NASCAR Clarifies Stance After Ryan Blaney Watkins Glen Backlash

NASCAR has reaffirmed its damaged vehicle policy after driver Ryan Blaney was parked following a crash on Lap 1 of the Round of 16 race at Watkins Glen International last Sunday.

The incident, caused by contact with Brad Keselowski, left Blaney’s car with severe damage, leading officials to decide against allowing his team to attempt repairs.

The decision has sparked controversy, with Blaney expressing frustration over what he perceives as an unfair and premature call. Blaney commented to the media after the race, as Newsweek Sports previously reported:

“Give us a chance to fix it, how are they going to dictate if we’re done or not?

“They have no idea the damage. They said because I couldn’t drive it back to the pit box we’re done, but if you have four flats you get towed back to the pit box, you can’t drive it back. So, I don’t know what’s going on, why they won’t even give us a shot to work on it, but I don’t agree with it.

“I don’t even know what happened honestly, stacked up, I caught someone on the left front and it completely broke the steering arm.”

He continued:

“I don’t know if we could have fixed it but that’s the frustrating part, just don’t even give us a chance you just end our day and you’re not letting us get to look at it before it’s in the garage? That just, stinks,” he explained.

NASCAR Cup Series managing director Brad Moran provided clarity on this policy during a statement on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The policy, established in 2017, mandates that if a driver cannot drive their car back to the pit stall after an incident, the vehicle is deemed out for the remainder of the race. Moran explained:

“If you are in an incident and you are on the DVP (damaged vehicle policy) and you cannot drive the vehicle back to your pit stall, then you are out of the race at that point.

“If you drive it into the garage or behind the wall, at that point you’re out of the race. And you have to go to the care center. So, it’s a variety of reasons or efficiencies or safety. But all the industry in collaboration put this together in 2017.

“It was very unfortunate. I totally get Blaney’s frustration. But he was involved with the incident with the 6 (Brad Keselowski) which did end up busting the front suspension or steering I believe it was at the end of it all. And that would be consistent with what we’ve been doing since 2017.”