NASCAR Cup Series
Sixth-Place Finisher Ryan Blaney Disqualified After Left-Front Shock Issues
Oct 16, 2023
On Monday, competition officials from NASCAR announced that they have rescinded the disqualification of Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang following Sunday's South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Blaney, who was disqualified after post-race technical inspection supposedly uncovered that the left-front shock on the No. 12 Ford Mustang didn't meet the overall specified length outlined in the NASCAR Cup Series Rule Book.
Though, less than 24 hours after the penalty was officially levied against Blaney and Team Penske, NASCAR says that it discovered an issue with the damper template used for the inspection, which launched a full-on investigation.
“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further review of the inspection process throughout this weekend’s events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NASCAR has rescinded the No. 12 disqualification penalty," the statement from NASCAR reads. "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."
The reversing of the disqualification on the No. 12 Ford Mustang will allow Blaney to once again be credited with a finish of sixth place in the South Point 400, and revives his chance of advancing to the Final Four via his points position.
Blaney will now enter Sunday's event at Homestead-Miami Speedway just 17 points below the cutline, rather than the nasty 56-point margin that he had accrued as a result of the disqualification.
