Ryan Blaney is heated with NASCAR after they forced him to go to the garage after lap 1 at Watkins Glen International
Today, NASCAR is racing at Watkins Glen International. And it took just one lap to bring chaos.
On the opening lap, Corey LaJoie dropped a wheel in the dirt through the bus stop. He then hooked Kyle Busch in the left rear.
LaJoie and Busch have a bit of a history. LaJoie spun Busch back in July at Pocono Raceway which sparked a reaction from the No. 8 driver.
Kyle Busch tells Corey LaJoie, “Payback’s coming” (Video)
As Busch spun in front of the field at Watkins Glen. Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Denny Hamlin and others were collected.
Blaney lost all steering due to the damage. He needed a tow back to the pit lane.
When a car is damaged in a crash, teams are typically allowed 7 minutes to repair damage. If they go one second over that limit, they are forced to park it for the day. After repairs, the car must then meet a minimum speed.
Playoff drivers Ryan Blaney was not given that opportunity.
The Team Penske team wanted to be towed to their pit box. They were not. Instead, NASCAR pulled the No. 12 car directly to the garage.
As they returned to the garage, the crew chief as well as Blaney had an animated conversation with an official.
Ryan Blaney frustrated with NASCAR
Ryan Blaney told NBC Sports, “Give us a chance to fix it!”
“How are they going to dictate if we’re done or not? They have no idea of the damage.”
“They said because I couldn’t drive it back to the pits, we’re done. But, if you get four flats, you get towed back to the pit box! You can’t drive it back.”
“I don’t know what’s going on or why they wouldn’t even give us a shot to work on it. I don’t agree with it.”
“And, I don’t even know what happened honestly. They stacked up and I caught someone in the left front. It completely broke the steering arm. I don’t know if we would have been able to fix it.”
“That’s the frustrating part, just don’t even give us a chance. You just end our day. Don’t even let us look at it before it’s in the garage. It stinks.”
The race is still underway.
