NASCAR insider reveals unintended consequence of Damaged Vehicle Policy changes

NASCAR announced this past Friday a complete overhaul of the Damaged Vehicle Policy, which Jeff Gluck of The Athletic believes will drastically change Cup Series races this season.

Speaking on “The Teardown” podcast this week, Gluck said the changes to the DVP will likely result in more cautions, which he thinks NASCAR is in favor of.

“This will seemingly, undoubtedly, unquestionably create more cautions,” Gluck said. “Let’s say after a big one or whatever. You’re going to have multiple cars out there that are dropping debris or leaking fluids. I don’t think NASCAR hates that, though. There’s a lot of times when they say oh, we want cautions, we want more restarts, we want more unpredictability. So, I think NASCAR is like oh, too bad, there’s more cautions. I think some fans might be upset and some drivers like dang it. Because last year this wouldn’t have been a thing.

“Like, this car came back into the race and dropped something on the track. Now, there’s gotta be a caution. And now, there’s a bunch up of the field and this ruins my fuel strategy from Daytona. But again, I don’t think NASCAR wants all the strategy of Daytona and Talladega anyway. They don’t want green flag runs, they want to see restarts. So, I think that’s what you’re going to get. There’s probably going to be more yellow flags.”

According to Gluck, the seven-minute clock will remain. However, instead of being out of the race after those seven minutes on pit road, teams will simply have to go to the garage for repairs. Teams can now go to the garage to make repairs. There will be no DNFs as a result of the DVP moving forward. If a car is unable to drive off the track to pit road or the garage on its own power and needs a tow, it will be towed directly to the garage.

NASCAR insider praises Damaged Vehicle Policy overhaul after 2024 issues

The seven-minute clock and the automatic tow to the garage and out of the race caused issues this past season — especially during the playoffs. Ryan Blaney wrecked at Watkins Glen and felt that he wasn’t given a chance to continue the race. During the aftermath, Blaney was very vocal. Then at Kansas, Josh Berry had the same thing happen. Except his was obviously more egregious. Wrecking on Lap 1 due to no fault of his own, Berry didn’t suffer much damage. Instead, he had four flat tires from sliding across the track.

However, due to the DVP at the time, he couldn’t be towed to pit road. At least, that’s what fans were led to believe. Following this incident, multiple playoff drivers were towed to pit road for repairs at Talladega. That included Chase Elliott.

Gluck said the updated DVP is a “win overall” for the sport.

“I think this is a win overall, you know, let the teams decide if they continue in the race,” Gluck said. “They feel like, you know, it’s worth trying to get back out there, 40 laps down to pick up a point or two if you can. Let them decide that. That’s fine, and you know, the towing thing as it continues to be this sort of unresolved thing, I just want to see that consistent then.”