NASCAR Cup Series pit crews are under intense scrutiny because of how much they can impact a race. That was seen this past weekend with Tyler Reddick’s potentially great finish being derailed by a loose wheel. What are some of the biggest pit road mishaps from this season?
Ryan Blaney was not having his best day at Richmond Raceway in April, but the day became disastrous after a pit stop during stage 2. Blaney’s crew left a wedge wrench in the rear window, and that cost Blaney a lap that he was unable to get back. He would finish 26th, the second car one lap down.
The early season story for Kyle Busch was typical to get penalized on pit road early before finding a way to be upfront at the end. At Phoenix, Busch was penalized twice on the same pit stop, with one coming from an uncontrolled tire and the second coming from speeding. Busch would end up surprisingly recovering to finish in eighth at the end of the race.
Brad Keselowski has his best opportunity to win at Richmond this season, but a bad pit stop late in the race took him out of contention. He took a bad approach to his pit box and ended up parking sideways in his box. The ensuing slow pit stop took Keselowski out of race-win contention, but he still rebounded to finish sixth after leading the most laps.
Tyler Reddick was running in second, just behind Chris Buescher, before the final pit stop at Michigan this weekend. Unfortunately, the pit crew messed up and left the right rear tire loose, and Reddick had to come back down pit road. He would finish in 30th, three laps down, and he lit up his crew on the radio afterward.
Aric Almirola has had a difficult season along with all of his Stewart-Haas Racing teammates, but New Hampshire was a race that he felt he could compete. Almirola and his team played some pit strategy to take the lead on a restart just past the halfway point, but a loose wheel ended Almirola’s day. The tire came loose heading into turn two, and Almirola smacked the wall, ending his day.
Which other drivers and teams may find themselves on the wrong end of a pit road mishap? No one wants to add to this list, but the Playoffs can bring this type of stuff out.
