Ryan Blaney is p****d off with NASCAR playoff claim

Team Penske has dominated the NASCAR Cup Series championship in recent years, but don’t tell Ryan Blaney it’s because of the much-maligned postseason format.

Blaney himself won it all in 2023, while teammate Joey Logano has hung three banners in the team shop after coming out on top in 2018, 2022 and 2024.

The critics say the current playoff format - which ultimately prioritizes success in one single race over year-long excellence - has played into Penske’s hands. The team that always seems to come good right at the key moment of the season.

Right now speculation is significant that NASCAR is about to change that format up - with the potential options even including the return to a full 36-race championship season.

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Blaney says all NASCAR champs are legit

Blaney was asked whether he believed championships won in one format are more credible than those won in another. He is clearly unimpressed by that mindset.

Speaking to media including Frontstretch, he said: “That word legitimate gets tossed around a lot and it kind of p***** me off a little that people think the guys who have won in this format aren’t legit champions.

"It’s like, 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, but everyone always has their opinions and things like that, and it is what it is, nothing you can do about that.

“No matter what champion is in what format - 36-race, original Chase, this format - they’re all deserving of winning it because everyone has the same shot and it’s extremely hard to do.

"So I don’t think I agree with people who say that.”

NASCAR playoff format for 2026

A decision on what the 2026 playoff format looks like is expected to be announced once the 2025 playoffs end with the Championship race in Phoenix in early November. 31-year-old Blaney says he has zero preference over what comes next.

“Honestly to me, it doesn’t matter either way," he added.

"Whether it’s this, 36 races, the original Chase, like we race to the format. And we’re gonna make the most out of any format that we’re given.

“I’ve gotten that question a lot, that’s a big topic of discussion and I’m good either way - if they want to switch it up, cool, we’ll go see what we can do in that one. So yeah, we’ll see what they end up doing.

“I’m honestly open to whatever and open to the challenge of whatever format comes. Every one of them is tough to do, we’ll see where it comes.”

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