Why Some NASCAR Cup Teams Just Can't Seem to Keep Their Wheels On

• There were penalties for runaway wheels issued after the season-opening Daytona 500 and single violations at California's Auto Club Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway, and last weekend at Circuit of the Americas near Austin, Texas.

• So far, it’s been primarily middle- to lower-level teams that have lost wheels and been penalized.

• “There are a lot of wheels falling off. You’d think we wouldn’t have that with the single lug," said Cup driver Denny Hamiln.'

A gaggle of Cup Series teams have lost crew chiefs and over-the-wall crewmen because of runaway wheels during recent races. The penalty for violating Rule 10.5.2.6 is the loss of crew chief and at least two crewmen for the next four races.

There were two such penalties after the season-opening Daytona 500 and single violations at California's Auto Club Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway, and last weekend at Circuit of the Americas near Austin, Texas. Almost without fail, the wheels have been separating from their cars within a few laps after a pit stop.

Make no mistake: teams are taking the issue very seriously.

“It’s a big penalty, so we’ve tried to put a big emphasis on that from day one (with the Next Gen car),” said Ryan Blaney, Saturday afternoon’s pole-winner for Sunday afternoon’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway. “When a handful of guys had that problem at Daytona, it kind of got sorted out as far as the way they make the wheels.

“We (Team Penske) have been too hesitant on that issue to an extent of having too much torque on our nuts—making sure that doesn’t happen. It slows the stop down by making sure of that, so it’s a balancing act. How tightly do you want these things torqued each stop? You’re losing time getting them tight, but the penalty and the risk (of losing a wheel) is huge.

“We have a great pit department that does a great job figuring out what things need to happen and what things absolutely cannot happen. We’ve put a big emphasis on it, for sure; something we’ve focused on because it’s a big penalty.”

So far—interpret this as you will—it’s been primarily middle- to lower-level teams that have lost wheels and been penalized. Justin Haley and Bubba Wallace each has one career victory, Kaz Grala and Corey LaJoie none. That begs the inevitable question: if the vendor-provided wheels and single center lug nut are identical on all cars, is human error the cause.