“Parked by NASCAR officials….I don’t even think they know their own rules or procedure”, lashed out an angry Kyle Busch after he was pulled out from the Daytona 500. After 20 years, Busch finally had his thoughts fixed on the Daytona 500 trophy, but all his hopes came to a crashing end. 

Busch’s car was pulled out keeping the updated DVP or Damaged Vehicle Policy in mind. However, just after the race, it seemed as though Busch was not content with this decision. NASCAR veteran, Kevin Harvick is now all set to explain why Busch might be under the wrong notion and the decision does make sense.

With only 15 laps to go, Busch meets with a catastrophic crash

It was on the 186th lap that things went topsy-turvy for Kyle Busch. Busch was running near the front when an aggressive move by Joey Logano triggered a multi-car wreck. This caused damages to the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. However, the team believed it was still in race-able condition. Under NASCAR’s updated DVP rules, teams now have unlimited time to work on their cars in the garage. However, it is mandatory for them to first meet the minimum speed on track before returning for further repairs.

Highlighting how the team might have misinterpreted the rules, Kevin Harvick said, “With the new DVP policy—the damaged vehicle policy—there are some new rules regarding what happens when a car has flat tires or is involved in an accident. Once they got back, there were some technicalities with the rule. They sent the car back out on the track, but then brought it back into the garage. Technically, once a car is towed back to the designated area, it can be repaired, but when it leaves the garage, it has to meet minimum speed. If it doesn’t, it can’t come back.”

NASCAR’s updated Damaged Vehicle Policy (DVP) states that if a car involved in an incident cannot leave the scene under its power, it will be towed to the garage. Once in the garage, the team gets one chance to repair it and send it back onto the track. The car must then meet minimum speed within three consecutive green-flag laps. If it succeeds, it remains in the race. If it fails or returns to the garage again, it is officially ruled out.

Harvick further added, “They never went to a green flag, but they did bring the car back in to work on it, which technically isn’t allowed. It’ll be interesting to see if that rule sticks or if the team misinterpreted it, because that could be something that evolves moving forward.” NASCAR towed Busch’s car to a work area, where his team assessed the damage. To their relief, all four wheels were aligned, and there were no major structural issues.

After installing four fresh tires. Kyle Busch was prepared to go back out, only to be told by NASCAR officials that he needed to return to the garage for more repairs. Since the race was still under caution, Busch never got the chance to attempt minimum speed before heading back to the garage. However, because he hadn’t officially met the speed requirement before entering for repairs, NASCAR ruled him out of the race.

Busch ended the race with a deplorable P34 finish. Just after he was pulled out from the race, Rowdy said, “We got beat by NASCAR procedures again.” Busch’s frustration wasn’t just about losing a shot at the Daytona 500. It was about a rulebook technicality that, in his eyes, cost him a fair chance to fight until the end.

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NASCAR Senior Vice President comes clean on the controversy

It seems as though Kevin Harvick is not the only one who thinks that Kyle Busch and the Richard Childress Racing team might be under the wrong notion when it comes to the updated DVP rules. Elton Sawyer NASCAR‘s senior vice president of competition, recently declared that the entire controversy has stemmed from Kyle Busch’s “misunderstanding” of the rules.

Sawyer said, “I think it was a misunderstanding on Kyle’s perspective. What we do on pit road as far as the damaged vehicle policy hasn’t changed from 2024 other than we’re giving an additional minute — it’s now seven minutes versus six. But as far as what our fans, and our competitors, what they witnessed last year in the past five or six years, the DVP policy looks the same on pit road with the adjustments that I mentioned.”

Whether this incident prompts further clarifications or adjustments remains to be seen. However, for now, Busch’s Daytona 500 hopes were derailed by procedure rather than performance.