NASCAR will review its penalty for a team getting service outside its pit stall but has no intention to outlaw allowing a rival team to help tighten a wheel.
During Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell left his service with a loose left front wheel and was directed to stop in another team’s stall. He went to Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe’s No. 19 pit crew, which tightened the wheel before Bell’s No. 20 Toyota went back on track.
NASCAR managing director of racing communications Mike Forde said in the latest episode of the “Hauler Talk” podcast that the unusual maneuver would remain allowed because of its safety implications.
“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 OK with it to a certain point.”
Bell’s team was penalized for pitting outside the box and sent to the back for a restart. The punishment for pitting outside the box was reduced before the 2024 season from a one-lap penalty, and Forde said NASCAR could adjust the penalty again if concerns were raised about teams abusing the practice of stopping in another stall.
“The concern is the unintended consequences,” Forde said. “I don’t think it’s as much a loose tire and tightening that up. We’re always going to be OK 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, ‘OK, 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.”
RELATED: Las Vegas results | Race Rewind
After a rash of loose wheels several years ago, NASCAR ratcheted up the penalties for tires coming off a car outside its pit box. But Las Vegas was believed to mark the first time a driver stopped in a rival’s stall for service.
Forde was unaware of any team preemptively checking with NASCAR about the legality of having another pit crew perform service.
Continuing a trend during the 2025 Cup season, there were four loose wheels during the Vegas race. Forde said NASCAR officials had discussions with the teams of Briscoe, Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch that had loose wheels this season to ensure there were no issues with pit guns or the wheels. In the case of Larson’s loose wheel at Circuit of The Americas, a wheel weight caused the problem while other instances appeared to be the lug was improperly tightened.
The guest on this week’s “Hauler Talk” is NASCAR Cup Series director of technical inspection Brian Goble.
Other topics covered during the sixth episode of “Hauler Talk,” which explores competition issues in NASCAR:
— How officials discovered unapproved adjustments to the No. 88 truck during a rain delay at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
— The goal of tire testing at Charlotte Motor Speedway this week.
— Explaining the Driver Ambassador Program.
Nate Ryan has written about NASCAR since 1996 while working at the San Bernardino Sun, Richmond Times-Dispatch, USA TODAY and for the past 10 years at NBC Sports Digital. He is a contributor to the new “Hauler Talk” show on the NASCAR Podcast Network. He also has covered various other motorsports, including the IndyCar and IMSA series.