With only six races in the NASCAR calendar, the fight for the title is more cutthroat than ever. Along with this, another topic that has been gaining momentum over the last few weeks is the sport’s playoffs.
Several events in the season have led to the growth of the anti-playoffs camp, which has called for the revival of the old system. However, when NASCAR addressed it, the board admitted to considering devising a new system that would do justice to the sport.
Now, with just a day to go for the Kansas contest, when Ryan Blaney of Team Penske shared his thoughts about the legitimacy of the NASCAR playoffs, fans heavily trolled him on social media.
Ryan Blaney Got Candid About the Current Championship Format
When the New Hampshire winner spoke to Frontstretch, he began by opening up about his chances of winning the championship. Blaney revealed that his No. 12 Team Penske squad was focused on putting in the work and being “indifferent” to successes and failures.
Though the 2023 championship winner mentioned NASCAR’s unpredictable nature, he was determined to give it his best shot. Following this, Blaney spoke about the potential return of the 36-race championship format.
The Team Penske driver highlighted the difficulty of every format and revealed being up for the challenge either way. He said, “Honestly, it doesn’t matter either way to me. Whether it is this, the 36 races, or the original Chase, we race according to the format, and we’re gonna make the most of any format that we’re given.”
Following this, when the No. 12 driver was asked if the champions crowned in the playoff era were “legitimate” winners, he momentarily lost his calm. Blaney responded:
“That word legitimate gets tossed around a lot, and it kind of p***es me off a little bit. People think that the guys who have won in this format aren’t legit champions. Everyone has the same shot to win. That’s just the outside world’s perspective. It’s hard to win no matter what format it is.”
How Did Fans React to Blaney’s Opinions About the Championship?
While Blaney, who had won the championship once and came close to winning it on another occasion, believed the championship format to be just as challenging to thrive in as the old format, fans had a different take.
As the Team Penske driver’s opinions went viral on X, several fans blasted Blaney for his stance. A fan called him a “Mickey” champion and wrote, “Of course he’ll say that all the Mickey champions love this format.”
A user pointed out Blaney’s championship stats and wrote, “I’d defend an illegitimate format too if I were the second worst statistical champion in the sport’s history.”
A fan then questioned the current format’s workings and asked, “The format is legitimate because we race in that format. Everyone races under the same format’ is essentially what I’m hearing. If NASCAR says ‘Alright, guys, whoever finishes 12th at Fall Kansas is the champion,’ is that also a legit format bc everyone races under it? @Blaney.”
This led a fan to point out Team Penske’s championship advantage. They commented, “Well, they arent legitimate champions lol hes only saying that because his team has benefitted the most by the playoffs and the last race being at Phoenix.” Another fan took a jab at his 2023 championship and wrote, “Good let it piss you off. You are champions under this format however you’d have none if it was full season championship format.”
Lastly, a fan called him a “Phoenix” champion and said, “Well theyre not legitimate championship. Theyre Phoenix championships.”
Though Blaney faced a fair bit of criticism for his playoff take, currently, he is the only driver on the NASCAR grid with a secure entry to the ‘Round of 8.’