Ryan Blaney admits he didn’t understand rulebook after NASCAR parked him at Watkins Glen
Ryan Blaney admitted Wednesday he didn’t fully understand NASCAR‘s Damaged Vehicle Policy and that the sanctioning body made the correct decision in parking him during this past Sunday’s Round of 16 race at Watkins Glen.
Blaney, who was irate at NASCAR while conducting his NBC Sports interview immediately after, said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio he wishes he would’ve “settled down beforehand” so he didn’t come off as angry as he did.
Ryan Blaney: ‘NASCAR did everything right by the rulebook’
“When we got the damage and broke the part, I thought and honestly, all of us on the 12 team thought that ‘Hey, bring us back to our stall and let’s at least take a look at it and see if we can fix it.’ And then when they told us we were done and they put us in the garage [and] we’re out, I was still confused. We all were, talking to NASCAR and everybody, didn’t really understand the rule,” Blaney said. “When I gave my TV interview, I didn’t know the rule until I got back to the garage. We sat down and kind of went through the rulebook and NASCAR did everything right by the rulebook.
“If you are involved in an incident and you cannot drive it back to the pits, unless you have four flat tires and you cannot move, then you are done. We didn’t have four flats. I couldn’t drive it back. By the rule, you are out. But I honestly did not know that at the time. That’s kind of why I was the way I was in my interview, kind of confused. But yeah, NASCAR did everything the rulebook says. So, I don’t blame them for that at all and I’m happy we cleared up some of the confusion afterwards. I wish I would’ve settled down beforehand so I didn’t come off angry in that way.”
Ryan Blaney’s run at Watkins Glen comes to early end
Blaney was involved in the Lap 1 caution, making contact with Brad Keselowski coming out of the bus stop. His No. 12 Ford had a steering issue following the contact, and he was unable to drive back to his pit stall. Thus, NASCAR ruled his race over in accordance with the policy adopted in 2017.
Blaney entered the day 33 points above the cutline, but hardly got the chance to pad his cushion. He instead dropped points, now 29 points clear going into Bristol this Saturday. While he likely wouldn’t have entered contention with the repairs, he still wanted to get some laps in.
Blaney said while the rule can’t be altered now, perhaps a discussion could take place during the offseason.
“Moving forward, you can’t really change the rule now,” Blaney said. “Maybe there can be some discussions in the offseason of maybe there’s some different things procedure wise you can do maybe. But you can’t change it now. It is what it is and after learning the rule, I fully understood it.”
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