What a wild 24 hours it has been for Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Team Penske team. The group unloaded with really good speed in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Blaney recorded a sixth-place finish. However, after the race Blaney and his team were disqualified due to the left front shock not complying with NASCAR Rules.
Well, on Monday, NASCAR announced that the penalties levied against Blaney and the No. 12 team will officially be rescinded.
In a statement from NASCAR on Monday evening, the sanctioning body notes that it discovered an issue with its damper template, which is used for inspection. After a detailed investigation, NASCAR came to the conclusion that the No. 12 team would see its race finish and Stage Points restored from Sunday’s race.
According to NASCAR, they have taken steps to remedy the template issue going forward.
Here is the complete statement, which was issued by NASCAR on Monday:
“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further review of the inspection process throughout this weekend’s events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NASCAR has rescinded the No. 12 disqualification penalty.
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Team Penske, as you’d expect after getting the disqualification rescinded, released a statement following the reversal of the penalties.
The team is happy to just get back to its focus on chasing the NASCAR Cup Series championship.
“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,” the statement from the team read. “NASCAR has shown a tremendous amount of integrity throughout the process which has led to this conclusion. We are proud of the effort and the results by the No. 12 team during the 2023 season. We look forward to continuing the pursuit of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship.”
With the disqualification being rescinded, Blaney is back in the game in the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Blaney now sits 17 points behind the cutline. Following the DQ, he had fallen to 56 points outside of the cutline.
