Ryan Blaney appreciates that NASCAR was ‘receptive’ to hearing from Team Penske earlier this week and taking another look at the team’s shock issue from Las Vegas before rescinding the disqualification.
“We talked about it internally [on] Monday morning as a group before we went to NASCAR and was able to talk to them,” Blaney explained on Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. “I appreciate NASCAR for being receptive to it and talking with us Monday and meeting with the parts at their R&D Center and understanding what the disconnect was between pre-race and post-race.
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“That is a sealed part, so Elton Sawyer and Brad Moran were really great to us at being understanding and understanding that there was an issue there with the process, and they were able to fix it. A lot of emotions, but it was nice that it ended up, I think, as it should have.”
Blaney crossed the finish line sixth in Las Vegas but was disqualified in post-race inspection when NASCAR deemed the left front shock did not meet the overall specified length. A disqualification was worth one point and a last-place finish, and Blaney would have been 56 points below the playoff grid cutline.
Monday night, NASCAR rescinded the penalty and restored Blaney’s original finish and the 39 points he earned. Blaney is 17 points below the cutline with two races left in the round.
In a statement about rescinding the penalty, NASCAR said they “discovered an issue with the damper template used for inspection.”
Blaney admitted he’s not familiar with the entire inspection process, and it was difficult trying to learn what the issue was on his car. Team Penske personnel kept Blaney updated on the situation, and when he heard they were going to NASCAR, it brought a bit of optimism.
“It really didn’t change a ton for me,” Blaney said of the range of emotions going through Sunday and Monday. “We had a good day at Vegas. It stinks we had a good day and lost points, so that kind of stinks. Then we lost a lot more points that evening. I flew on someone else’s plane, and right when I turned my Wi-Fi on that was the first text I got that we got DQ’d. So then it was like, ‘OK, we have to win one of the next two weeks.’
“Then, when it got rescinded on Monday night, it was just about that it would still be hard to make it, but it isn’t a must-win now. So, it gives you a little more hope. I wasn’t like distraught or anything. That was the spot we were in and had a job to do, but now it is just a change a little bit.”