“Double standards.” That’s what NASCAR has been accused of after inconsistently applying its Damage Vehicle Policy over the past month. The sanctioning body came under intense backlash at the 2024 YellaWood 500 after a 28-car wreck brought about a sudden change in their approach towards the DVP. Title contenders Chase Elliott and Chase Briscoe were towed back for repairs, despite both their cars being unable to make their way into the pit road. It was a stark contrast to what Ryan Blaney and Josh Berry experienced earlier this year.

With five races to go before the season ends, NASCAR met with its Cup Series crew chiefs on Thursday to clarify their stance on the DVP. The sanctioning body will now follow the same guidelines used at Talladega Superspeedway, that is, “if a vehicle has flattened tires and appears able to continue but cannot be driven back, the car will be towed back to its pit stall, allowing the team to change tires and assess and repair its damage under the allotted seven-minute timeframe.”

Talladega controversy forces Damage Vehicle Policy reassessment

Josh Berry will be feeling hard done by. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver’s No. 4 Ford Mustang was forced to be eliminated from the 2024 Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway after being involved in a minor collision just one lap into the race.

As per NASCAR’s DVP guidelines, Berry’s car was ineligible to be towed into the pit road for repairs because he couldn’t continue after the contact was made, even though the damage that was incurred was minimal. However, while NASCAR stood by its rule in Kansas, its approach drastically changed at Talladega when two title contenders were involved.

Highlighting the importance of consistency, Denny Hamlin’s crew chief Chris Gabehart, who was a part of NASCAR’s call, told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, “It’s stated that if you’re deemed in an incident and you can’t drive back to your pit box, you’re out of the race. It doesn’t matter how good or bad that rule is, just like it was at Kansas with Josh Berry, that was the rule and everybody can stomach it and understand it. What is confusing is when that doesn’t happen, no matter if it’s a 40-car wreck, which it was close to that then we can’t finish the race. And boy, that’s an unintended consequence, get it. But from a competitive standpoint, I prefer sticking to the rules.”

In response to criticism over inconsistent Damage Vehicle Policy (DVP) enforcement in Talladega, NASCAR VP Elton Sawyer justified the tough call, saying, “On the heels of last week, our goal is to never put good cars out of the race, Last week after we looked at we may have made a different call. As we came into Talladega this week, we wanted to make sure we air on the side of the competitors.”

NASCAR also clarified that cars unable to reach pit road due to flat tires will now be towed for repairs, with a strict seven-minute window for teams to complete necessary fixes. After this period, the cars will either rejoin the race or be eliminated, aiming for a fairer, more consistent approach across the board.

However, questions remain. If two playoff contenders wreck each other, which car gets priority for repairs? With stakes so high, fans worry NASCAR may adjust rules to favor top contenders, stirring frustration over perceived inconsistency. Many fans have taken to social media to express concerns, underscoring the need for a transparent, uniform policy that applies to all teams fairly.

Fans share their views about NASCAR’s DVP approach

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As expected, fans were quick to share their views about NASCAR’s clarification of the Damage Vehicle Policy after the events at the 2024 YellaWood 500. Expressing that the lack of consistency in the sanctioning body’s approach has led to an unnecessary dispute between the organization and its teams, one fan wrote, “Man they should have just done this before Talladega and avoided the entire controversy that didn’t need to happen.”

Echoing that sentiment, a fan felt that NASCAR should have anticipated such circumstances and planned accordingly. While many drivers felt it was an uncalled situation, Chase Elliott called it comical, “This is honestly comical that we’ve created this right here, Everybody’s just spinning their wheels, turning in circles, can’t go anywhere. Stuck in the grass. Stuck on the asphalt.” Echoing the same sentiment behind the new developments in the policy, the Reddit user wrote, “Looks like they could have foreseen these issues and done something before it came to this and embarrassed themselves.”

While Elliott was Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, and Denny Hamlin, stuck in the middle of the track. The Team Penske driver expressed his frustration, saying, Everyone is just sitting on flat tires. They want to roll, but they can’t because they’re on flat tires, We got this machine that’s going to jack up the back of the car but you’re flat on the fronts; you still can’t steer.” This fan sarcastically remarked about the sanctioning body’s approach: “Good ol NASCAR, reactive instead of proactive.”

When it comes to making changes to the Next-Gen car to improve safety standards, the organization has taken the initiative after drivers have wrecked on the track, which may have been where the fan is coming from. One Reddit user criticized NASCAR for changing its DVP approach, simply because it affected their playoff drivers by saying, “Lol unilateral rule changes. What a clown show.”

A fan couldn’t help but feel that NASCAR would be better off scrapping the DVP altogether, keeping in view the frustrations from Talladega. Expressing that the interpretation of the rule has only become more complex with every passing year, the motorsports enthusiast went on to say, “Can we just go back to the old days of going to the garage for repairs and be done with it? The DVP was an interesting policy when first implemented but it has only gotten more convoluted as time has gone on.”