Most pit road speeding penalties have been given to the top two Cup drivers with four races left in regular season.
In the first 22 races of the season, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson have each received four pit road speeding penalties. According to Racing Insights, they are tied for first place in that category with five other drivers.
In the regular-season championship race, Hamlin leads Larson by 13 points. Their duel will resume at Watkins Glen International on August 8th (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN).
More important than how many speeding penalties a driver has is when they occur.
Larson was in position for a top-five finish at Atlanta earlier this month when he was penalized for speeding on Lap 211 of the 260-lap race during a green-flag pit cycle.
Larson came in 18th place, five places behind Hamlin. Larson could have tied for the points lead or claimed the lead if he finished in the top five.
At the end of the second stage of the same Atlanta race, Hamlin was caught speeding on pit road. He was also in the top five when the penalty occurred, costing him points.
Martin Truex Jr. has been penalized three times for speeding on pit road, but none of them have had as much of an impact as the one he received on July 4 at Road America. He pitted behind Kyle Busch two laps before the finish of the second stage, when he was running second.
When the rest of the field pitted during the stage break, Truex beat Busch out of pit road and was set to take the lead. Truex would have been in command of the race at that point.
Truex had to drop to the back of the field due to a pit road speeding penalty. He re-started in 32nd place. Truex finished tenth and was not a factor in the victory. He lost a potential win and the playoff points that would have come with it because of the penalty.
Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch are the only drivers in the Cup playoffs who have not received a pit road speeding penalty this season.
Pit road speeding penalties:
4 — Denny Hamlin
4 — Kyle Larson
4 — Ross Chastain
4 — Daniel Suarez
4 — Corey LaJoie
4 — Anthony Alfredo
4 — Cody Ware
3 — Martin Truex Jr
3 — Michael McDowell
3 — Austin Dillon
3 — Tyler Reddick
3 — Bubba Wallace
3 — Ryan Newman
3 — Josh Bilicki
3 — James Davison
2 — Kyle Busch
2 — Joey Logano
2 — Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2 — Chase Briscoe
2 — B.J. McLeod
1 — William Byron
1 — Chase Elliott
1 — Kevin Harvick
1 — Alex Bowman
1 — Ryan Blaney
1 — Christopher Bell
1 — Aric Almirola
1 — Chris Buescher
1 — Matt DiBenedetto
1 — Ryan Preece
1 — Cole Custer
1 — Quin Houff
1 — Garrett Smithley
0 — Kurt Busch
0 — Brad Keselowski
0 — Erik Jones
0 — Justin Haley
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