NASCAR investigating failures of new pitguns after Atlanta

The NASCAR Cup Series says it will review a run of failures caused by the new-for-2018 pitguns that the series had implemented to save costs

NASCAR decided to prevent teams from continuing a development war by introducing pitguns manufactured by Paoli, which also supplies the devices to Formula 1 and Supercars.

The pitguns have caused problems at both the first two Cup rounds of 2018.

At Atlanta on Sunday, race winner Kevin Harvick had to come back through from 19th after a problematic pitstop and reigning Cup champion Martin Truex Jr's recovery drive from the back of the grid was hampered by similar troubles.

A NASCAR spokesperson told Autosport the series was "working with the supplier and immediately looked at the reasoning so that it will be fixed as soon as possible".

NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer Steve O'Donnell admitted the problems were not unexpected.

"Obviously, we don't want to see failures with any part or piece," he told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

"We knew going in that this could potentially happen and the likelihood of it happening at some point during the season was fairly high.

"But we're going to have those conversations and get it right.

"It was an initiative that we worked closely with the teams on and never want to see a part or piece malfunction.

"We want it to be in the hands of the drivers and the race teams. That's something we obviously take very seriously and we'll head to Vegas to hopefully get that cleaned up."

Harvick's Stewart-Haas Racing crew chief Rodney Childers said that Paoli cannot be blamed for the problems because it had a short timeframe to produce the pitguns.

"There's no way I could sit up here and complain about anything they've done because I can't imagine taking that on during the winter, and what they did over a two-month span or a three-month span trying to get all that stuff ready for the teams," he said.

"My opinion is we're going to go through ups and downs and we need to go through them together and learn together, and [the issues] are part of it."

Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin said the theory behind the rule change makes sense.

"They [NASCAR] could control everything," he said.

"That's probably why - amongst the competition side of things - they don't want to fail because it's a bad luck thing.

"They want it [pitstops] to fail because they [the pitcrew] did a bad job. It's your own fault then."

shares
comments

Atlanta NASCAR: Kevin Harvick dominates for Stewart-Haas

Old track at Atlanta hurt NASCAR's young drivers - Kevin Harvick

The ex-F1 driver taking on NASCAR with a new team

The ex-F1 driver taking on NASCAR with a new team

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
James Newbold

The ex-F1 driver taking on NASCAR with a new team The ex-F1 driver taking on NASCAR with a new team

The early benefits and challenges of NASCAR's Next Gen car

The early benefits and challenges of NASCAR's Next Gen car

Plus
Plus
NASCAR
Charles Bradley

The early benefits and challenges of NASCAR's Next Gen car The early benefits and challenges of NASCAR's Next Gen car

How Penske's rookie sensation opened NASCAR's new era in style

How Penske's rookie sensation opened NASCAR's new era in style

Plus
Plus
NASCAR
Charles Bradley

How Penske's rookie sensation opened NASCAR's new era in style How Penske's rookie sensation opened NASCAR's new era in style

Six key themes to follow in the 2022 NASCAR Cup season

Six key themes to follow in the 2022 NASCAR Cup season

Plus
Plus
NASCAR
Autosport Staff

Six key themes to follow in the 2022 NASCAR Cup season Six key themes to follow in the 2022 NASCAR Cup season

How NASCAR had to learn a harsh lesson ahead of its Next Gen arrival

How NASCAR had to learn a harsh lesson ahead of its Next Gen arrival

Plus
Plus
NASCAR Cup
Daytona 500
Charles Bradley

How NASCAR had to learn a harsh lesson ahead of its Next Gen arrival How NASCAR had to learn a harsh lesson ahead of its Next Gen arrival

How Larson took the long way round to NASCAR Cup glory

How Larson took the long way round to NASCAR Cup glory

Plus
Plus
NASCAR
Charles Bradley

How Larson took the long way round to NASCAR Cup glory How Larson took the long way round to NASCAR Cup glory

How NASCAR is gearing up for its "biggest change" in 2022

How NASCAR is gearing up for its "biggest change" in 2022

Plus
Plus
NASCAR
Jim Utter

How NASCAR is gearing up for its "biggest change" in 2022 How NASCAR is gearing up for its "biggest change" in 2022

Why Bubba Wallace’s Talladega win is such a big moment for NASCAR

Why Bubba Wallace’s Talladega win is such a big moment for NASCAR

Plus
Plus
NASCAR
Charles Bradley

Why Bubba Wallace’s Talladega win is such a big moment for NASCAR Why Bubba Wallace’s Talladega win is such a big moment for NASCAR

Subscribe