Ryan Blaney drops anger against NASCAR following his DVP situation at Watkins Glen

Tempers flared within the No. 12 team when NASCAR stalled their driver Ryan Blaney during last Sunday's race at Watkins Glen. After being ejected from the 90-lap event, Blaney expressed his disagreement in an interview with NBC. However, in an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Wednesday, the reigning Cup Series champion said that he didn't know NASCAR's Damaged Vehicle Policy (DVP) back then.

Blaney, wheelman of the No. 12 Mustang for Team Penske, is in his ninth year driving in the NASCAR Cup Series. The Hartford, Ohio native won his first race at Pocono in 2017. His most recent win came at the "Tricky Triangle" in July 2024. Besides the Cup Series, Blaney has seven wins in the Xfinity Series and four in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Blaney was involved in a lap 1 wreck, with Brad Keselowski coming off the bus stop at "The Glen". Following the contact, the former could not pit due to a steering issue. NASCAR, thus, labeled his car damaged and parked him for the rest of the day.

"Give us a chance to fix it. How are they going to dictate if we’re done or not?" Blaney said during the post-race interview (via Skewcar). "They have no idea the damage... 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."

However, Blaney agrees with it now. He wished he had known the rule beforehand so that he would not have come off as angry in his interview with NBC Sports.

"When I gave my TV interview, I didn’t know the rule until I got back to the garage," Blaney explained. "We sat down and kind of went through the rulebook and NASCAR did everything 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," he added.

Blaney, who had entered the race 33 points above the cutline, received his 6th DNF of the season on Sunday. As of today, he sits 8th in the Cup Series standings with 2072 points to his name.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. on NASCAR's controversial call against Ryan Blaney

Dale Earnhardt Jr. took to X (formerly Twitter), revealing what he thought about NASCAR's decision. The two-time Xfinity Series champion, who currently works as a commentator for NASCAR on NBC, felt the need for a middle ground whenever a car needs repairs right on the track.

"With the current rule there is also no need for elaborate "crash carts" and overloaded haulers full of parts and pieces. " Junior said. "I do think there is a middle ground. The clock has teams rushing repairs and sending cars back on the track in dire need of more repairs. These hurried repairs create their own batch of debris cautions as well."

The current rule states that if a car is unable to drive back to its respective pit stall following a wreck, that car is sent back to the garage and is called off for the rest of the race. This rule came into effect as a safety precaution, but fans as well as several NASCAR pundits have been criticizing its rigidity since its inception in 2017.

Meanwhile, NASCAR prepares for its third and final race of the Round of 16, which will take place on September 21 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Fans can watch it on NBC and USA or listen to live radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio from 7:30 PM ET onwards.