Speeding In The Pits: Most Penalized Drivers In 2011

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Most Penalized Drivers In 2011 - Driver Penalties

Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Our second of four penalty categories is driver penalties. Drivers earn this designation in numerous ways including speeding in or out of the pits, passing on the wrong side before the green flag or jumping a restart, purposefully bring out a yellow flag and much more. These penalties are far more severe than the pre-race penalties. A driver making a mistake by speeding in the pits or passing before the green flag can take their team out of a chance at winning or getting a good finish due to the track position that's lost by serving these penalties.

Dave Blaney was the most penalized driver in this category for the 2011 Sprint Cup season. Blaney earned 12 penalties in 36 races, an average of one penalty for every three races. Casey Mears and Travis Kvapil were Blaney's closest competition in the category with 11 penalties each. The biggest surprise was Kurt Busch who received 10 of these penalties this year. Ryan Newman was the only driver who attempted to start all 36 events and wasn't a start and park car that did not earn a single penalty in this category. NASCAR's two title rivals for the Sprint Cup, Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards had five of these penalties total, four by Stewart and one by Edwards which came late in the season.

Driver Number(s)	Driver Name	Driver Penalties
36, 60, 35	Dave Blaney	12
13	Casey Mears	11
34, 38	Travis Kvapil	11
22	Kurt Busch	10
71, 77	Andy Lally	9
47	Bobby Labonte	7
83	Brian Vickers	7
46, 38	J.J. Yeley	7
00	David Reutimann	6
16	Greg Biffle	5
27	Paul Menard	5
32, 71	Mike Bliss	5
32, 38	Terry Labonte	5
38, 34	David Gilliland	4
6	David Ragan	4
42	Juan Pablo Montoya	4
48	Jimmie Johnson	4
18	Kyle Busch	4
4	Kasey Kahne	4
2	Brad Keselowski	4
14	Tony Stewart	4
7	Robby Gordon	3
09, 60, 51	Landon Cassill	3
1	Jamie McMurray	3
9	Marcos Ambrose	3
24	Jeff Gordon	3
88	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	3
43	A.J. Allmendinger	3
31	Jeff Burton	3
29	Kevin Harvick	3
71	Hermie Sadler	3
21	Trevor Bayne	2
20	Joey Logano	2
56	Martin Truex, Jr.	2
17	Matt Kenseth	2
32	Ken Schrader	2
35, 36	Geoffrey Bodine	2
66, 18	Michael McDowell	2
46	Scott Speed	2
78	Regan Smith	1
11	Denny Hamlin	1
33	Clint Bowyer	1
5	Mark Martin	1
99	Carl Edwards	1
09, 46	Bill Elliott	1
30	David Stremme	1
95	David Starr	1
32	Andrew Ranger	1
77	Steve Wallace	1
39	Ryan Newman	0
60, 36, 37	Mike Skinner	0
87	Joe Nemechek	0
7	Reed Sorenson	0
15	Michael Waltrip	0
37	Robert Richardson, Jr.	0
37	Tony Raines	0
84	Cole Whitt	0
92	Dennis Setzer	0

Penalty Color Key

Pink - Pre-race Penalty
Orange - Penalty For Pitting Before Pit Road Is Open/Too many crew member(s) in contact with pit service area
Red - Driver Induced Penalty
Green - Pit Crew Induced Penalty
White - Verbal Abuse Toward Official/Safety Violation

Red, green and white designated penalties are considered to be "serious" penalties as they have a more significant affect on the outcome of a driver and team's finish than pink and orange designated penalties.

Please note that NASCAR does not have different designations for penalties. The color designation is for the purpose of this website only.

NASCAR's Race Penalty Procedures

* Driver change before start of the race
PENALTY: Start at the tail of the field

* Use of a backup car after qualifications
PENALTY: Start at the tail of the field

* Engine and/or transmission change after qualifications
PENALTY: Start at the tail of the field

* Adjustments made to car after impound
PENALTY: Start at the tail of the field

* Miss driver's meeting/driver introductions

PENALTY: Start at the tail of the field

* Impeding a competitor during qualifying
PENALTY: Qualifying lap disallowed

* Pitting before Pit Road is open
PENALTY: Restart at the tail of the field

* Too many crew member(s) in contact with pit service area
PENALTY: Must pass through pits under green; Restart at the tail of the field if under yellow

* Pitting out of order
PENALTY: Restart at the tail of the field

* Car must enter pit road in single file
PENALTY: Must pass through pits under green; Restart at the tail of the field if under yellow

* Speeding - Entering/Exiting pits
PENALTY: Must pass through pits under green; Restart at the tail of the field if under yellow

* All passing on pit road must be to the outside on entry
PENALTY: Must pass through pits under green; Restart at the tail of the field if under yellow

* Driving through more than 3 pit boxes
PENALTY: Must pass through pits under green; Restart at the tail of the field if under yellow

* Car pitting out of the assigned pit box
PENALTY: 1 lap

* Crew member interfering with another team's pit stop
PENALTY: NASCAR Discresion

* Running the stop & go sign/light
PENALTY: NASCAR Discretion

* Going above the blend line exiting the pits
PENALTY: Must pass through pits under green; Restart at the tail of the field if under yellow

* Passing the caution car/truck
PENALTY: 1 lap

* Pulling up to pit (drivers must maintain position in relation to field or face penalty)
PENALTY 1 lap

* Jumping the start/restart
PENALTY: Pass through pits

* Passing after turn three (3) on "One to Go''
PENALTY: Pass through pits

* Passing on a start or restart (before start/finish line)
PENALTY: Pass through pits

* Disobeying NASCAR request
PENALTY: NASCAR Discretion

* Intentionally causing a caution
PENALTY: NASCAR Discretion

* Disobeying Black Flag
PENALTY: NASCAR Discretion

* Commitment Line Violation
PENALTY: Must pass through pits under green; Restart at the tail of the field if under yellow

* Passing under the double yellow line (at Daytona or Talladega)
PENALTY: Must pass through pits

* Blocking a driver under the yellow line (at Daytona or Talladega)
PENALTY: Must pass through pits

* Disqualification of qualifying time
PENALTY: Start at tail of the field

* Use of extension poles are limited/not self illuminated
PENALTY: Must pass through pits under green; Restart at the tail of the field if under yellow

* Crew member(s) over the wall too soon
PENALTY: Must pass through pits under green; Restart at the tail of the field if under yellow

* Crew member(s) returning from equipment side of wall
PENALTY: Must pass through pits under green; Restart at the tail of the field if under yellow

* Front air wrench must be carried back to pit wall side of car
PENALTY: Must pass through pits under green; Restart at the tail of the field if under yellow

* Using more than two (2) air wrenches during one pit stop
PENALTY: Must pass through pits under green; Restart at the tail of the field if under yellow

* Non-Compliant refueling
PENALTY: Must pass through pits under green; Restart at the tail of the field if under yellow

* Tossing or throwing the fuel filler/equipment
PENALTY: Must pass through pits under green; Restart at the tail of the field if under yellow

* Tire violation-Removing outside tire acceptable/Rolling a tire(s) beyond the center of pit road
PENALTY: Must pass through pits under green; Restart at the tail of the field if under yellow

* Unapproved adjustment to car
PENALTY: Must pass through pits under green; Restart at the tail of the field if under yellow

* Removing equipment from assigned pit area
PENALTY: Stop and Go

* Running over/under equipment
PENALTY: NASCAR Discretion

* Hand pushing car more than 3 pit boxes
PENALTY: Must pass through pits under green; Restart at the tail of the field if under yellow

* Refueling car before the affected car receives the green flag on the race track or does not complete the designated race distance (competition yellow)
PENALTY: Minimum 1 lap

* Verbal abuse to a NASCAR official
PENALTY: NASCAR Discretion

* Safety violation
PENALTY: NASCAR Discretion