Speeding In The Pits: 2011 Year In Review: Jeff Burton's Penalties

Friday, December 16, 2011

2011 Year In Review: Jeff Burton's Penalties

Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Jeff Burton was looking for bigger and better things for the 2011 Sprint Cup season. The year before, Burton and his Caterpillar Chevrolet race team made the Chase for NASCAR's Sprint Cup only to not be a serious factor for the title and ending up 12th in the standings. Unfortunately for the Richard Childress Racing driver, 2010 was a dream season compared to the nightmare that was 2011.

Looking on Burton's finishes in 2011, it's shocking to see just how bad his year was. In the first 20 events, Burton's best finish was 11th on two occasions at Texas in the Samsung Mobile 500 and at Dover in the FedEx 400. Burton would not score his first top 10 finish until the 22nd stop on the calender at Watkins Glen where he placed ninth. Fortunately for the South Boston, Virginia driver, things seemed to be turning around in the final 10 events. Burton finished a close second to his now former teammate, Clint Bowyer at Talladega in the Good Sam RV Insurance 500, his best finish in 2011. Burton followed that up with finishes of sixth in the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville, fourth in the Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix and 10th in the season ending Ford 400 at Homestead.

Burton and his crew were very efficient in the pits despite the terrible season. Burton only received two penalties for breaking NASCAR's pit road speed limit while another black flag came due to loose sheet metal. The 31 pit crew only made one penalty earning error by having too many crew members over the wall on one occasion.

2011 Statistics For Jeff Burton
20th in Sprint Cup standings
2 top 5s
5 top 10s
Best Finish: 2nd in the Good Sam Club 500
94 laps led

2011 Penalty Report For Jeff Burton
Race 2 - Pitting before pit road is open, Garage
Race 3 - Speed-Exiting pits, tail end
Race 5 - Speed-Entering pits, pass thru
Race 15 - Too many crewmember(s) in contact with pit service area, tail end
Race 26 - Pitting before pit road is open, tail end; Safety violation, pit, sheet metal loose; Pitting before pit road is open, tail end

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