Ryan Blaney’s Las Vegas disqualification overturned

Ryan Blaney is probably the first NASCAR Cup Series driver to be… undisqualified? Is that the term we’re using?

After his sixth in Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was relegated to a last-place finish when his #12 Ford Mustang failed post-race inspection, NASCAR announced Monday that the disqualification has been overturned.

The penalty in particular was a violation of Section 14.11.3.5 of the rulebook concerning the damper on the left front shock. The rule stipulates the damper must be at least 22.55 inches (57.27 cm) long for oval tracks, with inspectors finding the part on Blaney’s car was not up to spec.

Further inspection the next day eventually found the template used in the inspection itself did not meet regulation.

“After further review of the inspection process throughout this weekend’s events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NASCAR has rescinded the #12 disqualification penalty,” reads a statement from the sanctioning body. “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 #12’s stage and race finishing positions from Sunday.

“NASCAR has taken internal steps to remedy this issue moving forward.”

He remains below the cut line despite the penalty being lifted, though in a more manageable position as he is now seventeen points below the cut line. After the disqualification, he was fifty-seven points underneath.

“We are pleased with the decision by NASCAR to rescind the post-race disqualification to the #12 car following Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway,” said Team Penske. “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 #12 team during the 2023 season. We look forward to continuing the pursuit of the NASCAR Cup Series championship.”

Had the disqualification stuck, Blaney would have been the second driver to suffer the fate in 2023 after Kevin Harvick two weeks prior at Talladega. Ironically, Blaney won said race to advance to the Round of 8.

Revised race results

Finish	Start	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Status
1	2	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	267	Running
2	1	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	267	Running
3	6	8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	267	Running
4	21	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	267	Running
5	10	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	267	Running
6	12	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	267	Running
7	3	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	267	Running
8	8	45	Tyler Reddick	23XI Racing	Toyota	267	Running
9	4	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	267	Running
10	15	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	267	Running
11	5	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford	267	Running
12	9	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	267	Running
13	7	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	267	Running
14	13	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	267	Running
15	36	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	267	Running
16	24	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	267	Running
17	18	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	267	Running
18	16	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	267	Running
19	28	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	267	Running
20	33	21	Harrison Burton	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	267	Running
21	22	16	A.J. Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	267	Running
22	20	31	Justin Haley	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	267	Running
23	19	2	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Ford	267	Running
24	27	77	Ty Dillon	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	267	Running
25	30	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	267	Running
26	32	41	Ryan Preece	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	267	Running
27	29	38	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	266	Running
28	23	43	Erik Jones	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet	266	Running
29	26	51	J.J. Yeley*	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	266	Running
30	34	15	Brennan Poole*	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	266	Running
31	31	78	B.J. McLeod*	Live Fast Motorsports	Chevrolet	266	Running
32	35	9	Chase Elliott^	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	266	Running
33	17	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	263	Running
34	11	54	Ty Gibbs	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	259	Running
35	14	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	144	Accident
36	25	42	Carson Hocevar*	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet	110	Accident