"They've to balance fairness with safety": NASCAR influencer voices opinion on the sport's ruling on Christopher Bell's controversial pit stop

NASCAR influencer Eric Estepp voiced his opinion on the recent controversial pit stop that Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell had at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier. He faced a loose wheel nut and had his teammate's crew fix it for him, which incurred a penalty according to the authorities.

Christopher Bell, who has won three consecutive Cup Series races this year, found himself in a tough spot during the race in Las Vegas after his team realized he had a loose wheel nut leaving his pit stall. His team was quick to communicate and asked him to stop in his teammate Chase Briscoe's stall for his crew to tighten up the wheel nut.

NASCAR released a statement later explaining that if a driver stops in another driver's pit stall to fix a safety issue, they will receive a flag status penalty. Eric Estepp mentioned this while speaking in a video on his YouTube channel.

"This is the memo that NASCAR just sent out to the race teams and the media," Estepp said (01:20 onwards). "It reads: 'If a vehicle received service in another team's pit stall to correct a safety issue the vehicle will receive a flag status penalty (restart tail end pass through for the vehicle pitting outside of the assigned pit box).'"

Many considered this stop from Christopher Bell to be unfair because teams with only one driver would be at a disadvantage considering that they would be penalized two laps if a wheel were to come loose on the track. However, Estepp feels that NASCAR has to draw a balance between fairness and safety.

"I'm good with this change," he added (02:36 onwards). "I know NASCAR's in a tough spot. They have to balance fairness with safety. Is it fair that teams like Joe Gibbs, Hendrick, Trackhouse have more teammates than say Hyak Motorsports or Rick Wear? No, I guess not, but it's also unsafe to let these cars roll out onto the track even under caution if a wheel could fall."

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NASCAR veteran questions the fairness of ruling after Christopher Bell's pit stop

Former driver and 2014 Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick also took up the topic on his namesake podcast, discussing both the safety and fairness aspects of the ruling that NASCAR gave on the Christopher Bell case.

Speaking to his co-hosts, Harvick mentioned that most drivers would be stopping in their teammates' pit stalls to have a safety issue repaired after Christopher Bell was put in the clear for doing so.

"So now every team is going to do it. Every team is going to have that that plan now," Harvick said.

At the same time, he questioned the fairness of the rule as teams with only one or two drivers might be at a major disadvantage to teams with three or more drivers.

"I agree with the safer piece of it and it's better to not have the wheel fall off, but is it fair that a two-car team only has one choice and a four car team has three choices?" He questioned.

Understandably, if a wheel was to come loose on the track, it could be a major safety hazard for anyone around the track. But at the same time, the fairness part has to be considered because a driver would be given a two-lap penalty if they are unable to get their wheel fixed in time and teams with fewer drivers would be at a disadvantage.