While on pit road during the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell’s car lost a wheel.  Previously this season a lost wheel brought an automatic penalty of a four race suspension for the crew chief, jack man, and tire changer involved.

NASCAR has recently reworded the penalty, noting that if the lost wheel occurred on pit road, the four race suspension was no automatic.

When NASCAR issued its penalty report on July 12, the Joe Gibbs Racing team for the number 20 car driven by Christopher Bell was not penalized for the lost wheel that occurred on pit road.

Bell, like many other drivers, had made a pit stop during a caution flag with 22 laps remaining in the race. Just after pulling out of his pit stall, Bell’s car lost its left rear wheel.  Bell came to a stop while still on pit road not far from his pit stall.

In a broadcast on the SiriusXM NASCAR Radio channel, the NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Scott Miller noted that in future, each case of a lost wheel would be considered on a case by case basis before making a ruling as to whether it was a safety violation.

The only other item on the penalty report was that NASCAR Xfinity Series crew member Kase Kallenbach has been reinstated after Kallenbach successfully completed all the terms and conditions that were mandated by NASCAR.