Christopher Bell’s NASCAR Cup Series weekend at Richmond Raceway just got a little more challenging. The driver of the No. 20’s car failed inspection twice on Friday, leaving him without his car chief and a loss of pit selection for Saturday’s 400-lap race.
Bell is still on the hunt for his first win of the 2026 Cup Series season. The Oklahoma native has come up just shy of victory many times this season as he has recorded seven runner-up finishes.
Richmond Raceway is a track that has been kind to Bell. While he has never won at NASCAR’s premier short track, Bell has posted four top fives and seven top 10s in 10 Richmond starts.
However, Bell’s quest for his first win of the season got more challenging on Friday.
Bell fails inspection twice, loses car chief and pit selection
SiriusXM NASCAR Radio reporter Kelly Crandall broke the news of Bell’s penalty. Due to failing inspection twice, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s Richmond weekend took a significant blow.
“NASCAR confirms that Christopher Bell’s car failed inspection twice. Chris Sherwood, the car chief, has been ejected. The team also loses pit stall selection for the race,” Crandall wrote.
NASCAR has a strict policy when it comes to car inspection. Fortunately for Bell, he did not fail a third time. Had the Joe Gibbs Racing car failed a third time, Bell would be forced to make a pass-through penalty at the start of the race.
Given that Richmond is a 0.75-mile short track, a pass-through penalty at the start of the race would almost certainly put Bell a lap behind at the beginning of the race.
On a tight pit road like Richmond, however, losing the opportunity to choose a pit stall could hinder Bell in Saturday’s race.
Losing Chris Sherwood, Bell’s car chief, for the weekend is a detriment to the No. 20, too, as the car chief is a prominent leader on any NASCAR team.
With the penalties, it will be interesting to see if Bell can overcome a now-plagued Cup Series weekend at Richmond.
Despite Richmond troubles, Bell is heating up as The Chase nears
Failing inspection twice on Friday is certainly a blip in the road for Bell this weekend at Richmond. However, the 13-time Cup Series winner has speed on his side, as he has shown in recent weeks.
With three races remaining until The Chase, Bell sits fifth in the Cup Series points standings. He has recorded 10 top fives and 11 top 10s in 23 starts.
Much of Bell’s 2026 success has come in recent weeks. Bell has recorded five top-five finishes in the last six races, with four of them being runner-up results. Last week at Iowa, Bell was breathing down the back bumper of JGR teammate Ty Gibbs for the win, but came up short.
Bell is the only JGR Cup driver without a win in 2026. Denny Hamlin leads the organization with four wins, while Ty Gibbs has tallied two wins, and Chase Briscoe has one victory.
This Saturday at Richmond, amid inspection penalties, Bell will aim to break through into victory lane.
NASCAR: Christopher Bell’s Quest For Richmond Win Just Got More Difficult