The Dollar Tree 301 race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway has been a handful for the drivers and the pit crews. After a rain delay, the teams were allowed to switch back to slick tires at the end of Stage 1. And this handed the team an opportunity for the teams to make the necessary adjustments. But Christopher Bell’s two-tire pit stop was far from ideal.
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Bell was keen to get back on the track and hit the gas on his No. 20 Toyota Camry. Little did he know that tire changer, Blake Houston was still engaged with the car. Houston got dragged out of the pit box before he took a tumble. It was a scary scene that got Bell concerned.
“Is he OK?” Bell asked on the team radio. And in reply, his team said, “He’s a little shook up, but he’s alright.” NASCAR officials intervened and penalized Bell. Dustin Long shared the penalty report on X, “Christopher Bell was cited for a safety violation and came back to pit road after that first stop during this caution period.”
Christopher Bell finished second in Stage 1 run, and didn’t want to lose out on the track position. Track position is vital at tracks like Loudon, and the JGR driver was simply trying to set up a race-winning strategy. He’s finished in the runner-up position seven times so far in 2026, and given his good history at Magic Mile, this could be his shot to break his winless duck.
Unfortunately, with the penalty, he will have to dig deep to get a shot at winning at New Hampshire. But this wasn’t the only incident that happened on the pit road. William Byron from the Hendrick Motorsports camp also suffered a setback.
On a similar pit cycle as Bell, Byron had a rather clean stop, but his pit crew made a major blunder. One of the pit crew members left the wedge wrench attached to the back window of the No. 24 Chevy. The crew uses the tool to adjust the weight balance of the car depending on the track conditions. But it can’t be left hanging, wedged onto the race car.
Byron also received a penalty and had to return to the pits. The crew then put on two tires and removed the wedge wrench before the driver got back on the racetrack. This mistake was detrimental to the No. 24 team as they finished Stage 1 in 4th place. And like the No. 20 team, they will have to crawl their way back to the front.