trying to save it and we got together," Berry briefly explained to NBC, before later telling a media session that he was "just trying to save it" at the exit of the corner.

Unfortunately for Berry, NASCAR's post-race data analysis sided with Blaney's interpretation of events, leading the organization to issue a $50,000 fine and dock Berry 25 championship points under Section 4.4a (actions detrimental to stock car racing) for the illegal brake check.

As a result of Sunday's collision that led him to finish 35th, Blaney has fallen down to seventh in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, mathematically eliminating him from championship contention ahead of this weekend's Championship Race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Blaney can no longer finish higher than fourth even if he does win the race, with current standings leader Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin all destined to finish above him.