Speeding In The Pits: 2011 Year In Review: Marcos Ambrose's Penalties

Monday, December 12, 2011

2011 Year In Review: Marcos Ambrose's Penalties

Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

Looking back on the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, it's hard to tell whether or not the year could be regarded as a success or a failure for Australian Marcos Ambrose and his Stanley Tools Ford team. Was it a success since Ambrose won his first career Sprint Cup event? Was it a failure because the #9 Richard Petty Motorsports team were inconsistent all throughout the year? In truth, 2011 for Ambrose and his team was a bit of both.

The first 10 races in 2011 gave hint as to how the year would go for Ambrose. While Ambrose scored a fourth at Las Vegas and a 6th at Texas, he also finished 37th at Daytona, 28th at Fontana, 29th at Martinsville, 32nd at Talladega and 23rd at Richmond. Things appeared to get on the right track with finishes of third and sixth at Dover and Charlotte until the bad finish bugaboo returned in the next three races at Kansas, Pocono and Michigan. Ambrose scored another top five in Sonoma and a ninth at Loudon. The highlight of the year was almost certainly the long awaited breakthrough win for Ambrose at historic Watkins Glen International. Ambrose finished 10th in the night race at Bristol and showed strength in the Chase races finishing ninth at Dover and Kansas, fifth at Charlotte and eighth at Phoenix.

As far as penalties went for 2011, Ambrose was penalized only three times all year long. Ambrose earned black flag penalties from NASCAR for pitting out of order, speeding in the pits and for jumping the restart. The Stanley Tools team did a fantastic job for the year, coming through without a single penalty.

2011 Statistics For Marcos Ambrose
19th in Sprint Cup standings
1 win (Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips At The Glen)
5 top 5s
12 top 10s
49 laps led

2011 Penalty Report for Marcos Ambrose
Race 1 - 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; Pitting out of order, Tail of Field
Race 8 - Pitting before pit road is open, Garage
Race 12 - Speed-Exiting pits, Tail of Field
Race 20 - Jumping the restart, pass thru, changing lanes before start finish
Race 26 - Pitting before pit road is open, tail end; Pitting before pit road is open, tail end
Race 32 - 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