Speeding In The Pits: 2011 Year In Review: Trevor Bayne's Penalties

Saturday, December 10, 2011

2011 Year In Review: Trevor Bayne's Penalties

Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR

There aren't too many athletes who can say that they've won their sport's biggest event in their very first try. 20 year old Trevor Bayne is one of the few who can make such a statement. In only his second career start in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, Bayne won his first race in the series primere event, the Daytona 500. Perhaps it shouldn't have been such a big surprise. Prior to the event, Bayne showed a lot of strength behind the Wood Brothers' #21 Motorcraft Ford. But still, for someone so young and with so little experience to come though and take a victory, any victory had to be a shock.

Bayne's Daytona 500 victory certainly was the highlight of the season. However the young driver from Tennessee had the biggest scare of his life in 2011 too as he was forced out of racing for several weeks due to a still unknown illness. Thankfully Bayne was able to return to racing his full-time Nationwide Series ride for Roush Racing and his part-time Cup Series ride for the Wood Brothers.

As expected with any young driver, there are going to be mistakes made during the season. While Bayne was no exception to the rule, he did a fine job minimizing his mistakes. Bayne was penalized a mere three times in the 17 Cup races he ran in 2011. The experienced Wood Brothers pit crew was in fine form in each race they were in too. The crew tallied only one penalty in the final race in Homestead.

2011 Statistics For Trevor Bayne
Was Not Eligable To Score Points
1 win (Daytona 500)
1 top 5
1 top 10
11 laps led

2011 Penalty Report For Trevor Bayne
Race 3 - Speed-Entering pits, pass thru
Race 4 - Commitment Line Violation, Garage; Pitting before pit road is open, Garage
Race 6 - Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of Field
Race 8 - Pre-Race to the rear, Adjustments after Impound; Pitting before pit road is open, Garage
Race 17 - Pitting before pit road is open, tail end garage
Race 20 - Pitting before pit road is open, tail end
Race 31 - Pitting out of order, Tail of Field
Race 32 - Going above the blend line exiting the pits, tail end
Race 36 - Pitting before pit road is open, tail end; Pitting before pit road is open, tail end; Pitting before pit road is open, tail end; Crewmember(s) over the wall too soon, 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