A contact accident with Brad Keselowski damaged Blaney’s car so badly that officials decided not to allow his team to repair it. The decision sparked controversy, with Blaney expressing his displeasure at what he saw as an unfair and hasty decision. Blaney spoke to the media after the race, as previously reported.”Give us a chance to fix it.” How will they decide if I’m done or not?
“They don’t understand the damage because I can’t put it in the pit. But if it has four wheels, you can’t drag it into a ditch. In the back. So I don’t know what’s going on or why they won’t let us work, but I don’t agree. “Honestly, I don’t know what happened. It piled up, hit the guy on the left, and the steering arm was completely broken.”He continued:”I don’t know if we could have fixed it, but that’s the frustrating part. Don’t give us a chance. You’re going to end the day and not let us see this while you’re in the garage.?” “It’s just a smell,” he explained.
NASCAR Cup Series executive director Brad Moran clarified the policy in a statement to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The 2017 policy states that if a driver fails to return the car to the pits after a crash, the car will be deemed inoperable for the remainder of the race. Moran explained:“If you’re involved in an accident and you have DVP (Vehicle Damage Insurance) and you can’t get your car back to the pits, you’re out of the race.
“If you drive behind a garage or a wall, you’re out of the race and you have to go for maintenance. So the reasons, effectiveness and safety are different. But in 2017, the entire industry came together. “I was ashamed. I completely understand Blaney’s frustration. But in incident number 6 [Brad Keselowski] where he broke the front suspension or the steering, I think that was the end of it. “This is consistent with what we have been doing since 2017.”
