When Mother Nature arrived at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell turned out to be in the right place at the right time as the race leader. With NASCAR unable to dry the track in time, officials called the race after 249 laps, giving Bell his second win of the 2024 Cup Series season in the Coca-Cola 600. Or should we say the Coca-Cola 373.5?
Either way, while the weather helped shape the race’s outcome, pit road also had a part to play in the night’s festivities.
Problems Exiting Pit Stalls Lead to Hurt Feelings
Denny Hamlin and his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team kept losing spots during yellow flag pit stops last night, but it was not due to mistakes from the crew. Hamlin had problems exiting his pit stall trying to get around Chris Buescher, who parked early in his stall in front of Hamlin.
Under the first caution on lap 89, Hamlin could be seen backing up to get around Buescher, losing five spots in the running order. History repeated itself on lap 202 as Hamlin dropped four positions trying to avoid Buescher while exiting his pit box. It was after this second incident that frustration boiled over on the radio for Hamlin and his crew chief Chris Gabehart.
“Brother, if I do anything more than I’ve already done, we’re going to fight,” an angry Hamlin said over the radio after the lap 202 stop. “Do you hear me f—ing 17? Park in your f—ing box. I will stop on your bumper.”
Buescher also encountered difficulties with exiting his pit box due to John Hunter Nemechek pitting shallow in the stall in front of him. Like Hamlin did toward him, Buescher lost his cool with Nemechek after a long stop sent him back to the mid-twenties in the running order.
Coincidentally, Nemechek was slapped with an uncontrolled tire penalty on that stop.
Hamlin and Buescher both made in-race adjustments to attempt to resolve the issue, such as the No. 11 crew setting up a new tape mark a few feet behind where Hamlin was originally parking in the stall for pit stops. Under the weather delay, Hamlin and Buescher calmly discussed their pit stall dilemma, with crew chiefs Gabehart and Scott Graves joining in the conversation.
With the race called for rain, we will never know for sure if that discussion helped smooth things over between…
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