William Byron became the first multi-time Cup Series winner in 2024 with a victory in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. With only two cautions for the stage breaks and just three pit cycles, slow pit stops and mistakes on pit road became bigger in Texas. In particular, three drivers’ bids for a checkered flag got sidetracked by poor execution on pit road.
Christopher Bell
With the fifth-fastest practice times and a fourth-place qualifying effort, it was evident throughout the weekend that the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team had one of the fastest cars in the field. Crew chief Adam Stevens also dialed up a unique pit strategy, stretching their first run well into stage two to pit only twice in the whole race.
However, what seemed like a bold and potentially race-winning strategy hit a snag with a slow time of 19.5 seconds on Bell’s first stop at lap 23. The slow stop waiting on fuel cost Bell a great deal of track position, and Bell spent the rest of the race trying to gain it back. He nearly succeeded.
Bell pitted three to five laps later than the rest of the leaders; as a result, he had slightly fresher tires than the likes of Byron or Ty Gibbs. Bell used every bit of that rubber to drive back up to finish, just seven-tenths of a second behind Byron.
While it was an impressive drive for Bell, it could have been a different story for him and the No. 20 team with a faster first pit stop. We might be talking about Bell as the first two-time winner of 2024 instead of Byron.
Ross Chastain
The Melon Man made his presence felt up front, leading 10 laps during the final stage. While Byron did get around him through turn one on lap 44, Chastain was nipping at his heels as they pitted together on lap 45.
This is where it all went wrong for the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, taking 13.3 seconds on their pit stop relative to the No. 24 crew getting Byron out front with a blazing 10.4 second pit stop. While 13.3 seconds was considered a good stop 20 years ago, it is a slow stop in today’s era of highly trained pit crews and single lugnut tires.
Chastain did not seriously contend for the lead again, but he did salvage a solid seventh-place finish out of the day.
Shane van Gisbergen
Going into the weekend, SVG was a popular pick to contend in his first Cup Series start of 2024 and just his second since his big debut at the Chicago Street Course last year. Van Gisbergen backed that up with a 10th-place showing in practice and a spot of 12th on the starting grid.
Early on, SVG had made his way into the back end of the top 10 when he came down pit road on lap 24. While the stop was clean, the Kiwi’s drive down pit road as not because NASCAR posted him for speeding, leaving him no choice but to serve a pass-through penalty under green. Issues with the transmission further compounded van Gisbergen’s problems, falling back to a 21st-place finish at COTA.
The speeding penalty could be chalked up to SVG still working to gain experience with NASCAR pit stops and pit road rules. If he can clean up those mistakes, do not be surprised if van Gisbergen contends for road course wins in both the Cup Series and in his first full-time Xfinity campaign this season.
Look Ahead to Next Week
The drivers of the NASCAR Cup Series will go short track racing at Richmond Raceway with the running of the Toyota Owners 400 next Sunday, March 31. The 2024 spring race marks the return of night racing to Richmond Raceway for the first time since the fall of 2021, with a green flag shortly after 7 p.m. ET.
Therefore, the crew chiefs’ notebooks from the past couple of years may not be entirely accurate. Whichever team can best adjust their Next Gen setups to nighttime will have a good chance of winning in Virginia’s state capital.
About the author
Andrew Stoddard joined Frontstretch in May of 2022 as an iRacing contributor. He is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College, the University of Richmond, and VCU. He works as an athletic communications specialist at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va.
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