It was trying to outdo his teenage son that resulted in Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 crew chief Adam Stevens to injure himself and undergo surgery that will leave him unavailable to driver Christopher Bell over the next several weeks.
The news was made public on Monday but Stevens detailed the cause and nature of his injury during a Tuesday SiriusXM NASCAR Radio appearance.
“We were swimming in the pool Saturday afternoon taking turns diving off the diving board with the nieces and nephews and my kids and doing flips and just enjoying ourselves,” Stevens said. “I felt like my flips weren’t quite as impressive as my 15-year-old son, so I amped my game up a little bit and it was fine. Another turn through the line and try a little harder. They were getting prettier. My last trip, probably ever now at this point, I just jumped a little too hard and loaded up a little bit too much on the end of the diving board and ruptured both my patellar tendons at the same time.”
Surgery was required for both knees so he will not be able to travel for a handful of weeks but will be able to provide input to the pit box from the JGR command center in Huntersville, North Carolina.
Chris Sherwood will head the team at the track atop the pit box for Bell with four races left until the playoffs begin.