It was not a good day for Christopher Bell and the No. 20 car Sunday at the Atlanta Motor Speedway as his new pit crew struggled.
As some may recall, Joe Gibbs Racing, which owns Bell’s No. 20 car and Bubba Wallace’s No. 23, swapped pit crews before this past weekend’s race. Some of Bell’s pit crew went to Wallace and Bell got some of Wallace’s pit crew. While that might have been good news for Bubba, it appears that his old pit crew failed Bell this time.
While Wallace had a decent day at the track, finishing 14th, the same could not be said for Bell. who finished 19th. Bell was delayed during Sunday’s Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway after one of his tires came off following a pit stop late in the race.
When I was learning how to be a tire changer at Joe Gibbs Racing recently, I asked: How do you prevent the car from driving off if you know your wheel isn't tight (like what happened on Christopher Bell's car today)?
The answer was: It's kind of impossible! pic.twitter.com/STZPF9HC98
— Alanis King (@alanisnking) July 10, 2022
Uh oh. A wheel just came off Christopher Bell's car on pit road. The left rear came off and he's sorta stuck on pit lane. #QS400
— PRN (@PRNlive) July 10, 2022
Wallace had the same thing happen to him a few weeks ago in a race in Nashville when one of his wheels came off, so he knows the feeling. After the race, the two discussed how the changes went for them.
“[The changes are] out of my control, so I look at the vision we have as a team. We’re all trying to push the needle to be better and if this is a step in that direction, then I’m all for it,” Wallace said.
I missed the memo it’s bash Bubba Wallace week as if he’s the only driver to rip his team. Fact is, the 23 team has shot themselves in the foot an embarrassing amount of times this year when they’ve had contending cars. And Bubba is driving his ass off. Stop the pearl clutching
— Kelly Crandall (@KellyCrandall) July 3, 2022
Bell obviously felt differently about the changes that were made.
“I don’t wanna throw anybody under the bus, but it hasn’t been working what we’ve had,” Bell said. “Anybody that has paid attention to the 20 car this year would understand that the 20 car has not been amazing on pit road either.”
