More often than not, the penalty for entering pit road too early is the result of a driver having to pit in order to fix damage on their race car from an accident on the track. Kurt Busch found himself in this position 16 times in 2012, more than any other driver. The majority of these instances came while Busch drove for Phoenix Racing. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was the only driver who made the Chase who didn't get the orange designated penalty however he did miss two events during the season. Greg Biffle had the least amount of penalties of all drivers who started or attempted to start and race the full distance all 36 points events with two.
Driver, Total Times Pitting Before Pit Road Was Open In 2012
Kurt Busch - 16
Casey Mears - 11
David Ragan - 10
Marcos Ambrose - 9
Jeff Burton - 9
David Gilliland - 9
Travis Kvapil - 9
Landon Cassill - 8
Bobby Labonte - 8
Trevor Bayne - 7
Kyle Busch - 7
Carl Edwards - 7
Jeff Gordon - 7
Sam Hornish, Jr. - 7
Joey Logano - 7
Juan Pablo Montoya - 7
Regan Smith - 7
Tony Stewart - 7
A.J. Allmendinger - 6
Clint Bowyer - 6
Jamie McMurray - 6
Kasey Kahne - 5
Matt Kenseth - 5
David Reutimann - 5
Aric Almirola - 4
Jimmie Johnson - 4
Brad Keselowski - 4
Ken Schrader - 4
Martin Truex, Jr. - 4
Denny Hamlin - 3
Kevin Harvick - 3
Terry Labonte - 3
Paul Menard - 3
Joe Nemechek - 3
David Stremme - 3
Greg Biffle - 2
Scott Speed - 2
J.J. Yeley - 2
Kelly Bires - 1
Mike Bliss - 1
Bill Elliott - 1
Timmy Hill - 1
Stephen Leicht - 1
Mark Martin - 1
Michael McDowell - 1
Danica Patrick - 1
Tony Raines - 1
Robert Richardson - 1
Scott Riggs - 1
Elliott Sadler - 1
Boris Said - 1
Reed Sorenson - 1
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. - 1
Michael Waltrip - 1
Josh Wise - 1