“Maybe it’s happened before”: Kyle Larson gives his honest take on NASCAR penalty amid Christopher Bell’s loose wheel at Vegas

Kyle Larson, the Hendrick Motorsports star, commented on his Joe Gibbs Racing rival, Christopher Bell’s innovative pit stop at Las Vegas. In an interview with CupScene.com, Larson called the move “quick” and “smart” thinking.

At the Pennzoil 400 Las Vegas Motor Speedway race, Bell executed an interesting pit stop manoeuver rarely seen in NASCAR. After his designated pit stop, Bell went into his teammate Chase Briscoe’s pit box to fix an issue. While leaving the designated pit box, Bell’s crew chief, Adam Stevens, realized that Bell had a front left loose wheel, Bell moved over to Briscoe’s stall, where Briscoe’s crew chief, James Small, fixed the issue. This avoided the two-lap penalty for a loose wheel. However, Bell was still penalized for pitting outside his designated stall and was moved to the back of the field.

Larson commented on Bell’s quick thinking calling it “smart”. He didn’t think that what the JGR driver did was wrong.

"Maybe it's happened before somebody's done it, or at least we've talked about it. The exact situation is Bell, but I don't know. I think it's pretty heads-up. I thought it was smart and quick reacting of them to do that. I don't see anything wrong with it, so I don't know how you'd change it. I thought it all played out fine," Kyle Larson said.

He also added that there was no need for further penalty in Bell’s case.

"I don't really think there needs to be a penalty beyond what that already was. He probably had to restart at the very back of the field anyways. So yeah, I mean, you kind of penalize yourself," he added

Larson is currently ranked sixth in the Cup Series drivers ranking. He has finished in the top 10 thrice and in the top five twice, marking a strong start to his Cup Series season in 2025.

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Kyle Larson analyzes Christopher Bell's innovative pit stop

When asked if it grabbed his attention, the Hendrick Motorsports driver said that this is a good lesson in something they can try in the future if they face the same issue:

"Well, I mean, it grabs your attention, obviously, because it happened and it hasn't happened to us, and it's been a long time since we've been doing this one lug nut stuff. So yeah, I mean, it's a good reminder of like, hey, this is something that you can do.

"But yes, I do feel like I remember us talking about it a while back. Again, I think maybe somebody else has done it, so it kind of sparked us to pay attention to it. But yeah, Cliff is very heads-up, so I'm sure he'd be quick to tell me a corner box if you had the opportunity. They were obviously fortunate that they were pitted down more towards turn four, so you have time to find a box," the HMS star said.

Larson called Bell fortunate enough to pit before Chase Briscoe's pit box. This was a moment where Larson let his competitive guard down and complimented his JGR rival's thinking.