“I didn’t even know you can do that”: Chase Briscoe lands Christopher Bell’s unique pit stop loophole at Las Vegas 

A recent race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway saw a surprising pit stop maneuver from Christopher Bell, catching fellow Joe Gibbs Racing driver Chase Briscoe off guard. This incident was the center of discussion in a post by NASCAR reporter Kelly Crandal.

The moment was captured in a video shared on X, where Chase Briscoe recounted his reaction to the situation. While driving through Turn 1 and 2, he suddenly heard his crew chief, James Small, yelling over the radio about the left front tire. Confused, Briscoe looked up at the big screen and saw Bell in his pit box. It turned out that Bell had a loose wheel and had stopped in Briscoe’s box to get it tightened. Briscoe admitted he had no idea this was allowed.

"Super heads-up, smart by the 20," he said, referring to Bell's car number.

"Obviously, I wish we could’ve done that with our tire, but it was crazy, I didn’t even know you could do that," he added.

The move was orchestrated by Adam Stevens, Bell’s crew chief. During a caution on lap 108, Bell had just completed a pit stop when Stevens told him to stop in another team’s pit box to tighten the loose wheel. Spotter Stevie Reeves reinforced the directive, and Bell complied, stopping in Briscoe’s box. The No. 19 team quickly tightened Bell’s left front wheel, allowing him to continue the race.

Despite the clever idea, Bell was penalized for pitting outside his designated pit box. This cost him track position, dropping him from second place to an eventual 12th-place finish.

Bell had come into the race looking for a fourth consecutive win. He had started from the back of the field due to a pre-race throttle body change. Although the pit strategy kept him in contention, the penalty ultimately cost him what could’ve been a higher finish.

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Chase Briscoe’s Season Back on Track After Successful Appeal

Chase Briscoe’s playoff hopes got a major boost after the National Motorsports Appeals Panel overturned NASCAR’s hefty penalties on his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team. The penalties, originally handed down after the Daytona 500 due to an altered spoiler, included a 100-point deduction, a $100,000 fine, and a four-race suspension for crew chief James Small.

Fox Sports reporter Bob Pockrass broke the news on X, confirming that Briscoe’s team won the appeal. He wrote,

“JGR/Chase Briscoe WIN the appeal to the penalty issued after the Daytona 500 for holes in the spoiler base being altered. His 100 points restored and no suspension to James Small and no fine to the team,"

The decision lifted Chase Briscoe from last place in the standings to a tie for 14th with 72 points, keeping him in the overall playoff picture. Crew chief James Small was set to undergo a four-race suspension but once the penalty was overturned, he returned to guide Briscoe onwards and outwards from the race at Phoenix.

Chase Briscoe responded to the announcement, quickly on X, celebrating the reversed penalty. He shared,

"Biggest points day of my career! We’re back! In all seriousness thank you to @NASCAR for giving us the option to show our evidence and huge thank you to everyone at @JoeGibbsRacing who put in countless hours to put everything together."

The three-person panel — made up of motorsports marketing executive Dixon Johnston, former Speed Channel president Hunter Nickell, and former South Boston Speedway GM Cathy Rice — ruled that the spoiler issue wasn’t a deliberate modification. Instead, they found out that the holes in the spoiler base were enlarged during the assembly process when bolts were used to align it with the deck lid.