NASCAR updates DVP policy ahead of Charlotte ROVAL amid Talladega controversy

NASCAR has updated their damaged vehicle policy after it became a topic of controversy over the past week, due to them modifying it for the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

After the “Big One” occurred with five laps remaining, where a record 28 cars were involved, several cars were stranded in the infield of Turn 3. Under the policy adopted in 2017, drivers who leave their cars are ineligible to finish the race. That forced playoff drivers Chase Elliott and Chase Briscoe to remain inside their cars in hopes of getting back to pit road to undergo minimal repairs. 

NASCAR decided to give both a tow back to pit road, and they were able to get back out on the racetrack and meet minimum speed.

The sanctioning body has previously said that under the DVP, unless you have four flat tires, a tow back to pit road would mean your race is over. That didn’t happen in this case, leading to mass chaos and confusion inside the garage and among the competitors. 

Now, FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass has relayed that NASCAR will operate in the same way they did at Talladega as it pertains to the DVP moving forward at the Charlotte Roval this weekend.

“NASCAR had call with crew chiefs yesterday about DVP. Will operate as did at Dega,” Pockrass noted. “If towed to stall, clock starts after tow truck leaves stall. If a car has damage and its tires are not flat and it can’t drive back w/o a push, will be towed to garage and out (like 12 at Glen).”

However, the change to the DVP is only for the Cup Series, not Xfinity or Trucks: “Adjustment to DVP policy is CUP ONLY,” Pockrass added. “It is not for Xfinity nor trucks since their tires have inner liners and typically can drive a car with little damage back to pit road compared to the Cup cars.”

Not everyone will agree with NASCAR’s decision to modify the DVP this late in the season, but at least they’re giving drivers and teams a fair heads up before the race. Media members and drivers, like Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin, ripped NASCAR this week for their handling of the wreck that collected 20-plus cars in Alabama.

“I have a lot of information, but I don’t think I need to go too far because it was a complete shitshow,” Harvick said, via Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour. Then, Harvick went on to talk about how NASCAR picked and chose the cars to tow after the wreck.

“Well shit, we’ve wrecked enough cars that if we don’t pull all 28 or 25 or how many cars are sitting in the infield, hell I don’t even know if we can have a race,” Harvick added. “So, you know what, let’s tow this one back, let’s tow that one back, let’s leave this one here, like whose decision is it? Now we’re going to tow completely destroyed race cars and we’re going to tow some back that are really wrecked — 9, 14 — we’re going to two those cars back to the pit stall.”

Harvick continued: “Let’s just say those cars didn’t get going again, they missed the DVP (Damage Vehicle Policy) clock. So now they’ve crossed these loops and things different than the cars that were in this wreck. Now we are affecting points from all different kinds because you decided to tow this one not that one, this one went that way and that one went this way. …Just by the decisions NASCAR made, we could completely screw up the whole point system in a way this all worked out because of who they decided to two and who they didn’t decide to two. So now we’ve got a mess on our hands with the whole DVP thing and who gets towed back. Just tow them all back to the pit stall, please. Let the team determine who’s going to do what.”

Alas, it remains to be seen if the damaged vehicle policy is as big of a topic this weekend as it was at Talladega, but NASCAR is certainly hoping the focus is more on the action in Charlotte, and not their wishy-washy decision-making after the Round of 12 comes to a close.

On3’s Brian Jones contributed to this article.