Ryan Blaney penalty FAQ: Why NASCAR overturned DQ, how inspection will change

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NASCAR rescinding Ryan Blaney’s penalty has left fans with many questions on the process and how NASCAR came to the decision.

NASCAR Cup Series director Brad Moran appeared Tuesday night on NASCAR Race Hub on FS1 to explain why Blaney was disqualified Sunday at Las Vegas for having his left front shock too short only to have NASCAR’s decision reversed Monday. Using that interview and talking to people in the garage, here are some answers to your questions.

Are shocks checked for length prerace?

Yes. Typically when the garage opens for prerace tech on the first day the garage opens (this occurs prior to practice and qualifying when the weekend schedule is like the one at Las Vegas), the teams bring their shocks for an official to check them. They check for length using a board where the moonball at the end of the shock would fit over a prong in the board. NASCAR’s board has adjustable prongs because shock length rules are dependent on the type of track. The official then seals the shock. The shocks then remain in possession of NASCAR (each team has a shock case) and after the car passes tech, the teams come get their shocks to put on the car.

[Related: NASCAR rescinds Ryan Blaney’s disqualification at Las Vegas]

Are shocks checked postrace?

They are for select cars, including all playoff cars. Brad Moran said that they checked 48 shocks after the race Sunday at Las Vegas and the Blaney shock was short a few thousandths of an inch. Moran said over the Next Gen era, they had never had a shock come up short in postrace tech. So it was an odd situation for NASCAR to see.

Moran: “With the 12, we found a problem with it being just a little too short. So we then put the calibration rod on to the template pins and had one of the team representatives adjust their shock, which we would normally do after we were knowingly having a little issue with it. Unfortunately, we could not get it onto the template. And at that point … [it] is a disqualification.”

How did NASCAR realize it had a problem?

Moran said when he was checking inspection notes and reports Monday, he saw that some of the shocks they checked on the backup cars of Chase Elliott and Daniel Suarez were having trouble meeting the lengths and they had to be checked on the board more than once. NASCAR had packaged the shock template board, calibration roads and all four Blaney shocks and flew them on the plane with them when returning from Las Vegas so they would have them at their tech center to do more research, he said. They likely also had it in case it was needed if there was an appeal. 

So what did NASCAR do next?

Moran: “We then check the boards, had conversations with the officials operating the shock board and come to realize that the board was not consistent throughout the weekend, which really meant that there could be shocks slightly [off] — we’re talking thousandths of an inch here, it just missed fitting the board. We realize that there was an inconsistency with the template. We then fully inspected the shock in question. There was nothing wrong with the shock in question. And we had to get it right.”

Was this an advantage?

Most people wouldn’t view having a short left front shock as providing an advantage. It would be more beneficial on the other shocks of the car.

Is this something NASCAR has been looking at?

Earlier this year, teams apparently have been heating their shocks prior to inspection. The shocks would then decrease in size as they cool. NASCAR set in new procedures recently to keep them from heating shocks and those procedures were in place at Las Vegas.

What will NASCAR do now?

NASCAR will now inspect the shocks while their specific car is going through the chassis portion of prerace inspection instead of them being checked soon after the garage opens. NASCAR also will tighten the prongs on the shock template board prior to checking the shocks for each team.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass, and sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass.

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