Christopher Bell technically pit outside his pit box on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and was penalized accordingly.
With that said, NASCAR will review its rule book language to make sure there are no ‘unintended consequences’ of the split-second decision made by crew chief Adam Stevens in the Pennzoil 400 to avoid his team an even more costly infraction.
Bell drove away from his pit stall during a lap 108 pit stop but Stevens quickly realized they had a loose wheel. The veteran crew chief immediately told Bell to find a teammate pit stall and have them service the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 car.
The reason this decision was made was that a loose wheel coming unhinged while on the race track would have resulted in suspensions to the tire changer and jackman over the next two weeks.
Stevens said after the race that such a scenario had been previously discussed and that he knew it would only be a penalty for pitting outside of their pit box.
“It’s something we’ve talked about before,” Stevens told reporters after the race. “It’s something that has come up in the past and it’s been discussed with NASCAR. It could prevent a wheel coming across the track or a more dangerous situation. As soon as we realized what happened, we jumped on it.”
NASCAR managing director of racing communications Mike Forde said on the latest episode of his “Hauler Talk” podcast that safety is the reason that this is permitted and will likely remain in place as written.
“In our view, a tire coming off the car is a very dangerous situation,” Forde said. “That’s something we take very seriously. I think that’s where the allowance, the acceptance of what the 20 team did, and really the applauding of what the 20 team did, comes in because if what they did was avoid that dangerous situation, we’re okay with it to a certain point.”
Their biggest concern is if teams will take advantage of such a ruling to do things other than secure their wheels.
“The concern is the unintended consequences,” Forde continued. “I don’t think it’s as much a loose tire and tightening that up. We’re always going to be okay with that. … More so it comes down to the 20 leaves the box, the wheels are all fine, but the gas man didn’t pack it full of fuel. Is (the 20) going to be allowed to stop in the 19 pit box and top off?
“That is a little bit different in our opinion. That’s the discussion we’re having now. Do we need to look a little bit deeper to say, ‘Okay, this is not really in the spirit of the rule.’ Safety is one thing, a competitive advantage is another. So that’s really the conversation we’ll continue to have, but going into Homestead, no changes to the rule. But somewhere in the future, potentially.”
