The Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway has featured numerous issues on pit road. The latest was a lost wheel that sent Kyle Busch's No. 8 into the outside wall.
The issue occurred on the Lap 115 restart. The field went three- and four-wide entering the backstretch when Busch suddenly wiggled and slammed into the outside wall. He kept his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet against the outside wall so that he didn't cause a massive pile-up.
The wheel and tire, however, disconnected from the No. 8 and bounced toward the infield. Alex Bowman had to quickly steer sharply to the left to avoid both pieces of debris, which would have caused significant damage to his No. 48 Chevrolet.
Kyle Busch's wheel falls off after the restart in Vegas! 👀 #NASCARonFS1 pic.twitter.com/y2hlXQXRlT
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 16, 2025
The tire and wheel -- which sheared in half -- resulted in a two-lap penalty for Busch and the No. 8 team. However, they did not initially serve it. Busch took the Chevrolet to the garage so the team could make repairs. They also discovered a brake line issue.
This lost wheel will result in a two-race suspension for two of Busch's crew members. NASCAR will announce which ones with the weekly penalty report.
Busch's lost wheel was only one example of the many pit road issues in the first 115 laps. Several teams and drivers had problems that resulted in penalties and/or cautions.
Ryan Blaney was the first to experience a problem. He was the first driver to make his green flag stop during the opening stage, but he lost two laps with a stop lasting more than 30 seconds. Chase Briscoe then lost a wheel on the same sequence of pit stops. This resulted in a penalty that dropped him multiple laps behind the leaders.
The problems continued with Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin speeding. Christopher Bell had a loose wheel that forced him to stop in Briscoe's pit stall. He received a penalty for pitting outside of his box.
Alex Bowman had to make an unscheduled green flag stop due to a loose wheel. He fell one lap behind the leaders. He later received a speeding penalty. Austin Cindric also had to make an extra pit stop to tighten a loose wheel under caution.