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Following Christopher Bell's pit road ordeal during the Pennzoil 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NASCAR fans and critics were divided into two groups. One argued if NASCAR should implement stricter rules, and the other supported it. Amid this, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer addressed the situation and shared their respective take ahead of Sunday's Cup Series at Homestead.
During the race in Las Vegas on March 16, Bell pitted in his teammate, Chase Briscoe's pit box, to tighten a loose wheel. Briscoe and Bell are teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing. As both drivers belong to the same team and drive the same car with similar specifications, the #20 driver decided not to return to his pit box, and used Briscoe's.
However, this was against NASCAR's rulebook, and as a result, Bell was penalized. Controversy erupted after this as fans and experts argued if NASCAR should have put Bell two laps down for breaching the protocol, while others were content keeping in mind the safety protocol.
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Speaking about the same issue, Harvick, a former Cup Series driver and a NASCAR analyst with Fox Sports, shared his take. Through his statements, Harvick stated, as per NASCAR on FOX on YouTube:
"When you have that type of scenario that some have thought about it, some haven't," Harvick said. "All these teams have an alliance from a manufacturer standpoint. I think you could get your wheel tightened. The problem is, what happens if they're going in to fix a fender or fill your car up with gas. And then NASCAR clarified that. That was the part that I thought would start to get unfair because these guys will take any gray area in the rule book and just exploit it." (2:10-2:32)
While Harvick pointed out the gray area, his former NASCAR colleague, Clint Bowyer, supported the current pit rule clarification. Here's what he said:
"I think it's a better play, it's the safest play like you just said. You know you're out of harm's way. I never liked the fact that we had drivers stopping on pit road and putting in reverse and backing up with other cars going down pit road. That's not a good option." (1:14-1:27)
Bell started the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 13th place, and thanks to the comparatively lesser penalty, he was able to come home in 12th. Josh Berry of Wood Brothers Racing claimed the race win ahead of Daniel Suarez of Trackhouse Racing.
What did NASCAR say about pit rule?
After Christopher Bell's Las Vegas incident, NASCAR clarified the pit rule once again and drew the line on one driver receiving service from their teammate's pit box.
As per the rule, if a driver receives service from their teammate's pit stop instead of his designated pit, they will receive a flag status penalty. The vehicle will then either start the race at the back of the pack or receive a pass-through lap penalty.
Interestingly, one would argue that the aforementioned penalty seems better than going out on track with a loose wheel. If a driver loses a wheel on the track, he immediately has to return to the pit box to get a new one, and at the same time he will be penalized by two laps.
