NASCAR’s Damaged Vehicle Policy (DVP) has found itself under the microscope yet again, following widespread criticism after a chaotic playoff race at the Talladega Superspeedway.
The DVP was put to the test during a major incident involving 28 cars. Many fans, drivers, and teams were left questioning the policy’s effectiveness which led NASCAR to confirm an off-season investigation into the policy.
The incident severely impacted the championship dynamics. Notable drivers such as Chase Briscoe and Chase Elliott were among those caught up in the chaos. Despite their cars’ conditions, their teams managed to navigate them back to the pits, allowing them to continue racing. However, for drivers like Austin Cindric and Joey Logano, the damage was insurmountable, forcing premature race exits.
Logano explained to the media after his early exit from the race:
“It’s kind of comical.
“I got out of the car and see a bunch of cars after a red flag where we’ve been sitting there for 10 minutes, and everyone’s just hoping they can roll a little bit. It’s just goofy.”
NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Competition, Elton Sawyer, addressed these concerns, recognizing the strain the policy placed on competitors. He explained:
“On the heels of last week at Kansas, our goal was never to put good cars out of the race.
“Last week, as we got looking at that and digesting it, maybe we should’ve made a different call last week. As we went into Talladega, we wanted to make sure we aired on the side of the competitors.
“We didn’t anticipate seeing 25 cars down there, some of them in the grass, high-sided, weren’t sure why they couldn’t continue. That’s why we made the decision to tow the No. 2 to pit road. The No. 9 and No. 14 both met minimum speed, so we felt like that was the right call at that time.
“We will take a much deeper dive into this in the offseason. (The) DVP has been challenging, and we’ll go to work on that in the offseason.”
Avoiding the on-track drama, Rickey Stenhouse Jr. celebrated the race win followed by Brad Keselowsku and William Byron who crossed the line in second and third positions, respectively.
