Erik Jones’ wheel issue at Kansas Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series marked yet another issue with this single lug nut. Is the change to a single lug nut a failure, or is it still too early to tell?
Anthony Damcott: I wouldn’t call it a failure just yet, but I also wouldn’t call it a complete success, either. NASCAR needs to start letting teams make mistakes with this wheel instead of dropping the hammer and suspending crews for four races. That can completely mess up the rhythm of the suspended crew members’ pit stops when they return and makes it likely to happen again (such is the case of Justin Haley‘s crew, which is serving another four-race suspension, totaling eight races so far this season). These teams are not like NTT IndyCar Series and IMSA teams, who have worked with the single lug nut for years and years. NASCAR has used the five-lug wheel for decades, and suddenly changing it to the one-wheel lug and adding the threat of a four-race suspension for a lost wheel (a penalty that didn’t exist prior to this year), teams are going to feel a lot more pressured and mistakes might be easier to make. That is probably why we’ve seen so many lost wheels this year. If NASCAR wants the single lug nut to succeed, it needs to lighten or completely lift the four-race suspension for this season so crews can actually get in the rhythm of the new pit stop. Otherwise, teams will continue to lose crew members to an inadvertent lost wheel.
Brad Harrison: Still way too early to tell. Like most things with this new car, it’s a consequence of the rollout being too rushed. Teams are dealing with the supply shortage, and that’s obviously not a racing-only issue. At the end of the day, this is like anything new in NASCAR, and teams have to adjust. There’s really no other option. Over time, they will. After all, other forms of motorsports use a single lug nut with minimal, if any, issue.
Amy Henderson: The single lug nut isn’t the biggest problem NASCAR…
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