The NASCAR Cup Series race at the Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday gave rise to a lot of controversy as tire wear reached extreme levels. It was a huge problem for a lot of the younger drivers who are not as experienced, including former champions like Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney. However, not all the younger drivers had scathing reviews of the tire wear as Ryan Preece tweeted that he would take that any day over the contentious air blocking.

Air blocking is when a leading car takes away the clean air from the car in front, putting it at an aero disadvantage. As a result, the driver in the car behind finds it difficult to turn well into the corners, giving the leader a dominant advantage at the front. While the technique is not illegal, it takes a lot away from the spectacle of racing and fans have been speaking out against it for a long time.

Stewart-Haas Racing driver takes aim at air-blocking experts

Ryan Preece had a fairly decent outing at the Food City 500 as he finished P14, a good result for a struggling Stewart-Haas Racing team. Like the others, he too faced massive tire issues but went about pitting the car at the right time. His pit crew seemed to do a fine job as well. However, the 33-year-old was not in focus as much since he was not fighting for the lead of the race. After the race, he took to X to make his feelings clear about the events that unfolded on the track, taking a dig at those who criticized it.

“I would rather be disciplined as a driver than deal with aero tight. See you at @COTA,” Tony Stewart’s driver wrote in a tweet without mentioning anyone.

On the other hand, both Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney had complained about the massive tire wear and how they never wanted to be a part of this kind of race again. Blaney even went far enough to claim that Goodyear had lied to the teams about getting the same tires that they had from last year. One thing that’s common for them both is that they air-block their rivals quite a lot to stay in the lead. Unfortunately, things might not change the next time they’re at Bristol either. While that’s not going to make Larson and Blaney happy, it might bore some good news for Preece.

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NASCAR executive’s words will make Tony Stewart’s star quite happy

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NASCAR’s chief racing development officer John Probst recently spoke about the tire situation at Bristol and what he had to say would certainly sound like music to Ryan Preece’s ears. The short-track racing problem has been a big one with the Next-Gen cars and after Bristol, the organizers might have found something that can improve it. In a recent report by RACER, Probst said that he was against changing anything for the fall race at the iconic short track.

“So we actually gave that back during the race, as you guys saw. We’ll go back and look at it all. There were times in the race, obviously, when there was anxiety around [having] enough tires to finish it. But man, coming out the end and watching all that, I would not want to change much at all, honestly. Just maybe give them more tires [in the fall].” he said.

Short-track races used to be dreaded by race fans for several months, but Bristol changed all of that. A lot of people share Ryan Preece’s sentiment and if NASCAR is indeed willing to stick with the tire compounds Goodyear brought on Sunday, then there will be a lot to look forward to later on in the season.

“Better Than Atlanta”: NASCAR Fandom Showers Praise on Bristol Despite Rampant Tire Wear