NASCAR insiders, Ryan Blaney debate moving Atlanta race to regular-season finale

From a fan perspective, Atlanta might be the best race of the season. If you’re Ryan Blaney, maybe not so much this time around. Team Penske was caught up in the big one last Saturday, but that doesn’t mean the track can’t get some praise from Blaney and others.

Ryan Blaney and his teammates were controlling the first part of the Quaker State 400. A really strong showing from the Penske Fords. They all had speed in qualifying and showed it on the track.

Of course, many cars were wrecked out of the race, including the Penske trio and Josh Berry of Wood Brothers Racing. The drivers that were left in the race put on quite a show. Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman displayed great teamwork to get the 9 car the win.

The Door Bumper Clear crew considered this prompt on the latest episode: Atlanta should move to the regular season cutoff, and Daytona should go to July 4th.

“I always loved Daytona on July 4th, so you can spend a couple days down there, but besides that, I think Atlanta should be the last race before the playoffs,” Tommy Baldwin replied. That seemed to be the prevailing sentiment.

Ryan Blaney prefers the old Atlanta

Does anyone think six superspeedway-style races is exactly balanced for the schedule? No. Does it make for dramatic moments? Yes. And if it is going to be part of the schedule anyway, might as well schedule it to be the most entertaining.

“I don’t love the idea like plate races, but I guess you’re gonna run them anyway, so you might as well, doesn’t really matter where they are in the schedule, they all count the same,” Freddie Kraft, spotter for Bubba Wallace, said. “It would be wild, though. Daytona’s already wild as it i,s you know, as the cut-off. So, Atlanta would be that much better. Because Atlanta is better, like it’s a better race.”

“I agree,” Ryan Blaney chimed in. While he didn’t say much else on the Atlanta vs. Daytona question, he did talk about the track itself. Hint: he prefers the old Atlanta.

“Like you said, it’s entertaining to watch. I think any racer will say, I like the old Atlanta, from a racer standpoint,” Blaney added. “Fans didn’t like it because, ‘Oh it gets strung out and yada yada,’ and stuff like that. And Atlanta, now it’s just more packed up and stuff. But yeah, it’s a spectacle, that’s for sure. Is it like an amazing racer’s race? No, like it’s just pandemonium, chaos. There is fun moments, but, yeah, I prefer the old one.”