There’s been a lot of talk about yellow line penalties this week, and it’s a debate that reappears often at superspeedways. The rule was established about 25 years ago for safety reasons but it still brings controversy to this day.
Despite many penalties over the years, only four times has the driver who actually crossed the finish line first later been stripped of the victory due to a yellow line violation.
It’s happened once in a points paying race across each of the three national divisions, and also in an exhibition race.
2008 NASCAR Cup — Regan Smith at Talladega
Regan Smith, No. 01, battles Tony Stewart, No. 20, for race win
Photo by: Jerry Markland via Getty Images
The most infamous yellow line penalty. In the fall Talladega race in 2008, Tony Stewart led a single-file train on the final lap. Regan Smith, attempting to secure his first-ever Cup win, moved to the inside of Stewart in the tri-oval. Stewart crowded him and Smith darted completely below the yellow line. He took the checkered flag in P1, but the victory was quickly taken away and given back to Stewart. Smith argued that he was forced below the yellow line to avoid colliding with Stewart, but NASCAR did not agree. Ultimately, this led a situation the following year where Brad Keselowski was put in a similar spot, but did not yield with Carl Edwards ending up airborne and into the catch-fencing.
“I always got told that the rule is if you get forced down there, you’re the winner of the race,” said Smith afterwards. “I had a nose inside of him, I could have piled up the whole field, and that would have been a cooler finish, I don’t know.”
2018 NASCAR O’Reilly — Justin Haley at Daytona
Justin Haley, Elliott Sadler, and Kyle Larson battle for the win
Photo by: Brian Lawdermilk / Getty Images
Haley has four wins in the secondary level of NASCAR, all at superspeedways. However, he had not yet visited Victory Lane as a rookie in 2018, making just his second career start in the series. Elliott Sadler and Kyle Larson were side-by-side for the lead, and Haley had a huge run, slicing underneath both of them with plenty of room to spare. While he flirted with the yellow line, few actually thought he went below it as he captured the win. However, the Sanctioning Body called that a violation and Haley was stripped of what would have been his first career win, with Larson inheriting P1.
“I just wish NASCAR could tell us how much of the car we can have below the yellow,” said Haley on pit road. “There’s room for me to go up, so I don’t know why they’re calling me like that. Not how we wanted it to end…”
2019 NASCAR Truck — Johnny Sauter at Talladega
Johnny Sauter, Riley Herbst, and Spencer Boyd battle for race win
Photo by: Brian Lawdermilk / Getty Images
Sauter was attempting to block Riley Herbst and both of them ended up completely below the yellow line on the frontstretch. Sauter held on for the win, but NASCAR penalized him for forcing Herbst below the line. However, it wasn’t Herbst who got the win either, as he got passed after the run-in with Sauter. Instead, Spencer Boyd claimed his lone victory in the NASCAR Truck Series.
“It ain’t the first win NASCAR has taken from me,” remarked Sauter. “…I went down to put a little block on him, but when I did, I got hooked sideways and that’s just plate racing. I didn’t block his advance or anything like that.”
2011 Budweiser Shootout — Denny Hamlin at Daytona
Denny Hamlin, No. 11, battles for the win against Kurt Busch, No. 22; Ryan Newman, No. 39; Jamie McMurray, No. 1
Photo by: Todd Warshaw via Getty Images
Unlike the other three, this was an exhibition race, serving as the pre-season Clash (then known then as the Budweiser Shootout) at Daytona. After tandem drafting with Ryan Newman, he made a nice pass to inside with the checkered flag in sight. The tandem of Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray passed Newman to the outside as Hamlin passed him on the inside. However, Hamlin suddenly turned down onto the apron completely before rejoining the racing surface and taking the win, wanting to avoid contact with Newman. That was a clear penalty in the eyes of NASCAR, and Kurt Busch was awarded the race win.
“That yellow line is there to protect us and the fans in the stands,” said Hamlin. “I just chose to take a safer route. A win in a shootout is not worth sending the 39 [Newman] through the grandstand. As fast as we’re running, if I get into his left-rear, that car will go airborne.“
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