Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts to calls for NASCAR rule change after Ryan Blaney’s Watkins Glen controversy
On Sunday, NASCAR sent Ryan Blaney to the garage after a wreck, and now Dale Earnhardt Jr. is weighing in on the controversy. Blaney felt he was wronged by officials for not having a chance to get back on the track.
After being involved in the Lap 1 wreck at Watkins Glen, Ryan Blaney had to be towed off the track. However, he was not taken to his pit box, and was instead told he was out of the race and going to the garage.
That sparked frustration from the defending Cup Series champion. It also led Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports to suggest a potential rule change.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. chimed in on the idea. He thinks the new rule is good for teams, but there might be a middle ground that can be found.
“With the current rule there is also no need for elaborate ‘crash carts’ and overloaded haulers full of parts and pieces. I do think there is a middle ground,” Dale Jr. said on social media. “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.”
Dale Earnahardt Jr. was around in the days when cars could be patched up however they had to be, more or less, and sent back on the track. It was awesome to see fenderless, hoodless stock cars. However, there is an element of danger there.
Pit crews working on damaged cars are at greater risk of injury. Hot fluids and parts and sharp edges present dangers that many fans may not think about. It still felt like Blaney and his team were given the bad end of the stick in this situation.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. believes in a middle ground
There is definitely something that can be done about the Damaged Vehicle Policy. A lot of times, these toe links break or are bent in a way that takes teams out of races. It would be great if teams could attempt to make those fixes in the garage and return to the race.
After he was out of the Watkins Glen playoff race, Ryan Blaney was more than upset. Understandably so.
“Give us a chance to fix it, how are they going to dictate if we’re done or not?” Blaney said on the TV broadcast in the garage. “They have no idea the damage. They said because I couldn’t drive it back to the pit box we’re done, but if you have four flats you get towed back to the pit box, you can’t drive it back. So, 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.
“I don’t even know what happened honestly, stacked up, I caught someone on the left front and it completely broke the steering arm. I don’t know if we could have fixed it but that’s the frustrating part, just don’t even give us a chance you just end our day and you’re not letting us get to look at it before it’s in the garage? That just, stinks.”
Are Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Ryan Blaney right? Is there room for change regarding this policy? Blaney managed to hold onto a good points cushion, but it could have been much worse. He enters Bristol with a chance to advance to the Round of 12.