Christopher Bell knew something had gone wrong almost immediately.
What he did not know was exactly what had happened behind his No. 20 Toyota.
Bell’s pit stop during Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway produced one of the day’s most frightening moments when right-side tire changer Blake Houston was knocked to the pavement as Bell pulled out of his pit stall.
Advertisement
Bell went on to recover and finish fourth. But after the race, his attention returned to the moment on pit road and, more importantly, Houston.
Bell explained that the sequence began with the signal he uses to leave his stall.
Christopher Bell explains what happened during scary pit-road moment
On a two-tire stop, Bell said, his cue to leave is simple: the jack drops.
This time, Houston had not yet cleared the front of the car.
“It was certainly tough. My signal to go is the jack dropping,” Bell said after the race. “On a two-tire stop, they’re supposed to be gone across the front of the car.”
Advertisement
Then came the moment Bell realized something was wrong.
“Whenever the jack dropped I saw he was still there and then I saw him kind of flopping around in my rearview camera,” Bell said.
From Bell’s seat, there was at least one reassuring sign. He did not feel the car go over Houston.
“I’m like, I didn’t feel my car jump up in the air, so I knew I didn’t run him over, but I hope he didn’t get his finger stuck in the wheel or anything.”
Bell had also run over the air hose while leaving the stall and ultimately stopped before returning to pit road. Crew chief Adam Stevens told him over the radio that Houston was “a little shook up, but he’s alright.”
Advertisement
It was a scary sequence in a place where fractions of a second are routinely the difference between gaining positions and losing them.
For Bell, it was also a reminder of just how little margin for error exists for the people working around the car.
Bell calls the dangers facing NASCAR pit crews ‘eye-opening’
Bell’s comments after the race went beyond what happened to Houston.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver used the incident to acknowledge the risks pit crew members accept every time they climb over the wall.
“It’s alarming, and it’s very eye-opening,” Bell said. “These guys jumping over pit wall are risking it.”
Advertisement
Pit stops are designed around speed. Crew members work inches from moving race cars while trying to complete their jobs in a matter of seconds. Sunday’s incident put that danger on full display.
Bell made clear how much respect he has for the people doing it.
“I’m super grateful for all of the pit crew members, but specifically my team,” Bell said. “They do a really good job, and I’m glad Blake’s okay.”
That was ultimately the most important outcome from a sequence that could have ended much differently.
Bell’s race survived it, too.
After losing track position because of the incident and making an additional trip down pit road, Bell worked his way back toward the front and finished fourth behind race winner Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace and Josh Berry.
Advertisement
For a driver who had spent much of the afternoon running near the front, fourth still left Bell wanting more.
“We had the mishap on pit road, and then the team was able to persevere and get back to finish about where we should have,” Bell said. “Really happy with fourth place today, just lacking a little bit right now.”
But the finishing position became secondary to the scene that unfolded several feet behind Bell’s window.
His No. 20 Toyota was intact. Houston was able to get back up. And after seeing his tire changer tumbling in the rearview camera, Bell left New Hampshire grateful that a frightening moment ended without a far worse outcome.
Read the full article here
