Drivers need to learn not to be a speed demon in pits (cont'd)

Despite the intense pressure to post flawless performances during the Chase, drivers are not immune to mistakes on pit road; namely speeding violations that are going to garner more-than-average attention from NASCAR followers.

My obvious question is who in the world gets caught speeding during the Chase; the equivalent of speeding in a school zone with a trooper on your tail?

I understand sometimes drivers just don't want to get passed, much like myself when the road narrows to one lane and some dipstick rushes to squeeze in front of me. I try to block but my ride is economy size, no real presence on the road.

I get that drivers work hard for spots on the racetrack just to lose a couple on pit road so they speed and try to get a spot or two back. But you can't go screaming down pit-road during the Chase.

If races in fact are won and lost on pit road, then slow down!

In 2007, four Chase drivers were caught speeding. For Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer, when they were caught speeding it changed the complexion of their races in a major way.

For Hamlin, it was a major breakout only Accutane could cure.

In the Phoenix Chase race, he was busted twice for excessive speeding entering the pits on Lap 120 and exiting the pits on Lap 270. At the end of the day, he finished 16th and ultimately finished at the "tail end of the longest line" in the Chase.

Bowyer was caught going too fast exiting pit road this time last year at Dover on Lap 150; he went on to finish 12th and was also caught in Kansas; although he finished third in the Chase.

Kyle Busch was also caught in Kansas on Lap 148 last year during the '07 Chase, served his penalty, and finished 41st. Matt Kenseth was the next Chase driver to be caught with a lead foot in Talladega on Lap 56 and finished 26th.

And during the 2006 Chase, Busch, Hamlin Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and crowned champ Jimmie Johnson were all violators at least one time during the Chase.

By no means am I saying that pit road speeding violations make or break your quest for a championship -- Johnson is proof of that. But when a driver looks back on the 10-race Chase, speeding violations shouldn't be the reason he lost laps on the track and possibly a win.

That said, maintaining legal speed on pit road apparently is harder than it looks, at least from your TV at home or sitting in the grandstands.

Just ask Jeff Burton, a Chase driver who hasn't had a speeding penalty during his Chase competition in at least three years.

"Well, let me tell you about pit road .. being on pit road is kind of like if you're a football fan, the kicker kicking the ball out of bounds and putting the ball on the 40," Burton said. "When you look at that you think how stupid can you be? But here's what you've got to remember. Our pit crew, their job is to make the very best pit stop they can possibly make. If they miss it by half of a second, we get beat by two or three cars out on pit road."

So drivers try to make up time.

"If pit road's speed is 55 miles per hour, the real story is they don't bust you until you go 60 miles per hour," Burton said. "There is a five mile an hour variance. The difference between going 59 miles per hour and 55 miles per hour is significant in the amount of time that you can lose on pit road. So we are asked as drivers to push everything that we can to give ourselves and the team the best chance possible to beat people out on pit road."

And as you know, the drivers do it with a tachometer, not a speedometer.

"We do it by looking at RPMs. It's not an exact science, so when you start pushing the rules in an area where it's not an exact science, it's very easy to speed," Burton said. "If you're trying to do your job 100 percent, if you're trying to go 59.9 mph down pit road versus 45 miles mph, that's a huge difference. So on the surface, it looks like a really, really stupid mistake, but when you really look into it, we are trying to get 100 percent of our speed so we can have the best pit stop and obviously beat people out on pit road."

Then again, some speeding violations are just silly mistakes and usually from first-time offenders.

This from a NASCAR driver who will remain anonymous: "My first speeding violation I felt like a huge idiot. The pit road speed was 3500 in second gear and I was doing 3500 and I was like, 'man this feels pretty fast' and then I went, 'uh oh I'm in 3rd gear.' I think I was speeding by at least 10 to 20 mph."

That's probably something you won't see in the Chase. No matter the reason, violations on pit road are costly, and so was the $100 ticket Trooper So and So gave me.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer