NASCAR SVP of Competition Elton Sawyer defends Ryan Blaney's criticism of Nashville Superspeedway
Ryan Blaney was a tad frustrated after a hard crash into a wall on restart on Lap 146 during the Ally 400. He had no trouble critiquing Nashville Superspeedway following the incident and has received support from NASCAR.
The wall Blaney hit head-on didn’t have a safer barrier, causing a more intense impact. After the race, he voiced his frustration with the lack of protection surrounding the wall.
“I’m sure they will put one on it after this,” Blaney told Dustin Long of NBC Sports. “It sucks that things like that have to happen and someone hit the wall head-on like that. Then they are like we’ll put a safer barrier on it now.”
NASCAR senior vice president of competition, Elton Sawyer, backed the driver in a recent interview.
“I echo Ryan’s thoughts. It’s unacceptable,” Sawyer told SiriusXM NASCAR. “Why it wasn’t protected, I don’t have a great answer for you. There’s some areas that, basically, are not designed or positioned around the facility where it’s not conducive to put safer. And, in this case, just the way the safers are designed — from what I’ve been told — you need about 100-foot span to be able to use safer.”
Sawyer continued to say that something should’ve been there to lessen the impact. He said that sand barrels or tire barriers could’ve been used in that area of the track.
Following Blaney’s complaint, NASCAR released a statement of its own.
“NASCAR safety engineers work closely with safety experts on the implementation of barriers around the track. As we do following every race weekend, we will evaluate all available data and make any necessary improvements,” the statement said.
Blaney finished the Ally 400 in last because of the accident.
Ryan Blaney still in a good spot in NASCAR points standings
Blaney’s trip to Nashville was undoubtedly aggravating. His crash in the Ally 400 marked the first time this season that he had a DNF next to his name. And while it hurts, he’s still in a great spot in the Cup Series points standings.
After the Ally 400, Blaney sits at No. 8 in the standings. He collected his first win of the season at Charlotte in the rain-impacted Coca-Cola 600 just a few weeks ago. He’s also finished inside the top-10 nine times with four of those coming in the top-five.
This weekend, Blaney and the NASCAR Cup Series heads to the Windy City for the Chicago street race on Sunday.