Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR
The 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season started off so promising for 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup champion, Bobby Labonte and his Clorox Toyota, JTG-Daugherty Racing team. Labonte finished a strong fourth in the season opening Daytona 500 and was the driver who gave Trevor Bayne the push that helped enable him to win the Great American Race. Unfortunately, the fourth place finish would be the highlight of the season for the driver and team as they would only manage one other finish in the top 10 at New Hampshire in the Lenox Industrial Tools 301. Things got worse late in the season as word broke that JTG-Daugherty Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing would be severing ties after the year. Added to that was a major infraction for an illegal windshield at Talladega prior to the running of the Good Sam Club 500 which cost the 47 driver/team 25 points and put crew chief, Frank Kerr on the sidelines for the rest of the 2011 season.
Labonte and his team racked up the second most penalties of all drivers and teams in NASCAR's Sprint Cup series. However it should be noted that most of Labonte's penalties came in the form of pitting before the pits were open, a sign of the 47 team being involved in many on track incidents in 2011. Labonte had to violate the rule 14 times on the year, second only to David Gilliland's 16 in the category. Labonte garnered six penalties for speeding in the pits, three of which came in the Coca-Cola 600 while the crew had five penalties on the year.
2011 Statistics For Bobby Labonte
29th in Sprint Cup standings
36 starts
1 top 5
2 top 10s
Best Finish: 4th in the Daytona 500
6 laps led
2011 Penalty Report For Bobby Labonte
Race 2 - Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of the field; Pitting before pit road is open, Tail End
Race 6 - Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of Field; Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of Field; Removing equipment from assigned pit area, Tail of Field
Race 12 - Speed-Entering pits, Tail of Field; Speed-Exiting pits, Tail of Field; Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of Field; Speed-Entering pits, Tail of Field
Race 17 - Pre-Race to the rear, tail end engine change; Pitting before pit road is open, tail end; Too many crewmember(s) in contact with pit service area, tail end; Pitting before pit road is open, tail end; Too many crewmember(s) in contact with pit service area, tail end; Outside half of the pit box tire violation/Team member not in contact with the outside tires, tail end
Race 20 - Removing equipment from assigned pit area, stop and go, tail end; Pitting before pit road is open, tail end
Race 23 - Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of Field
Race 24 - Safety violation [below minimum speed], pit
Race 26 - Pitting before pit road is open, tail end
Race 30 - Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of Field
Race 31 - Pitting out of order, Tail of Field
Race 33 - Speed-Exiting pits, Tail of Field; Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of Field