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Ryan Blaney disqualified for illegal shock after South Point 400 at Las Vegas

JHby:Jonathan Howard•10/15/23•

Jondean25

Ryan Blaney Las Vegas
Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Following today’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NASCAR has disqualified Ryan Blaney for an illegal shock on his car. The front left shock did not meet standards and as a result, NASCAR disqualified the playoff driver. This is going to be a massive hit to Blaney’s Championship 4 hopes.

Already Ryan Blaney entered the Round of 8 in last. Now he’s completely had Las Vegas wiped from his point total. After finishing P6, all of that is gone.

Kyle Larson won this race in dominating fashion. His car passed inspection. Back in sixth place, Blaney did not pass the post-race inspection.

Kelly Crandall of RACER Mag shared the news on Twitter. The left front shock did not meet the required length.

This is going to shake up the points a bit. Things are going to get shifted, any stage points will be taken from Ryan Blaney. This time of the season, you can’t make mistakes like this. It will be interesting if Team Penske decides to appeal this or not.

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If this penalty isn’t appealed and turned over, then Blaney has a clear mission – win.

Ryan Blaney DQ likely sets up must-win situation

Given that this is the Round of 8 and not the Round of 16, a DQ like this is catastrophic. To gain no points from Las Vegas, Ryan Blaney is in a tough spot. He’s likely going to be in a must-win situation if he wants to make the Championship 4.

Blaney only has one top-10 or top-5 finish at Homestead-Miami. That was back in 2020. As for Martinsville, that is where his fortunes get better. During his career, Blaney has been very good at Martinsville, and consistent.

He has finishes of P7, P3, and P4 in the Next Gen era at The Paperclip. He’s won the pole award at Martinsville before. He just hasn’t won there yet in the Cup Series. Get to Phoenix and Blaney is likely a favorite to win the championship. With this DQ, that gets much more difficult.

Barring back-to-back poor races for half of the Round of 8 field, Ryan Blaney needs a victory. Just a couple of weeks after his Talladega win over the disqualified Kevin Harvick, Blaney is on the DQ list. So, can he get it done in the next two weeks?