“The rule to me is pretty clear”: NASCAR insiders not buying into Ryan Blaney’s Watkins Glen "frustration"

NASCAR insiders Jordan Bianchi and Jeff Gluck didn’t nod to Ryan Blaney’s “frustration” over his #12 Ford Mustang being towed. The Team Penske driver’s second playoff run at Watkins Glen was shattered after Kyle Busch and Corey LaJoie’s opening lap chaos.

The defending Cup Series champion entered Go Bowling! at the Glen with a 45-point buffer over the elimination line, thanks to his Stage 1 win and a third-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway. However, calamity struck his #12 Ford near the ‘Bus Stop’ chicane.

While the pack steered through the inner loop, LaJoie nudged into Busch’s #8 Chevy. It blocked others’ paths and cascaded into a multi-car pileup. Among the victims was Ryan Blaney, whose steering column broke, and his car was towed to the garage. The 12-time Cup Series race winner was disgruntled and slammed NASCAR for not allowing his team to assess the extent of the damage.

Nonetheless, Bianchi and Gluck felt that things went by the book and didn’t buy into Blaney’s frustration. During Dirty Mo Media's Teardown podcast, the duo discussed:

"I get his frustration about you know, the car, the whole towing back to the (garage) thing, if we should be able to look at it kind of thing. But the rule, to me, is pretty clear and how this is. This is not been officiated in any different than how it had been. You did have damage from a crash and so it's a tough break and it's unfortunate," Bianchi said (0:25).

"The rule as it understand it is if you spin out and you have flat tires and you can't drive it back, they'll tow you back to the pit box. If you have damage from a crash and you can't get going again, you're done. Just going to tow you to the garage and they're (NASCAR) going to say you're out of the race," Gluck added.

Ryan Blaney got a 16-point blow at Watkins Glen and is now 29 points over the bubble.

Ryan Blaney wished to have qualified on Saturday night to avoid the setback

Blaney had a poor showing in qualifying on Saturday. While his teammates Austin Cindric and Joey Logano stood fifth and seventh fastest, respectively, the #12 driver failed to qualify and was placed 30th.

Kyle Busch kicked off his 92-lapper from 13th while Corey LaJoie took off from the 18th place. Thus, if Ryan Blaney had out-qualified Busch and LaJoie, he wouldn't have been trapped in the carnage and might've posted a promising finish.

Blaney was displeased with how his day went from bad to worse. While conversing with Bob Pockrass, the Team Penske driver expressed he should've qualified on Saturday to avoid the mess. He said.

"I don't know, just running easy through the bus stop. I don't know who got into who or spun. Thought I had it missed, but we just kind of hit pretty lightly and I hit the left front at the wrong spot," Blaney said. "I get caught up in early wrecks all time. It's nothing new. Should've qualified back there, that's I guess what I'm getting out of it."

Ryan Blaney is eighth in the playoff standings, while Logano and Cindric are way above in first and third place, respectively.