Black Flag Penalties Of Yesteryear Part IV

In preparation of the 2012 Daytona 500, here are more black flag penalties that have been earned over the years in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Robby Gordon and David Stremme are black flagged for rough driving


Robby Gordon is black flagged for passing on the right before the start/finish line


Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton are penalized for errors in the pits


Mark Martin is caught speeding exiting the pits


Dave Blaney is parked for speeding through the pits


Juan Pablo Montoya is parked for two laps for spinning Tony Stewart

Black Flag Penalties Of Yesteryear Part I

In preparation of the 2012 Daytona 500, here's a look back at some of the black flag penalties that have been earned over the years in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

2011 Daytona 500 - David Ragan's costly mistake


2011 Budweiser Shootout - Denny Hamlin passes below the yellow line


2003 Daytona 500 - Sterling Marlin is black flagged after passing below the yellow line


2001 New Hampshire 300 - Jeff Gordon hits Robby Gordon during a caution


2009 Price Chopper 400 - Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is black flagged for loose lug nuts


1991 Banquet Frozen Foods 300 - Ricky Rudd is black flagged for spinning Davey Allison


2010 Kobalt Tools 500 - Carl Edwards spins Brad Keselowski earning a black flag

2011 Year In Review: Robby Gordon's Penalties

Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR

2011 proved to be dismal for Robby Gordon and his self-owned race team. It was the first time in his 18 year NASCAR Sprint Cup career that he did not have a top 10 finish in a season where he attempted all or most of the events. 16th in the season opening Daytona 500 was the best finish Gordon could muster. Gordon's next best finish in 2011 was 18th at Infineon Raceway in the Toyota Save Mart 350.

Gordon attempted to qualify in 26 of the 36 races on the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule. Of those events, Gordon only failed to qualify for one, the inaugural Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway. The other 10 races were started by Reed Sorenson, Johnny Sauter and Scott Wimmer. Of those 10 events, Gordon's #7 Dodge missed the field twice with a best finish of 27th by Wimmer in the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. With all the struggles of 2011 and an uncertain 2012, it's unknown whether or not Gordon will be able to continue fielding his own team in the Sprint Cup series.

Gordon was only penalized by NASCAR three times during the season, once for speeding in the pits, once for a commitment line violation and once for leaking gear oil. Gordon's pit crew only had one infraction for too many crew members over the wall. Gordon managed to have a somewhat humorous series of penalties in the eighth race of the season at Talladega, the Aaron's 499. Sam Hornish, Jr, who was subbing for Gordon in qualifying had his time disqualified by NASCAR. Since the 7 car was locked into the top 35 in points Gordon was able to still start the event but at the rear of the field. Because of the driver substitution, Gordon had to serve another pre-race penalty for starting in the rear. Also because Gordon's crew made changes to the car in an impound situation, Gordon was penalized a third time to start the rear of the field for the race.

2011 Statistics For Robby Gordon
34th in Sprint Cup standings
0 top 5s
0 top 10s
Best Finish: 16th in the Daytona 500
18 laps led

2011 Penalty Report For Robby Gordon
Race 1 - Pitting before pit road is open, tail end
Race 2 - Pitting before pit road is open, Garage; Speed-Exiting pits, Pass Thru; Too many crewmember(s) in contact with pit service area, Tail End
Race 3 - Pitting before pit road is open, tail end; Pitting before pit road is open, tail end
Race 6 - Commitment Line Violation, Tail of Field
Race 8 - Pre-Race to the rear, Time Disallowed; Pre-Race to the rear, Driver Change; Pre-Race to the rear, Adjustments after Impound
Race 15 - Pitting before pit road is open, tail end
Race 27 - Pre-Race to the rear, Engine
Race 32 - Safety violation, pit, gear oil; Pitting before pit road is open, tail end, garage
Race 33 - Pitting before pit road is open, Y, tail end, garage

Most Penalized Drivers In 2011 - Pre-Race Penalties

Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR

With the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season ending this past weekend at Homestead, we're going to take a look at the four penalty categories that are featured on this blog. Up first is the pre-race penalty category. This category is for drivers and teams that have had problems prior to the race every week. The various scenarios of getting this penalty include having to change an engine or transmission, having to go to a back-up car, making unapproved adjustments missing the driver's meeting or driver introductions or having a qualifying lap disqualified.

Two drivers/teams shared the distinction of having earned this penalty more than any other, Dave Blaney and Robby Gordon. One would venture to guess that this penalty would feature drivers/teams that struggle from race to race due to low sponsorship funding and the inability to get the freshest and best parts but that theory was debunked by David Reutimann, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. Those three Toyota drivers along with another Toyota campaigner, Michael McDowell had to start at the rear of the field three times during the 36-race season though it should be noted that one of McDowell's penalties came late in the season at Phoenix when he served as a replacement for the suspended Kyle Busch.

There were many drivers who did not have an infraction this season, most notably 2011 Sprint Cup champion, Tony Stewart and series runner-up, Carl Edwards.

Driver Number(s)	Driver Name	Pre-Race Penalties
36, 60, 35	Dave Blaney	5
7	Robby Gordon	5
00	David Reutimann	3
18	Kyle Busch	3
11	Denny Hamlin	3
66, 18	Michael McDowell	3
13	Casey Mears	2
16	Greg Biffle	2
09, 60, 51	Landon Cassill	2
20	Joey Logano	2
78	Regan Smith	2
46, 38	J.J. Yeley	2
32	Ken Schrader	2
60, 36, 37	Mike Skinner	2
47	Bobby Labonte	1
38, 34	David Gilliland	1
6	David Ragan	1
21	Trevor Bayne	1
56	Martin Truex, Jr.	1
32, 71	Mike Bliss	1
88	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	1
43	A.J. Allmendinger	1
33	Clint Bowyer	1
09, 46	Bill Elliott	1
30	David Stremme	1
7	Reed Sorenson	1
83	Brian Vickers	0
34, 38	Travis Kvapil	0
22	Kurt Busch	0
42	Juan Pablo Montoya	0
48	Jimmie Johnson	0
71, 77	Andy Lally	0
27	Paul Menard	0
1	Jamie McMurray	0
9	Marcos Ambrose	0
24	Jeff Gordon	0
4	Kasey Kahne	0
32, 38	Terry Labonte	0
2	Brad Keselowski	0
17	Matt Kenseth	0
31	Jeff Burton	0
29	Kevin Harvick	0
39	Ryan Newman	0
5	Mark Martin	0
35, 36	Geoffrey Bodine	0
14	Tony Stewart	0
99	Carl Edwards	0
71	Hermie Sadler	0
87	Joe Nemechek	0
46	Scott Speed	0
95	David Starr	0
15	Michael Waltrip	0
32	Andrew Ranger	0
37	Robert Richardson, Jr.	0
37	Tony Raines	0
77	Steve Wallace	0
84	Cole Whitt	0
92	Dennis Setzer	0

Race 27 - Geico 400 Penalties

Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images

Going into the rain delayed Geico 400, Jeff Gordon was among the favorites of many folks. Unfortunately for Gordon and his Dupont team, he was never competitive and ended up running out of fuel on the last lap. Because he sped in the pits to try to get refueled, NASCAR penalized him one lap giving Gordon a lackluster 24th place finish on the day.

Penalty Report - Chicago:

Car#, Lap, Reason, Penalty
#7 Robby Gordon, Pre-Race to the rear, Engine
#30 David Stremme, Pre-Race to the rear, Missed Driver Intros
#4 Kasey Kahne, 72, Speed-Exiting pits, Tail of Field
#4 Kasey Kahne, 72, Pitting out of order, Tail of Field
#00 David Reutimann, 146, Pitting out of order, Tail of Field
#1 Jamie McMurray, 164, Pitting before pit road is open, Garage
#51 Landon Cassill, 164, Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of Field
#36 Dave Blaney, 165, Pitting out of order, Tail of Field
#42 Juan Pablo Montoya, 166, Lug nut(s) not installed, Must Come In
#38 J.J. Yeley, 205, Pitting out of order, Tail of Field
#34 David Gilliland, 265, Speed-Entering pits, Was at the end of race & 1 lap taken away
#24 Jeff Gordon, 267, Speed-Entering pits, Happened at end of race- 1 lap was taken away

Thank you to NASCAR Statistics and Jayski.com for the information.

Most Penalized Drivers (After Three Races)

Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR

Robby Gordon's two penalties entering pit road in the Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway moved him up to second of the most penalized drivers/teams in the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup series after three events.

Driver #, Driver Name, Total Penalties, (Added Penalties From Previous Combined Total)

#38 David Gilliland - 7
#7 Robby Gordon - 6 (2)
#00 David Reutimann - 4
#6 David Ragan - 4
#71 Andy Lally - 4 (2)
#83 Brian Vickers - 4
#09 Bill Elliott - 3
#20 Joey Logano - 3 (1)
#22 Kurt Busch - 3 (1)
#32 Terry Labonte - 3
#34, #38 Travis Kvapil - 3 (1)
#4 Kasey Kahne - 2 (1)
#5 Mark Martin - 2
#13 Casey Mears - 2
#16 Greg Biffle - 2
#24 Jeff Gordon - 2 (1)
#31 Jeff Burton - 2 (1)
#33 Clint Bowyer - 2
#39 Ryan Newman - 2
#42 Juan Pablo Montoya - 2
#43 A.J. Allmendinger - 2 (1)
#47 Bobby Labonte - 2
#48 Jimmie Johnson - 2
#56 Martin Truex, Jr. - 2
#78 Regan Smith - 2
#88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - 2
#99 Carl Edwards - 2
#9 Marcos Ambrose - 1
#11 Denny Hamlin - 1 (1)
#14 Tony Stewart - 1 (1)
#15 Michael Waltrip - 1
#17 Matt Kenseth - 1
#18 Kyle Busch - 1
#21 Trevor Bayne - 1 (1)
#29 Kevin Harvick - 1 (1)
#37 Robert Richardson, Jr. - 1
#60 Landon Cassill - 1
#77 Steve Wallace - 1
#87 Joe Nemechek - 1