Amid Joe Gibbs’ Dismal Playoffs, NASCAR Insider Points the Finger at Struggling Driver

The tale of Joe Gibbs Racing drivers and their pit crews is clearly not one of the best love stories ever told. And that’s saying something. Following the lapses of misjudgment and pit troubles that Denny Hamlin faced with his crew throughout the year, the team’s younger driver, Christopher Bell now hears the same bell of fate.

Going into the playoffs, the No. 20 Toyota driver had started the grid at P1 in both Darlington and Kansas following spectacular qualifying laps. But the main races that actually followed let him down, stage after stage. Finishing Darlington at P23, he had hoped that the fortunes would turn at Kansas. But they never did, as his pit crew faced issues again.

NASCAR Insider blames Christopher Bell rather than his crew for Kansas debacle

Christopher’s crew is something of a top ranker on the grounds of NASCAR. Previously serving the No. 54 car of team owner Joe Gibbs’s grandson Ty Gibbs, it’d been reallocated to the No. 20 car after it had made it into the playoffs. While everyone was expecting a flawless performance from them, quite the opposite happened at Darlington.

Too many green flag pitstops and an issue with the jack later, the driver hit his car on the track’s wall and ended up outside the top 20 spots. Taking the blame upon himself in the race’s aftermath, he’d praised the crew and said, “I am glad that we get another number 1 pit stall opportunity and I am confident that myself and the pit crew will do a much better job this week.”

But “next week” did come by on Sunday and Christopher couldn’t deliver on his promise. He did finish the race at a commendable P8, but the pit issues continued, without which he might’ve possibly done a much better job.

Speaking on the ‘Stacking Pennies with Corey LaJoie’ podcast, Team Penske tire changer Ryan “Skip” Flores disclosed his opinion that the driver was the one at fault for the mistakes that were occurring. Claiming that Christopher did not know where to stop his car in the pit box, he said, “The two pit stops that I’ve seen that have been the worst for the #20 car. Chris has not done a great job packing in the box.”

“And I know that that’s like the old saying from an old pit coach that I had, Rodney Fetters. I thought he said it the best. He would say, ‘Where they Park in the box is not your fault. But it is your problem. So make it happen.”

A part of a crew himself, Ryan spoke with an understanding of the hardship that his counterparts at Joe Gibbs Racing faced. He went on to talk about the unbelievably narrow metrics that NASCAR had come to and explained the ordeal that was involved in pit stops.

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With the No. 20 crew making mistakes, Ryan Flores tries to detail the problems they face

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The team of technicians who currently work on Christopher’s car had won the NASCAR Pit Crew Challenge earlier in the year and ranked 3rd in the series. His old crew, in comparison, ranked 20th. After Kansas, these figures just seem weird. While the current No. 20 crew faced troubles with lost nuts and improperly tightened wheels, the old crew had a great race with the No. 54 car.

The night hit rock bottom for Christopher’s team when they almost sent his car onto the field without a left rear tire. But discussing with his co-host Corey LaJoie, a driver for Spire Motorsports, Ryan chose to back the crew.

Making Corey understand the difficulty small elements bring, he said, “And the hardest thing is when you go long like that. Because when they go long now, they have got to backpedal. Because if they stop short, you’re already running to the rear of the car. So you got to step back, set it, get around your Jackman and still get the right rear.”

“I mean these guys are… you’re leaving the right rear in three seconds right? So by the time that car stops and you put the tire on, you got to be there in one nine.”

Despite the mistakes, the No. 20 team managed to salvage a P8 at the end of the evening at Kansas. Going into Bristol on Saturday, in what will be a deciding race for many drivers, Christopher will seek to solidify his position in the second round of the playoffs. Past aside, his crew will try to minimize errors and be at their best at the Motor Speedway. In his own words, “We’ll move on to Bristol, and it’s going to be a dramatic one, that’s for sure.”

Read More: “It Is What It Is”: Dejected Christopher Bell Refrains From Lashing Out Publically as Joe Gibbs Racing Falters Twice in a Row