“There was no other team that would’ve helped him” - Denny Hamlin drops a grim verdict on JGR teammate’s pitlane enigma in Las Vegas

NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin shared his thoughts on his Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammate, Christopher Bell's pit stop struggles at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last week.

Bell, who had won three straight Cup Series wins prior to last week, started the Pennzoil 400 from the back. He fought his way up to second place by Lap 108. However, during a pit stop, his team failed to properly secure one of his wheels and Bell pulled into teammate Chase Briscoe’s pit box. The No. 11 Toyota driver discussed the incident during the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast. Denny Hamlin said (46:50 onwards):

"He was looking for a teammate. I don't think...there's no other team that would have helped him out. It's forward thinking...They took the risk of actually losing the tire. Then you go two laps down, then you lose your pit crew for a couple of weeks."

JGR No. 20 crew chief Adam Stevens told Bell to pit at Briscoe’s crew and the move likely saved Bell from losing a wheel on track but he ended up with a penalty for stopping in the wrong pit stall. He had to restart at the rear of the field and finished 12th.

Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin finished 25th in the race last Sunday and is currently ranked in 12th position in the overall 2025 NASCAR Cup points standings.

"Happens if you don't come in dead straight" - Denny Hamlin on Joey Logano's pit disaster at Vegas

Denny Hamlin also spoke about Joey Logano’s disastrous pit stop that saw him go from leading the race to dropping to 20th place. Logano was in a strong position to win at Las Vegas after leading 40 laps but a big mistake during his last pit stop on Lap 244 and misjudged his stop. The Team Pense star parked at a bad angle, which made it hard for his crew to change tires quickly.

During the same episode, Hamlin pointed out that pit boxes in Vegas are extra slippery and can make the car slide.

"What makes Vegas unique is these have polished concrete boxes. They're very, very, very slick. Some pit boxes we go on are brush concrete that's got huge, huge grip—not only grip for the cars themselves, but grip for the pit crews also. And and so what happens if you don't come in dead straight? You hit the brake, it'll lock up the fronts. It'll hit that polished concrete. It'll, it'll just go straight right towards the wall. So it looked like, to me, that's what happened. And when it happened, I guess he lost about 20 spots." (50:50 onwards)

The NASCAR Cup Series will move to the East Coast for the next race at Homestead-Miami Speedway this Sunday, March 23.