Christopher Bell Reveals Crucial Element Lacking in NASCAR Causing Multiple Pit-Road Speeding Penalties

The 2024 season has been quite the action-packed experience so far, with many sensational, heartbreaking, and jaw-dropping moments. But the one thing that seems to be troubling most drivers equally is pit lane woes. Only recently, Shane van Gisbergen suffered a gut-wrenching fate after failing to slow down to pit lane speeds at COTA, ultimately receiving a penalty. Even the winner of that same race, Christopher Bell’s latest guide on NASCAR pit stops, further highlighted the issues, while pointing out the absence of a cruise instrument that could be the root cause of SVG and Co’s struggles.

Christopher Bell iterates how pit road rules are “harder than you think”

In a recent video on Instagram, Christopher Bell took fans through some of the lesser-known rules and regulations surrounding pit stops. After all, with how complex each pit stop tends to be, there are several parameters that NASCAR officials require to be fulfilled to keep the racing fair. An advantage in the pit lane could gift a driver a favorable track position, making it an important area of surveillance for the sport.

With that said, Christopher Bell shared, “Pit road can be harder than you think. There are tons of rules and regulations. And penalties if you don’t follow those rules.” Amongst the first that he mentioned was the rule relating to the number of pit boxes a driver is allowed to cross. He stated, “Getting into your pit stall and getting out of your pit stall, you’re only allowed to drive through so many boxes. If you hit that last box, you’re going to the back.”

With one good pointer for the rookies and newcomers, Bell moved on to highlight the key area that has caught so many drivers off guard. He stated, “We also have a pit-road speed, but we do not have speedometers in the car. So we’re focusing solely on our RPM reading on our tachometer.” That’s right. As veteran fans would know, NASCAR doesn’t use a speedometer in the car, leaving a few marks on the tachometer for drivers to gauge their speed while out on track.

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So this naturally raises the question, how can a driver know if they’re not over-speeding? Well, revered NASCAR veteran Dale Earnhardt Jr provided a pretty simple answer to that question.

Dale Earnhardt Jr’s provides a one-stop-solution to drivers struggling with over-speeding

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While many of us road users would believe that gauging the speed of your vehicle would be rather difficult without a speedometer, NASCAR has drivers covered when it matters the most. So while Shane van Gisbergen fell victim to the lack of a speedometer as he speeded down the COTA pit lane, perhaps Dale Earnhardt Jr’s advice on how to approach the pit limiter may help.

In an episode of the Dale Jr Download, the JR Motorsports owner stated; “We don’t have a speedometer, we really don’t have a tachometer anymore. I have lights on the dash and they start green, then they turn yellow. There’s basically four green lights, two yellow lights, two orange lights, and then red lights, and they all kind of light up just like a RPM bar would.” he was quoted by USA Today.

According to Junior, two yellow lights are the ideal zone, as the speed of entering the pit lane would be just around the edge. With that said, Junior also highlighted that pit lanes that aren’t a straightaway could be approached with slightly higher speed, entering the orange zone. But there was one zone to never reach, “Anytime you see any red lights, you’re speeding. That’s it. That’s as simple as it is.”

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While it’s safe to say Dale Earnhardt Jr thinks maintaining the speed limit in pit lane is rather simple, can Shane van Gisbergen and other newcomers get on top of the lights on their steering wheel?