Two Cup Series drivers have seen races end early due to NASCAR's tow rule. This rule will not change before the end of the season, but it is one that NASCAR will review over the winter.
Brad Moran, NASCAR's Cup Series managing director, appeared on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Tuesday to address this rule. This is in the wake of Ryan Blaney recording a DNF on the opening lap at Watkins Glen and Josh Berry recording a DNF on the opening lap at Kansas.
As Moran said, the rule is clear regarding cars that spin and have flat tires versus cars that have flat tires after being involved in a crash.
"If you're involved in an incident, you have to be able to get your vehicle back to pit road," Moran said. "If it's just sitting there with flat tires, you've spun out -- we'll even give you a light scuff -- That would be one thing. That vehicle would have been towed in."
🗣️ “It didn’t look right or feel right, but it was done correctly.”#NASCAR's Brad Moran explains why @joshberry wasn't able to return to the race after their Lap 1 incident at Kansas & says the rule is something they'll "review over the winter."
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— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) October 1, 2024
Both drivers and their teams were left stuck on track after incidents. They thought they would receive a tow back to the pit stall so their crews could put on fresh tires and examine any damaged areas. The plan was to continue with the race.
Berry, who ended up in the campgrounds after spinning in a multi-car incident, was told to exit his car as the crews loaded it up onto a rollback truck.
Visually, the No. 4 Ford did not have much damage. Moran said that the incident recorder had gone off in the car and that the contact from another car had lifted the No. 4 off of the ground.
Blaney was towed back to the garage instead of his pit stall after an incident started by Corey LaJoie spinning Kyle Busch. Blaney did not have the ability to steer his No. 12 Ford back to the garage due to a mechanical issue.
"They didn't give us a chance to fix it," Blaney said to NBC Sports at Watkins Glen. "How are they going to dictate if we are done or not? They have no idea of the damage.
"They said we were done because I couldn't drive it back to the pit box, but if you have four flats, you get towed back to the pit box. You can't drive that back. I don't know what is going on or why they won't give us a shot to work on it but I don't agree with it."
Blaney later addressed his comments after learning about the particular tow rule. He said that NASCAR did its job after he was involved in the opening lap incident.
Rodney Childers, Berry's crew chief, responded to the DNF at Kansas with a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
"I've seen a lot of things over my 25 years in the Cup Series, but that's the most screwed up thing I've ever seen or been involved with," Childers wrote.
"All we needed was tires with air in them. And how many times have we drug cars to the pit stall to put tires on them. Why today?!?"
Moran said that he would talk to Childers about this incident at Kansas and the rule after doing the interview on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
The Cup Series Managing Director also said that this ruling would not have been made differently if one of the cars involved in the crash was controlled by a driver in the championship race. He said that it would be a "really bad situation" but that NASCAR would enforce the rule.