NASCAR Clarifies Double-Dip Pit Stop Rule After Christopher Bell Used Chase Briscoe’s Stall At Las Vegas

Christopher Bell made a small detour during the NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas.

Bell came into the pits during a caution period for a tire change, but when he pulled out of his stall he realized one of the wheels was loose.

Instead of heading out onto the track and coming around amid the threat that it might come off, which would have led two a two-lap penalty and two-race suspensions for his pit crew, his crew chief told him to find another Joe Gibbs Racing stall and get it tightened there. He pulled into Chase Briscoe’s, got the work done and was given a back of the field penalty on the restart for pitting outside his own box.

The move raised a few eyebrows and caused some confusion, so NASCAR has now clarified things for everyone.

Read Also: NASCAR TEAM OWNERS MICHAEL JORDAN AND RICK HENDRICK OWN THE SAME $3 MILLION 300 MPH CAR

According to the rulebook, doing what Bell did is fine for safety issues like a lose tire or a jack stuck under the car and will result in the same penalty, either a back of the field restart or a pass-through if it happens under green. However, it also states that “if a vehicle receives service in another team’s pit stall for competition adjustments, the vehicle may receive a lap(s) penalty.”

CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE AMERICAN CARS AND RACING NEWSLETTER

Kevin Harvick raised the question of fairness on his podcast, noting that a four car team would have more opportunities to use a different stall than a three, two or one-car team, but the rule doesn’t say that the car has to use another one of its own organization’s stalls. Teams for the same manufacturer often help each other out on the track and several of the big organizations, like Joe Gibbs Racing, provide the pit crews for others, so there appears to be some flexibility in addressing these safety issues.