Christopher Bell saw his three-race win streak come to a screeching halt at the Pennzoil 400 in Las Vegas. The No. 20 driver had a frustrating outing, working through traffic and settling for a P12 finish. But the biggest moment of Bell’s race came during a chaotic pit stop that left Denny Hamlin hoping NASCAR doesn’t change the rules—again.
Denny Hamlin Urges NASCAR To Avoid Another Midseason Rule Change
During a pit stop, Bell’s left-front tire changer stumbled, leaving the lug nut loose. As Bell pulled out, his crew chief quickly radioed him to “stop at somebody’s box” to tighten the left side.
Bell immediately pulled into his teammate Chase Briscoe’s pit stall to fix the issue. But on Lap 112, NASCAR hit him with a penalty for pitting outside his box, sending him to the tail end of the field.
Hamlin broke down the moment on his Actions Detrimental podcast via Dirty Mo Media, pointing out it wasn’t the first time something like this happened.
The conversation turned to how single-car teams would handle the same problem. Hamlin explained that a one-car team is allowed to pit in the box of whoever owns their pit crew. He argued NASCAR shouldn’t overreact with another rule tweak.
“I wouldn’t mess with it. Let’s not create another rule in the middle of the season. I feel like we update our rules every week,” Hamlin said on “Actions Detrimental.”
Hamlin’s comments came less than a week after NASCAR updated its rulebook again, tweaking the Open Exemption Provisional (OEP) after it debuted at Daytona.
The new rule automatically expands the field to 41 entries if a team is granted an OEP after 40 cars are already listed. After the 36 charter teams, four open entries are allowed per race, plus one OEP spot. Originally, that 41st spot was reserved for “significant contributors” from other racing disciplines, opening the door for F1, IndyCar, and endurance drivers.
While NASCAR made this change between races, it’s no secret they’ve also adjusted rules mid-weekend.
At COTA, drivers were confused about which corners officials were policing during the race. Initially, NASCAR listed Turn 6 as a spot under review but later clarified that only Turns 3, 4, and 5 would be monitored—leaving teams scrambling for clarity.
With confusion like that popping up after every tweak, Hamlin’s advice hits home. NASCAR has taken heat before for looking unprepared with its rulebook. Now, it runs the risk of doing it again.