NASCAR and its ruling have come under scrutiny once again after a questionable use of the DVP (Damaged Vehicle Policy) in the Talladega race last weekend. The officials were left confused about what the course of their action would be after 28 cars piled up during the YellaWood 500 playoff event. It was the biggest “Big One” a NASCAR race had witnessed, but what followed next was just chaos and confusion.

Drivers were stranded on the track and the grass patch waiting to be towed by the safety crew and guided to the pit road. However, only Chase Elliott and Chase Briscoe were towed back to their pit boxes. This came as a surprise, as NASCAR had determined that cars that are out of power and unable to roll out would be put out of the race. Ryan Blaney got the taste of this at Watkins Glen, as his day was cut short after being involved in a first-lap crash.

So why the special treatment to Elliott and Briscoe, and why was the rule changed all of a sudden to aid the playoff drivers? This is what NASCAR’s senior VP, Elton Sawyer, had to say about the tweaks to the Damaged Vehicle Policy (DVP). “Our goal from day one when this policy came into place was not to put good cars or good trucks out of the race. So the way we executed that over the last three years, the policy hasn’t changed. The cars that we did tow back this past weekend were able to get back on the racetrack and meet minimum speeds.”

However, he did acknowledge that the governing body is looking to make changes to the policy for smooth functioning in the off-season. “We have set programs and set policy. We’d said we’re gonna take a deeper dive into it in the off-season just to make sure that it’s still providing the efficiencies, providing the benefits that we want from that, but also be able to correct some of the things that obviously haven’t worked well with that policies.”

But NASCAR fans weren’t buying into this explanation and raised questions about the controversial ruling online on social media.

Fans frustrated with NASCAR’s constant tweaking of the DVP rule

It was clear that NASCAR officials calling the race were themselves overwhelmed with the situation they had on their hands. It’s not every race that you get to see 28 cars get involved in a crash. Stakes in this race were particularly high; the playoff drivers were also involved in the big one. Although Elton Sawyer had cleared the air around the incident, this fan wasn’t convinced with how things were handled. “I did not know what in the hell was going on at Talladega. None of it made any sort of sense. Especially with that odd hybrid yellow/red flag they had going on.”

Josh Berry, out of all drivers in particular, was irate with the changes made to DVP. “The 42 car (John Hunter Nemechek) was over there doing burnouts, slinging rubber all over the safety workers, trying to get going. If you have four flat tires and you got to get towed to pit road, you’re done, right?” He said this after being involved in the big one. Seeing NASCAR overruling their previous decision, a fan came into Berry’s support, “Tell that to the 4 team!!!”

Berry’s frustration stems from a ruling by the NASCAR officials in the Kansas race where he had flat tires. He could’ve gotten his car back to pit road and gotten back rolling in the race; instead, he was put out of the race. Therefore, seeing Elliott and Briscoe being given special treatment made this fan furious. “So like every other rule it’s Nascar gets to decide in the moment with clear bias and incompetency and no one gets to complain or else.”

Some even went far as to say that NASCAR was trying to help Chase Elliott salvage his day despite being caught up in the crash. One of the factors that could’ve influenced this belief was that the #9 and #12 teams were both in the playoffs. But this shouldn’t have warranted a change in rule for them to finish the race. “So then it really was just playoff driver favoritism. What a surprise the two cars that got a tow were playoff guys and one was Chase Elliott.”

According to the DVP rule, once the team manages to get their cars in the pit lane after the crash, they have 10 minutes to carry out the necessary repairs. If the teams fail to get their race cars rolling within this time frame, they are barred from entering the race. A user on Reddit opined that this protocol would’ve helped NASCAR avoid all the confusion. “The problem is NASCAR is the one deciding whether or not a car is still able to race. Let the team and the DVP clock make that call. If a team wants to be towed to the pit, tow to the pit, drop it, and start the DVP clock.”

It will be interesting to see what tweaks NASCAR makes to DVP in the off-season, as this is growing out to be a big issue for the teams and drivers.