What happens when a tiny mistake turns into a multi-race disaster? In NASCAR, a single pit road error can end a race, and tenths of a second can determine victory. Drivers, engineers, and pit workers have to coordinate flawlessly—until they don’t. A car can be in the lead for one second, then fall to the bottom of the standings due to a loose wheel or a mistake in judgment. This isn’t just a sporadic mistake; it’s a developing problem that is causing annoyance and discussion throughout the sport.
Precision is crucial in motorsports. Similar to a sprinter tripping in the middle of a stride, a single pit road error may ruin a race. Inspired by IndyCar and Formula 1, NASCAR has developed to increase safety and economy, but a recent modification has sparked controversy again. The single lug nut on the Next Gen car was brought in to reduce the time on the pit road and enhance the safety of the pit crews. But, it seems like the teams have become a punching bag for the sanctioning body over a problem that seems to be rooted in the race car.
Both Kyle Busch and Chase Briscoe were penalized by NASCAR after a wheel on their race cars came loose at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Meanwhile, you had, Christopher Bell who used quick thinking and bolted his loose wheel in the pit box of the No. 19 team. Now, if the car had five lug nuts and four of them were bolted on, the wheel would still be in place. But, now the margin of error is zero and thus the onus is on the teams to get the wheels fixed right. When asked about the ongoing trouble of teams and drivers losing tires, Kenny Wallace had some interesting points.
On a recent episode of the podcast Schrader and Herm, Kenny Wallace discussed the ongoing issue. Wallace, a former NASCAR driver and analyst, acknowledged the frustration but pushed back against the argument that NASCAR should return to the old five-lug system. “You know what’s wild about this? I know the purists are like ‘We need to go back to the five-lug nuts,’ but Kenny—Formula 1 and IndyCar, they’ve been running one lug nut for years. They’ve got to get this figured out because we’re one of the only series that still got car lug nuts.”
Two years after the Next Gen automobile was out, they discussed why these problems were still occurring rather than just the penalty. NASCAR discontinued the five-lug system that had been the standard for many years in favor of a single centre-locking lug nut in 2022. Modernization was the aim; because Formula 1 and IndyCar had been using one-lug wheels for years without any problems, it made sense for NASCAR to follow suit.
Being a resident of Las Vegas, Kyle Busch’s biggest contribution to this race was losing a wheel and colliding with the outside wall at the NASCAR Las Vegas race. In Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Busch was in 11th place on lap 113 when the right rear wheel of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet flew off. Because the wheel was not fully on, the aluminium alloy rim rubbed against the metal, becoming sharp and cutting the tire. The tire’s rim rocketed down the racetrack after separating off. After striking the wall, Busch’s car also experienced a brake line problem.
Trouble on the restart for @KyleBusch! pic.twitter.com/a7YqNst0lJ
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 16, 2025
In Sunday’s race, Busch’s collision wasn’t the first wheel problem. In the first stage of the race on Sunday, Chase Briscoe experienced a loose wheel. The left wheel was not fully tightened by Christopher Bell’s team. Before he experienced a similar problem, he stopped in Briscoe’s stall to get the wheel fixed. Bell restarted at the back of the longest line after being penalized for pitting outside his pit stall. Busch has taken his vehicle to the garage for additional maintenance. His score is 36th.
It seems obvious that NASCAR will not return to five lugs. Although the single-lug system is here to stay, it needs to be implemented better. Wallace pointed out saying, “Formula 1 has four-second pit stops, and they don’t lose wheels. We need to figure out what they’re doing differently.” Recommending on the podcast that NASCAR teams take a cue from the excellent pit stops routinely executed by Formula 1 and IndyCar personnel.
How long it will take for teams to adjust is the real question, not whether NASCAR made a mistake with the one-lug system. The learning curve has been high, with pit crews sidelined and races lost, it is up to the teams to refine their performance. After all, they are the ones chasing eight seconds or close pit stop times to get their cars back on the racetrack. But NASCAR hasn’t dusted their hands off from this situation either as they are looking to see if the problems of 2022 are haunting them back this year.
NASCAR is aware of the loose wheel situation
Apart from Briscoe and Busch, Kyle Larson also had a similar trouble at the Circuit of the Americas. Had it not been for the smart thinking of the No. 20 team, we could’ve seen three teams being handed loose wheel penalties after the Vegas race. Isolated incidents could be traced to a team or a driver, but in just the first five races, multiple teams are battling with this issue. Mind you these are the teams with one of the best pit crew talents on the field.
Adam Steven, Bell’s crew chief has been in talks with NASCAR as they have raised this concern. “It’s something that we’ve talked about before. It’s a situation that come up in the past, and it’s been discussed with NASCAR. So, it could prevent a wheel going across the racetrack or a dangerous situation.” And the sanctioning body has also acknowledged this trend of loose wheels early on 2025.
Cup Series Managing Director Brad Moran sharing his take on Sirius XM Radio said, “We certainly don’t like it. It goes back a couple of years to 2022 when we were having some issues. But we worked together as an industry and we got on top of that. And for whatever reason, it appears that we’ve got something going on. I’ve been discussing it with a lot of the crew chiefs and managers. And yeah, I wouldn’t so quickly say it was the wheel weight.”
Meanwhile, he did highlight what could be one of the major reasons for loose wheels on the racetrack. “Again, you push it to the limit and unfortunately, if that car hits the ground before that nut’s tight, we’ve had this problem.” With more intermediate tracks lined up on the schedule, the pit crew are going to get more busier. If anything the Vegas race might have highlighted a big concern that might plague the teams this year. And if NASCAR doesn’t make any noticeable change, the only way to tackle this issue is to spend half a second extra on the pit road.
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