NASCAR has been up to several maneuvers this season. Besides the favorable tire experiment with Goodyear, almost all of the sanctioning body’s innovations have received criticism. Ranging from the well-harped-upon Next-Gen car shenanigans to missing pylons, drivers have not allowed officials to rest. Now, even as Sheldon Creed won the Michigan Xfinity pole, another chapter of criticism is afoot.

The speeds recorded during qualifying apparently do not compare to last year due to a new package. This matter is concerning for Ryan Blaney, a past winner at the 2-mile superspeedway. He expressed surprise and disbelief in response to NASCAR’s newest innovation.

Ryan Blaney is not in favor of Michigan’s novelty

This year, NASCAR introduced a new aerodynamic rules package for its racetracks. The package first saw the light of day at Phoenix and was bashed by fans due to the reduced entertainment. Generally, the shorter the racetrack, the lower the downforce. But superspeedways like Michigan International Speedway mandate higher downforce for greater control and higher speeds. However, this time, Michigan is seeing a different story.

The press revealed to Ryan Blaney that the Xfinity pole qualifying witnessed speeds 18 miles per hour lower than last year. Sheldon Creed, the pole winner, recorded a fastest speed of 171.645 mph, topping Riley Herbst by 0.101 seconds. Although the Cup qualifier was canceled due to rain and Denny Hamlin was crowned the polesitter on a metrical basis, Blaney was crestfallen to hear about the new package. “I didn’t even know that…why the hell are we doing that?” 

Ryan Blaney, the 2021 Michigan race winner, further explained why he is upset. “I try to pack race in Speedway races…you need to do that at these places. This place puts on a fine show with the normal package. Especially in those cars, you kind of get to left rears and get people loose. That racing was fine, I don’t know the explanation for why they would change that up.”

Michigan had served as NASCAR’s package experiment venue earlier as well. In 2016, Sprint Cup drivers lined up to test the 2017 aerodynamic package. Back then, downforce was on a downward trend—that package featured 1600 pounds, down from 3500 pounds two years earlier. At a track such as Michigan, the drivers entered the corner a bit faster with these changes but had to reduce speed by more than 10 mph to drive through the turns.

Contrary to Ryan Blaney’s complaints at the present moment, he had hailed NASCAR’s package in 2021.

Ryan Blaney defended it in glory

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NASCAR’s current Michigan package rivals that of 2021 when Ryan Blaney won the race. That is why the Team Penske driver was a vocal supporter of it back then. In that race, Blaney was hardly among the leaders at first, as Kyle Larson and other Hendrick Motorsports drivers fought for the lead. But on the final restart, Blaney got a push from Kyle Busch. The leaders were then bunched up behind Blaney, a byproduct of the drag generated by the giant spoiler. It was a game of blocking and mirror driving.

After snagging the FireKeepers Casino 400 trophy, Blaney justified the package rules. “The fans wanted a high downforce package, low horsepower. If you listen to other people, a lot of other people in the garage want a low downforce, high horsepower package. That’s what personally I enjoy driving more. It’s not no-skill (but) it’s a different kind of racing. You have to understand just kind of a different way to approach the race, a different way to drive the car. We’re not all running out there and sipping lemonade while we’re running these 550 packages. It’s a different kind of racing maybe than what it used to be here three years ago with the low spoiler and high horsepower. It’s just changed (and) everyone has had to adapt to it.”

Evidently, Ryan Blaney may not be so defensive about the updated aerodynamic package. We can only wait until the Michigan race and see how it pans out.