Bell turns car over to Crews in San Diego before mechanical issue

Christopher Bell turned his Toyota over to Brent Crews early in Sunday’s race in San Diego, hoping a relief driver could save the day.

Crews brought out the caution on lap 30 when the car came to a stop on the course due to a mechanical issue. The car had pushed smoke out of the pipes before it finally gave up. The assumption was that a gearbox issue was the culprit.

“I was kind of going through the gears, and it just broke,” Crews said. “I’m going to have to have Adam [Stevens, crew chief] to look over it and myself to figure out if it was something I did or if it was just a freak accident. Once I look at it, I’ll have more answers.

“It’s really unfortunate for this whole team. We came here to get points and coming out with not much. Unfortunate for the whole group, it was a great opportunity to come and learn and try and help these guys out.”

Bell started the race and will be the driver of record to receive points. However, it will be one point for a last-place finish.

The driver swap occurred on the first caution of the afternoon, on lap 12, and because of the track's length, the team did not lose a lap. Bell was unable to run the distance because of a fractured left wrist he suffered two weeks ago.

Crews is a full-time driver for Joe Gibbs Racing in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and has a road course background. He ran as high as 21st during his brief stint behind the wheel.

“I had three laps, I think, in the Cup car [in practice] and five in the O’Reilly car, so it was just trying to learn to the best of my ability,” Crews said. “They are a lot different; the grip level is a lot less in the Cup car, but it’s got a lot of brakes. But right after that, it falls off and you don’t see that as much in the O’Reilly car.”