Ryan Blaney was furious with NASCAR after competition officials made a decision that ended his race and took away his playoff cushion.
The reigning Cup Series champion was involved in a crash on the opening lap of the playoff race at Watkins Glen International. Track crews towed him back to pit road, but NASCAR made the decision to send the car to the garage instead of the pit stall. This meant that the No. 12 team was done for the day.
"They didn't give us a chance to fix it," Blaney fumed to NBC Sports. "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."
We have trouble early!
There is damage for the No. 11 of @dennyhamlin! pic.twitter.com/dw8qn7F0Cb
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 15, 2024
The incident occurred when Corey LaJoie spun Kyle Busch in the Bus Stop. The No. 8 Chevrolet hit Christopher Bell and caused a stack-up that collected several other cars. Denny Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Preece, and Brad Keselowski were all involved in the initial incident.
Blaney initially avoided the main crash. However, Keselowski hit the right side of his car. John Hunter Nemechek then followed. Blaney was unable to steer after this second hit, which sent him sliding off of the track.
"I don't even know what happened, honestly," Blaney added. "We stacked up and I caught someone in the left front and it completely broke the steering.
"I don't know if we could have fixed it. But that is the frustrating part, just didn't even give us a chance and just ended our day without even letting us look at it before it is in the garage. It stinks."
Blaney entered the day with a 45-point cushion to the cutline. He was in the best position among drivers without a win in the opening round of the playoffs. He immediately fell to +22 after the crash, but the number continued to change as the race progressed.