NASCAR officials rescinded the disqualification of Ryan Blaney’s Team Penske No. 12 Ford on Monday after further inspection of his car from Sunday’s Cup Series event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The decision restores Blaney’s sixth-place finish in Sunday’s South Point 400 and provides him with better footing in the Cup Series Playoffs’ Round of 8, which continues Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Blaney and the team were initially disqualified after post-race technical inspection at the 1.5-mile Nevada track, where competition officials ruled that the left-front shock on the No. 12 did not meet the overall specified length outlined in Section 14.11.3.5 of the NASCAR Rule Book.
Blaney was demoted to last place in the 36-car field.
After a further review of the inspection process at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, competition officials discovered an issue with the damper template used for inspections in the Las Vegas garage.
A statement from the sanctioning body said, “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.”
Blaney was once again credited with sixth-place points, and the eight points he had earned at the two stage breaks were also restored. The reversal moves Blaney from last place among the eight remaining title-eligible drivers to seventh, trimming his deficit relative to the provisional elimination line from 56 to 17 points.
Team Penske released a statement in response on Monday night.
“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. 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,” the statement read.
Blaney is making his third consecutive appearance in the Round of 8, marking the fifth time in his Cup Series career that he has made such a deep playoff run.
The 29-year-old driver is seeking his first appearance in the Championship 4 field, which will vie for the Cup Series title in the Nov. 5 season finale at Phoenix Raceway.