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Add the name of Ryan Blaney to the growing list of people displeased with NASCAR regarding the short-track package. The defending Cup champion recently shared his honest thoughts on the short-track woes and gave his two-cents on what can be done to fix the situation.
Speaking to Bob Pockrass ahead of the race in Texas, Blaney pointed to the various ways NASCAR has tackled the short-track problem. He mentioned how NASCAR has tried taking the diffuser off and tried tweaking the tires, but none of those things have moved the needle enough in the right direction.
"What made the other car really good at short tracks? You just haven't really been able to find that. I don't know. I mean, it's time for drastic, drastic changes," Blaney claimed.
The Team Penske driver added that he doesn't know which way NASCAR should go at this point. Blaney wondered that perhaps they'd have to completely change the ride height of the Next Gen cars. Having said that, Blaney claimed that he could only share from his perspective as a racecar driver and not as an engineer.
But what Blaney is sure of is that everyone in NASCAR wants a change, wants an improvement, and that they want it now.
Ryan Blaney doesn't have a solution for the short-track situation
Even though Ryan Blaney considers himself a realist, and understands that things like these take time, he feels NASCAR needs to figure out a solution soon because of the collective sentiment around the short-track problem.
"I see people complaining about it, you know, fans and the outside world complaining about it. It's like, hey, we dislike it as much as y'all. I mean, we don't like it either. It's frustrating for us. I think more when we can't ask somebody or get within two car lines to somebody at these short tracks. And it just is unfortunate," he explained to Bob Pockrass.
In the end, Blaney said suggesting a solution to this problem is something beyond him, and that he doesn't have a solution.
"I really don't. You just got to continue to throw darts on the board and hopefully at one point you hit a bull's eye."
Interestingly, some NASCAR drivers are of the opinion that increasing horsepower would improve the racing product on short tracks. However, that's not an option the governing body is even ready to consider.
So for now, the situation in NASCAR around the short tracks is a dire one. The need for a solution is urgent, and the answers are few and unclear.
