NASCAR officials said Tuesday that the sanctioning body will investigate the offseason rules that led to the suspension of two drivers involved in crashes in recent weeks despite requests to send their cars back to the pits for repairs. Instead of towing Josh Berry’s car the day after his Round 1 crash at Kansas Speedway last weekend, NASCAR decided to allow him to continue driving. “We’re excited to see what happens next,” NASCAR Cup Series executive director Brad Moran said Tuesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “It wasn’t right, it didn’t look good, but (the rules) were done right. Again, that’s what we’ll look at. “It can change in the winter.”Berry collided with Ty Dillon, Jimmie Johnson, Harrison Burton and Chase Elliott.
The contact between the cars caused Burton to turn into Berry’s car. Burton’s car hit Berry’s car on the right. The contact briefly lifted the rear of Berry’s car off the ground. Berry’s car skidded backwards and stopped. The tire was flat and the team wanted to put new tires on the car and continue towing it on pit lane. Instead, he was pulled from the race by NASCAR. “It was an experience like no other,” Berry said. “Of course I cut it and rolled it and got four tires. I thought they were going to tow the car to the pits as I asked, then they rolled down my window grill and told me to get out. (Crew chief) Rodney (Kids) told me to stay home because I needed tires. They told me to leave. Then they dragged me into the camp and joined the fans. “Then they said they had to arrange a return and finally let me go.”
Moran explained on “The Morning Drive” why Berry was eliminated instead of Pete. “The impact was so hard on (Berry’s) car that it lifted it off the ground,” Moran said. “If you (damaged vehicle insurance policy) have had an accident – but the (accident data recorder) goes out and (Berry) can’t drive, then there has been a serious accident. He left because of DVP. “We don’t check (cars), not on the side of the road. We don’t have that option, but there is a sign that says it’s OK to drive again (and better still drive). However, if you had rotated it and drilled it four times, you would have had a yellow dent according to your hole repair schedule. However, our recovery program (breakdown car policy) makes it very clear that if you are involved in an accident, you must be able to get your car back to the pit lane.
“If they just rolled the tires and made a small dent (according to the contract), then the car will be towed. According to the report I have, the car “…” was not actually damaged and may have been involved. “We never want to take a car out of a race and, as with (Ryan Blaney at Watkins Glen), that’s our rule, but he had a mechanical problem. Unfortunately, there is no way to verify this. “It’s more important if the car can run,” he said.Blaney Watkins Glen crashed in the first lap of the playoff race and tried to pull away but was unable to. He wanted to tow Blaney to the track so the team could assess the damage, but NASCAR ruled that Blaney could not return his car to the pit lane and therefore must be removed from the race under the rules damaged car policy. Communication.
Starting in August, crews in Michigan had the option to install a system that allows officials at the scene of a crash to pump air to help lift a vehicle, allowing the vehicle to start again if a tire goes flat after an accident. Moran said Berry’s car has no such system in Kansas. Moran noted on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that the rule has been in effect since 2017 and was developed in collaboration with teams. “We looked at it last season,” Morgan said of the possible rule changes. “We’ll take a hard look (this offseason). There are some models that we don’t like and we will look at them carefully and discuss them with the industry. There are fixes that we feel are fair and just and good for racing.” You can race without repercussions and have to do several caution laps. “There are many topics to discuss,” he said.
