'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
On Sunday (March 16), a fourth consecutive race win eluded Christopher Bell at the Pennzoil 400 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver had a decent qualification at P13. However, the 30-year-old Bell was forced to start from the rear when the No. 20 Toyota team changed the throttle body from their machine.
In his fifth season with Joe Gibbs' outfit, Bell achieved a spectacular three-peat winning streak in the 2025 NASCAR season's first four races. While the Oklahoma native looked for his 13th career win, his pre-race setbacks continued throughout the 1.5-mile intermediate track in Nevada.
While Christopher Bell made headway gradually from the rear on yellow flag restarts, the JGR ace faced another mishap on the pit road, when his crew failed to tighten one of his tires, leading to a forced pit stop at his teammate Chase Briscoe's box. As a result, Bell and the No. 20 team lost several track positions.
Trending
"It was a grind today for sure. I don’t really know how I feel yet, but we certainly didn’t do what we did the last couple of weeks and that was just have a nice clean race. I think the Interstate Camry was definitely capable of competing for the win when we were at our best but just going to the back and to the front and to the back and to the front, we just didn’t get a handle on the balance, because it changes so much from being back there."
"I felt like we were in position in stage two to contend for another win, but it got away from us," Christopher Bell said (via NBC Sports).
Nevertheless, Bell made grounds after such drama in Las Vegas and finished the race at P12.
Christopher Bell's crew chief sheds light on impromptu pit road call at Las Vegas
In a post-race interview with Frontstretch, Adam Steven, crew chief of No. 20 Toyota, addressed his call for Christopher Bell to pit in another pit box after the crew failed to secure the wheel. Stevens claimed that this situation has been discussed with NASCAR in such scenarios.
"It's something that we've talked about before,” Stevens said (1:35 onwards). “It's a situation that's come up in the past and it's been discussed with NASCAR. It could prevent a wheel from going across the racetrack or a dangerous situation. So as soon as possible, he jumped up with his head shaking, and we jumped on."
With Josh Berry being the surprise winner at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the Wood Brothers Racing driver is now in a secure spot with Christopher Bell and William Byron for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoff rounds.
