Ryan Blaney Echoes Kyle Busch’s Post-Daytona Criticism After Tire Issues at Bristol

Sunday’s race at Bristol was expected to carry a lot of action considering the fixture’s return to concrete racing. What unfolded was a chaotic endeavor of 500 laps that saw a host of tire issues. After only five cars finished the race on the lead lap, defending champion Ryan Blaney spoke to the press and voiced his experience.

He clearly stated that he did not have fun racing and proceeded to reason for his disappointment. He said to Frontstretch, “What’s fun about riding around, grouping around there… Can’t run 50 laps unless you blow a tire. You got guys with blown stuff creeping around the racetrack. I can’t believe there wasn’t an accident.”

A new type of resin that officials used to coat the surface might have been the reason behind the tires reacting poorly to the track. As a result of it, the corners accumulated little balls of rubber from the worn-out tires.

Several drivers spun out during the race and saw their days ended early. For Blaney, this was a lot like this year’s Daytona 500 race.

Ryan Blaney likens the Bristol experience to the one endured in Daytona

The season-opener at Daytona this year saw drivers running at half-throttle during various points in the race to save fuel. Kyle Busch was one of the drivers who opposed this strategy. He went as far as calling it “disgraceful” and said, according to Motorsport, “We’re all sitting around there running half-throttle; not passing and just riding in a line.”

Coming back to Sunday’s race at Bristol, Blaney put forward that the problem was on similar lines to what Busch had stated. He said, “Everybody blew a tire there before the last pit stop. It reminded me of… the Daytona fuel safe is what it was. We were two by two. You’re creeping around there, quarter throttle, saving your tires and you just don’t know when you want to go or not.”

Blaney finished his race in 16th place. Though he was in the leading line at times and had a fast car, he couldn’t manage his tires as well as the others and succumbed because of it. With 54 lead changes, the race set a record for most lead changes in NASCAR’s short track history.

While a few, like the champion, weren’t satisfied with the race, those who were able to overcome the tire problems were happy with it. Should Goodyear be able to work on its tires and make them last longer, there could be a settling ground that all drivers could potentially be content with.