Ryan Blaney issues sharp response to brutal NASCAR criticism that 'bugs' him

NASCAR star Ryan Blaney has hit back at criticism of drivers who have won championships in the current Cup Series format.

At present, the Cup Series championship is decided via a playoff format that sees 16 drivers compete over four rounds and 10 races, with stars eliminated along the way until a champion is crowned.

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One criticism of this format, and others that have been around since the first 'chase for the Cup' format was introduced in 2004, is that the best driver across the entire season may not necessarily be the one that ends up winning the title.

Last season, for example, Joey Logano finished ninth in the regular season standings, but excelled in the playoff format, going on to scoop his third Cup Series championship by winning the championship race at Phoenix in November.

Blaney himself benefited from this format in 2023, too. The Team Penske star finished 13th in the regular season standings that year, but like Logano, had a strong run in the playoffs and went on to claim the championship at Phoenix.

Blaney, though, won't stand for any criticism or 'Mickey Mouse' title talk, which is rather brutal considering most drivers have little say in deciding the format in which they currently compete.

"What kind of bugs me a little bit is the people that are so diehard on, like, 'If you won a championship in this format that we have now, oh, it's a Mickey Mouse championship and it doesn't matter. It doesn't count,'" Blaney told SiriusXM.

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Ryan Blaney says NASCAR format criticism bugs him

The Team Penske star continued: "It's like, man, everyone has the same opportunity as the guy who won it. This isn't the full season points."

"Like everyone always talks about, 'Oh, this guy, he would have won the full season points.' Well, that's great, but we haven't used that format in 20 years."

Moving on to his own championship win in 2023, Blaney is assured that he had a strong season that just so happened to get even better when the playoffs began, with his time able to rise to the occasion when things really mattered.

"I look at our championship as like, we had a good year, and we even had a better playoffs than everybody else," Blaney explained.

"And we rose to the occasion when we needed to, and we dug in, and we we're the best car during the playoffs and had some big wins and I was able to get the championship."

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