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The 2022 NASCAR season has brought with it some great racing courtesy of the Next Gen cars. A different winner has been crowned in each of the six races held so far. The Next Gen car has proved its mettle in terms of race-ability and durability as well as outright speed.
With such major changes to the formula of how a Cup Series car is built, a few teething issues have, however, certainly cropped up. One such issue is that of the wheels flying off the car. So far this year, fans have witnessed three such instances due to various reasons. This has been a cause of major safety concerns for the teams, crew members, drivers as well as fans around the track.
The most recent incident occurred at last weekend's EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix in Austin, where Bubba Wallace Jr. lost a wheel from his #23 Toyota Camry.
Watch the bizarre incident below:
Kaz Grala also lost a wheel in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, which forced other drivers to take aggressive evasive action. Corey LaJoie went through the same ordeal during the race at Pheonix due to heavy contact with the barriers.
Watch Kaz Grala lose a wheel in the Daytona 500 below:
NASCAR has been penalizing teams after every such incident with the same penalty it has had for a few years now. The reprimand consists of the crew chief and two crew members being suspended for four races.
NASCAR crew chief pinpoints the reason behind the runaway wheels
Christopher Bell's crew chief Adam Stevens believes the reason behind the runaway wheels is human error. The veteran crew chief has plenty of experience in the form of two Cup Series championships with Joe Gibbs Racing. Stevens recently appeared on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio to explain what he thinks the issue is, saying:
“If you drop the jack before that wheel is tight, it is going to come loose, you can’t pull it past and get it deflected, the nut into the wheel and get it tight, and have it stay tight. That’s just going to happen.”
Listen to what the veteran had to say below:
All eyes are on the Toyota Owners 400 now, which goes live today. Fans are hoping they do not encounter any more stray wheels on the track.
