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Erik Jones completes pit stop sideways in stall after getting hit by Christopher Bell

JHby:Jonathan Howard•08/11/24•

Jondean25

Erik Jones sideways pit stop Richmond
Screenshot credit: NASCAR via X.com

A very eventful first pit stop of the race after the conclusion of Stage 1. Erik Jones got sent sideways by Christopher Bell on pit road. Bell took the Stage 1 win and then made a critical mistake. NASCAR is back!

Not only did Erik Jones’ pit crew have to complete the stop with the car sideways, he had to get out of there! The nose of the car was pointed right at the pit wall.

Christopher Bell also took damage from this hit. Let’s see if it ruins what has been a great day early in Richmond.

Christopher Bell had already completed his pit stop. As the 20 car came out of the pit stall, Erik Jones attempted to enter his, and he got sent around.

Later on the radio, Bell told his team, “Yeah, that was more exciting than I was anticipating.” You don’t say?

This is a bad stop for Jones of course, but his team is struggling to get him into the top-25. As for Bell, the consequences could be more severe if the damage to his front end ends up being more than just superficial.

Richmond is giving us the return of NASCAR. It is also giving us the debut of these prime and option tires in a points race. This concept was used at North Wilkesboro and now it is being used to make the racing at Richmond better.

Christopher Bell hits Erik Jones after Stage 1 win

The first stage was playing out perfectly for Christopher Bell. He had taken the lead from his teammate, Denny Hamlin, and didn’t look back. For many laps, Joe Gibbs Racing had the top three spots with Martin Truex Jr. in P3.

No one started on those red “option” tires, so it was more or less a normal stage for Richmond. Everyone was on the same tire and there were no green flag stops as everyone made it to the end of the stage without issue.

On that pit stop, Bell hitting Erik Jones was about the only thing of note. There were some drivers who had trouble, lost spots. But that was as clean of a first stage as you could really hope for.

There is a lot of racing left to go, but right now it’s a tale of two races for Christopher Bell and Erik Jones.