Strike that. Reverse it.
Upon further review by NASCAR officials, Ryan Blaney’s disqualification from Sunday’s Cup Series Playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway has been rescinded.
NASCAR announced the reversal on Monday night. Blaney was originally DQ’d after his car’s left-front shock failed to meet specified length as outlined in the NASCAR Rule Book.
The ruling brings Blaney back into contention in the Round of 8 in the Playoffs. Blaney is now just 17 points from the cutline to advance to the Championship 4 with two races left before the finale. With the DQ, Blaney found himself an insurmountable 56 back.
“After further review of the inspection process throughout this weekend’s events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NASCAR has rescinded the No. 12 disqualification penalty,” NASCAR said in a statement Monday night. “Monday morning during its race weekend debrief, NASCAR discovered an issue with the damper template used for inspection.
“NASCAR then conducted a detailed investigation and has restored the No. 12’s stage and race finishing positions from Sunday. NASCAR has taken internal steps to remedy this issue moving forward.”
Team Penske, which fields the Blaney entry, posted the following statement on Monday night:
“We are pleased with the decision by NASCAR to rescind the post-race disqualification to the No. 12 car following Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway,” Team Penske said. “NASCAR has shown a tremendous amount of integrity throughout the process which has led to this conclusion.”
Mike Pryson covered auto racing for the Jackson (Mich.) Citizen Patriot and MLive Media Group from 1991 until joining Autoweek in 2011. He won several Michigan Associated Press and national Associated Press Sports Editors awards for auto racing coverage and was named the 2000 Michigan Auto Racing Fan Club’s Michigan Motorsports Writer of the Year. A Michigan native, Mike spent three years after college working in southwest Florida before realizing that the land of Disney and endless summer was no match for the challenge of freezing rain, potholes and long, cold winters in the Motor City.