Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR
The third category of penalties we feature here is the penalties that are earned by a driver's pit crew. Like the penalties a driver can get in a race, these penalties can prevent a team from winning a race or getting a good finish. This category also is an indication of what teams have the best pit crews in NASCAR's Sprint Cup series. Some of the penalties that fall into this category include too many crew members over the wall, crew members going over the wall too early, crew members losing contact with equipment and lug nuts not installed.
In all, five drivers and their teams led all the rest in receiving penalties in this category in 2011. It's probably not surprising that the underfunded teams of Dave Blaney, David Gilliland and Casey Mears are among the leaders but they are joined by two of Michael Waltrip Racing's drivers, Martin Truex, Jr. and David Reutimann. In fact, it was not a good season to be on any of the crews for MWR as Bobby Labonte's team earned only one less penalty in this category in 2011. Greg Biffle's team also had three penalties in the season, a likely indication as to why he missed the Chase field and didn't run well this season. Jimmie Johnson's Lowe's team also had three penalties as well.
Several teams were able to have a clean 2011 in the pits. While Kurt Busch had a total of 10 penalties due to mistakes on his own behalf, his pit crew did not have a mistake this year. Andy Lally's underfunded team also managed not to cost their driver in the pits as they too did not have a penalty all year. The teams for the two championship contenders of Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards were on their game in 2011 and also were able to avoid making any costly penalties for their drivers.
| Driver Number(s) | Driver Name | Crew Penalties |
| 36, 60, 35 | Dave Blaney | 4 |
| 38, 34 | David Gilliland | 4 |
| 13 | Casey Mears | 4 |
| 00 | David Reutimann | 4 |
| 56 | Martin Truex, Jr. | 4 |
| 47 | Bobby Labonte | 3 |
| 83 | Brian Vickers | 3 |
| 6 | David Ragan | 3 |
| 16 | Greg Biffle | 3 |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson | 3 |
| 20 | Joey Logano | 3 |
| 1 | Jamie McMurray | 3 |
| 7 | Robby Gordon | 2 |
| 27 | Paul Menard | 2 |
| 34, 38 | Travis Kvapil | 1 |
| 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 1 |
| 09, 60, 51 | Landon Cassill | 1 |
| 21 | Trevor Bayne | 1 |
| 78 | Regan Smith | 1 |
| 46, 38 | J.J. Yeley | 1 |
| 9 | Marcos Ambrose | 1 |
| 24 | Jeff Gordon | 1 |
| 88 | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | 1 |
| 31 | Jeff Burton | 1 |
| 32 | Ken Schrader | 1 |
| 39 | Ryan Newman | 1 |
| 87 | Joe Nemechek | 1 |
| 22 | Kurt Busch | 0 |
| 18 | Kyle Busch | 0 |
| 71, 77 | Andy Lally | 0 |
| 32, 71 | Mike Bliss | 0 |
| 4 | Kasey Kahne | 0 |
| 32, 38 | Terry Labonte | 0 |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | 0 |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski | 0 |
| 43 | A.J. Allmendinger | 0 |
| 17 | Matt Kenseth | 0 |
| 33 | Clint Bowyer | 0 |
| 29 | Kevin Harvick | 0 |
| 5 | Mark Martin | 0 |
| 35, 36 | Geoffrey Bodine | 0 |
| 60, 36, 37 | Mike Skinner | 0 |
| 66, 18 | Michael McDowell | 0 |
| 14 | Tony Stewart | 0 |
| 99 | Carl Edwards | 0 |
| 09, 46 | Bill Elliott | 0 |
| 30 | David Stremme | 0 |
| 71 | Hermie Sadler | 0 |
| 7 | Reed Sorenson | 0 |
| 46 | Scott Speed | 0 |
| 95 | David Starr | 0 |
| 15 | Michael Waltrip | 0 |
| 32 | Andrew Ranger | 0 |
| 37 | Robert Richardson, Jr. | 0 |
| 37 | Tony Raines | 0 |
| 77 | Steve Wallace | 0 |
| 84 | Cole Whitt | 0 |
| 92 | Dennis Setzer | 0 |