Speeding In The Pits: 2011 Year In Review: Kasey Kahne's Penalties

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

2011 Year In Review: Kasey Kahne's Penalties

Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

It was hard to put expectations on how Kasey Kahne's season would go in 2011. The Enumclaw, Washington driver was in a lame-duck role as driver for Red Bull racing. The 2011 Sprint Cup season would be his one and only year racing for the Toyota team as Kahne was already set up to race for Hendrick Motorsports in 2012.

Kahne was strong in many events in 2011 but all too often, Kahne would find misfortune derailing good runs and potential strong finishes. Five top 10 finishes in the first 10 races were offset by finishes of 25th, 29th, 21st and 37th. Chances of making the Chase For The Sprint Cup were derailed in the races leading to the cutoff point with finishes of 28th, 26th, 34th and 38th. Once the Chase started, all the pressure seemed to be off the #4 Red Bull team. In the final 10 events, Kahne scored finishes of fourth, second, fourth, sixth and third. In the 35th event in Phoenix, Kahne brought the team it's only victory in 2011 and likely its final one as the team was pulling out of NASCAR at the end of the year. Kahne finished 2011 with a seventh place run at Homestead.

A sign that Kahne was a victim of bad racing lunk shows through the penalties he received for having to pit before the pits were open. In all, Kahne had to pit early six times while a seventh was a mistake on Kahne's part as he had no damage. Kahne's only other mistakes were for speeding in the pits as he did that on two occasions in 2011. Kahne's Red Bull team did their job, not having any penalties during the season.

2011 Statistics For Kasey Kahne
14th in Sprint Cup Standings
1 win (Kobalt Tools 500)
8 top 5s
15 top 10s
340 laps led

2011 Penalty Report For Kasey Kahne
Race 1 - Pitting before pit road is open, tail end
Race 3 - Pitting before pit road is open, tail end
Race 12 - Speed-Exiting pits, Tail of Field
Race 27 - Speed-Exiting pits, Tail of Field; Pitting out of order, Tail of Field
Race 31 - Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of Field
Race 32 - Pitting before pit road is open, tail end
Race 33 - Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of Field
Race 36 - 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