It has been a rough day on pit road for Ryan Blaney in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway.
During a pit stop at the Stage break at the conclusion of Stage 1, Blaney was busted for speeding on pit road, which sent him to the rear of the field. After sending Josh Berry for a spin on lap 95, it appeared that Blaney would slip into a calm rally back through the field.
However, Blaney and the No. 12 team found more trouble on pit road on Lap 165. As Blaney was attempting to fire out of his pit box, two pit crew members gave it an effort to pull a wedge wrench from the rear window.
Both members were unable to get the wrench out of the window, and went for a bad looking tumble.
Here is video of the pit road miscue:
Here was the situation for Blaney and the No. 12 which led to two crew members tumbling and a penalty for the wedge wrench still being engaged in the rear window: pic.twitter.com/9ktGQrW9Hb
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) April 2, 2023
According to a report from FS1, both crew members were okay following their falls on pit road.
Of course, removing a wedge wrench from pit road is a penalty. Blaney had to roll back down pit road and have that wrench removed from his rear window. Blaney now sits 27th, one lap off the pace in Sunday’s race.