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Christopher Bell's crew chief Adam Stevens blasts 'chickenshit' caution after Daniel Hemric blew tire at Iowa

FaceProfileby:Thomas Goldkamp•06/16/24
Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric
Sep 11, 2022; Kansas City, Kansas, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Christopher Bell (20) leads driver Austin Cindric (2) and driver Daniel Suarez (99) during the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

An unfortunate caution sequence cost the No. 20 car of Christopher Bell valuable positioning during the Iowa Corn 350 on Sunday afternoon, and Bell’s crew chief was not happy about it.

The caution came out after Daniel Hemric blew a tire.

However, Hemric was far from the only driver to have suffered a blown tire, as several other drivers also encountered the issue as the race track was eating up tires pretty good. Thus, the caution flag coming out at all was a source for consternation.

“That was the most ridiculous bulls*** caution I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Adam Stevens, Bell’s crew chief. “You had 17 guys blow tires and you have one guy blow another tire and you throw the f****** caution. That’s chickens***.”

Christopher Bell was in P18 following the incident at the time of this writing, dropping several spots from his previous position on the track. He finished Stage 2 as the last car on the lead lap.

One thing that was troubling Bell was the starts, with some issues collecting speed early on.

“Why is this thing so awful on stickers?” Christopher Bell asked his crew.

“That’s a great question, I don’t know,” came the reply.

Ryan Blaney takes Stage 1 win

A competitive first stage with a couple cautions ended with Ryan Blaney taking the win over Kyle Larson, who started on the pole on Sunday. The two battled back and forth throughout the first stage before Blaney got the better of Larson and held on for the final few laps.

It was the second stage win of the season for Blaney, while it prevented Larson from extending his Cup Series lead of seven stage wins any further.

RELATED: Denny Hamlin has baffling start, falls a lap down early

Larson ran into a bit of trouble with a questionable tire in Stage 2, having to pit early. In doing so, he gave up his positioning and will have to battle his way back toward the front.

Later in the race, early in Stage 3, Larson ran into some real trouble when he was hit from behind and careened hard into the wall. USA’s broadcast team reported that he was having issues with his suspension, with the car not driving straight, an unfortunate development for the current Cup Series points leader.