NASCAR issues rule clarification after Christopher Bell’s controversial Las Vegas pitstop

NASCAR has issued a clarification to its rulebook after Christoper Bell stopped in his teammate’s pit box during last weekend's Cup Series race at Las Vegas to tighten a wheel.

On lap 108 of 267, Bell headed to the pitlane at Las Vegas Speedway for a full service, but his crew chief Adam Stevens noticed that the front-left wheel on the #20 Toyota Camry was still loose.

Stevens immediately instructed Bell to peel into Chase Briscoe’s pit box, which was located further down the pitlane.

Briscoe’s pit crew safely secured the wheel and sent Bell back out on track, although NASCAR penalised him by sending him to the back of the field.

Now, the series has clarified how rules will apply in case there is a repeat of this situation.

If a car is serviced in another pit stall purely for safety reasons - as was the case with Bell - the driver in question will receive a flag status penalty. This means they will either have to restart at the tail of the field or receive a pass-through.

To avoid confusion, NASCAR explained that safety reasons can include tightening loose wheel nuts or lug nuts and removing a fuel can, wedge wrench or jack from under a vehicle.

However, the series added that if a car completes a pitstop in another pit box for competition adjustment, the driver of that vehicle will lose one or more laps.

Several pit crews suspended after Vegas

NASCAR also announced that it has suspended two members from the pit crew of both the #8 Richard Childress Racing and #19 Joe Gibbs Racing team.

It follows both Kyle Busch and Briscoe rolling loose wheels on the track at Las Vegas.

At Richard Childress Racing, Dylan Moser (jack) and Shiloh Windsor (rear-tyre) have been suspended from the next two races at Miami and Martinsville, while Caleb Dirks (jack) and Daniel Smith (rear-tyre) will be sidelined from JGR for the same two events.

Further, Josiah Wright, who was listed as the rear tyre-changer for RFK Racing’s #6 Ford team, has been suspended indefinitely for violating NASCAR’s substance abuse policy.

Coleman Dollarhide was called in by RFK as a replacement for Wright in Vegas.