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55 manifold confiscated: during pre-qualifying inspection, the intake manifold of the #55 NAPA Toyota of Michael Waltrip was confiscated by NASCAR, it didn't meet specifications and the team had to install another one.(SPEED's NASCAR Live), been told there was a substance on the inside of the manifold and it was taken away in a black bag, will be taken to NASCAR R&D center in Concord, NC to be examined, Waltrip's team was allowed to put another manifold on and go thru tech inspection (2-11-2007)
From Jayski.com: Waltrip's car impounded: The #55 Toyota was impounded by NASCAR and Hunter said the car would be inspected 'with a fine tooth comb'. No word on what will happen with Waltrip and the #55 team.(PRN's Garage Pass Radio Show)(2-11-2007)
UPDATE 2: NASCAR impounded the #55 NAPA Toyota of driver/owner Michael Waltrip after qualifying. NASCAR officials confiscated the intake manifold off Waltrip's Camry during a prequalifying inspection. NASCAR officials don't know if Waltrip's car is illegal. Waltrip's fate is up in the air. Hunter said NASCAR officials decided to impound the car before qualifying, but allowed Waltrip to make a qualifying run after placing a new manifold on the car. Now NASCAR officials will inspect the entire car to determine if any violations exist. "Our inspectors will go over that car a with a fine-tooth comb," Hunter said. "I don't know how long we will keep it. As of right now, we do not know that the manifold is illegal, but we want to know." Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's director of competition, said officials sent the manifold to the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C., for testing Monday. "Our inspector caught a substance inside that we didn't really know what it was," Pemberton said about the manifold. Pemberton wouldn't give specifics about the problem, but Waltrip said inspectors found oil inside the manifold. "And it's not supposed to be there," Waltrip said. "So they took it to see why the oil was there. I don't really understand what is going on, and people here a lot smarter than me don't understand it either, but we'll figure it out. I'm sure it'll be fine." Hunter wasn't buying Waltrip's explanation. "Our inspection team was not comfortable that it was oil," Hunter said. Pemberton said the situation with the #55 problem was not specific to any individual manufacturer. (ESPN.com)(2-12-2007) UPDATE 3: Waltrip's Toyota was impounded, with Hunter raising the possibility Waltrip will not be allowed to run that particular car in the 150s or the 500. "We'll go over that car with a fine-tooth comb ... and I don't know how long we'll keep it," Hunter said. Sterno? That's the horsepower trick that rivals suspect tripped up Waltrip when he was busted by NASCAR in the pre-qualifying inspection line for having some unknown "substance" in his intake manifold. NASCAR's Robin Pemberton, the vice president for competition, said that the manifold was being sent back the Concord R&D center for analysis. Presumably the substance could have been some type of oxidant, to provide a bit of horsepower for a short period of time. For years, stock-car teams have at times used such illegal chemical additives at Daytona and Talladega, where NASCAR severely restricts air to the engine, to limit speeds. Ty Norris, the general manager of Waltrip's team, insisted that it was not Sterno: "No, no, no, no. They found some oil in the manifold and said it shouldn't be there," Norris said. "They thought something was amiss. So we changed manifolds, and had the same issue. We showed NASCAR we thought it was blow-by engine oil.(Winston Salem Journal)(2-12-2007) UPDATE 4: Waltrip told Marty Smith on ESPN's NASCAR Now that he will get the car back to practice on Wednesday and run the Gatorade Duel's 150. Smith also said that NASCAR told him penalties would not be announced until late Tuesday afternoon at the earliest or as late as Wednesday.(2-12-2007)
Waltrip announcement soon? hearing that NASCAR will make an announcement soon fining Michael $100,000, docking him 100 owner and driver points and suspending the crew chief indefinitely. Waltrip will be able to run in the Gatorade Duel 150's but will start from the rear of the field.(2-14-2007)
Waltrip's crew chief suspended: David Hyder, the crew chief for Michael Waltrip, has been suspended indefinitely for infractions discovered on the #55 Toyota during Sunday's post-qualifying inspection for the Daytona 500. Further penalties against Waltrip's team will be announced at a press conference later on Wednesday. They are expected to be more severe than the two- and four-race suspensions of crew chiefs from four other teams that were announced on Tuesday. NASCAR chairman Brian France and president Mike Helton were among those that met with Waltrip and officials from Michael Waltrip Racing before Wednesday's first practice session. One official described the situation as "very serious." Lee White, the senior vice president for Toyota Racing Development that is making its Nextel Cup debut at Daytona, said he also planned to meet with Waltrip. "I wouldn't call it a setback, but it's disappointing for anyone that we partner with to have this happen in some form or fashion," he said. "We will talk with them to see where we need to go for the future." White said TRD has been working with NASCAR on the situation. "I can honestly tell you from an ethics standpoint and integrity, along with character and honesty, those things are paramount in our company," he said. "We hold ourselves to a high standard and we hold our teams to high standards. We hope we've picked the right ones."(ESPN.com) ALSO: Bobby Kennedy, MWR's Director of Competition, was escorted out of the track at Daytona by NASCAR's Robin Pemberton.(2-14-2007) UPDATE: SPEED is reporting an announcement is coming this afternoon, could be as soon as the last Cup practice of the day is run [around 3:00pm/et], hearing another report that the 'substance' could be jet fuel.(2-14-2007)
UPDATE: the penalties to the #55 team: Bobby Kennedy [MWR VP of Competition] and David Hyder [crew chief] ejected from track [Daytona] and suspended indefinitely David Hyer fined $100,000 Michael Waltrip docked 100 driver points Owner Buffy Waltrip docked 100 owenrs points Michael Waltrip's qualifying time disallowed from Sunday's Daytona 500 qualfiying. The substance was NOT jet fuel. Waltrip will be allowed to run the Gatorade Duel's in a back up car.(SPEED coverage of the NASCAR press conference). Scott Eggleston will be the interim crew chief for Waltrip. Eggleston won the Daytona 500 with Waltrip in 2001.(2-14-2007) NASCAR Release: NASCAR announced Wednesday that it has confiscated the primary car of the #55 Toyota team that competes in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series with driver Michael Waltrip, as a result of rule violations found during pre- and post-qualifying inspection for the Daytona 500. Crew chief Larry (David) Hyder and the team’s vice president of competition Bobby Kennedy have been ejected from this week’s events at Daytona International Speedway and suspended indefinitely. Hyder also has been fined $100,000. NASCAR also penalized Waltrip with the loss of 100 driver championship points. His qualifying time from pole day on Feb. 11 was disallowed. Team owner Elizabeth (Buffy) Waltrip has been penalized 100 car owner championship points. The actions taken by NASCAR resulted from violations of 12- 4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing), 12-4-Q (car, car parts components and/or equipment not conforming to NASCAR rules) and 20-15.2C (gasoline must not be blended with alcohols, ethers or other oxygenates). The confiscated car and the parts related to the violations will be transported to the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C. for further inspection. NASCAR said the investigation of the confiscated car is ongoing.(NASCAR PR)(2-14-2007)
Waltrip: Team has 'circumstantial evidence,' no proof: #55-Michael Waltrip spent the last week hoping someone would take responsibility for the fuel additive that led to NASCAR sanctions and prompted Toyota to re-evaluate its relationship with the two-time Daytona 500 winner. He's still waiting. "We just keep digging, digging, digging," Waltrip said Saturday. "Toyota's going to help us. A lot of people are going to help us. We're going to find out what happened. We have a lot of circumstantial evidence that implicates a couple of folks, but we don't have any proof. So we'll just keep digging until we find out what happened. When I was a kid and I did something wrong I would kind of see the writing on the wall. I'd say, 'Uh-oh. Things are getting tight around here.' And you'd fess up. No one's elected to do that." Waltrip added that if anyone is implicated in the cheating scandal, that person likely would be fired. "Somebody didn't get the company philosophy, which is we're going to beat them by working hard and working smart and not by cheating," he said. "I felt like I just had three kids and I was real proud of them, and one of my kids let me down, and you know how bad that hurts. In return, I let a lot of people down, because ultimately I'm responsible." Waltrip was docked 100 series points for tampering with fuel. Crew chief David Hyder was fined $100,000. Hyder and team director Bobby Kennedy also were kicked out of Daytona International Speedway. Waltrip's car was impounded, forcing him to miss two practice sessions and sending him into a backup ride for qualifying. Nonetheless, he drove his way into the Daytona 500 and will start 15th on Sunday. His #55 car sustained some damage in the qualifying race and was partly stripped down to the bare metal for Saturday's final practice -- Waltrip's first drafting practice at Daytona since October. "Time will tell what we're capable of," said Waltrip, who posted the slowest time Saturday. "I've done this with the haves, and I've done this with the have-nots. Our team feels a whole lot like the haves, and that makes me feel good."(Associated Press/ESPN.com)(2-18-2007)
NASCAR to announce #55 substance next week: NASCAR is expected to announce next week at California what exactly they found in the fuel system of Michael Waltrip’s #55 Toyota Camry after Daytona 500 qualifying last Sunday. Waltrip’s car was found to have an unidentified, gel-like performance additive, which NASCAR inspectors have sent out for laboratory analysis. Results of the lab tests aren’t complete yet, said a source familiar with the investigation. Those results will be disclosed next week, most likely during the race weekend at California Speedway in Fontana. So far, all NASCAR has said specifically about the substance is that they know what it isn’t [jet fuel], not what it is. That will change soon. NASCAR officials also confirmed that the examination of Waltrip’s confiscated car is continuing. In 2000, when Jeremy Mayfield’s car was found to have tainted fuel at Talladega, it was nearly two weeks after his car failed inspection before test results of his fuel were made public.(SpeedTV.com)(2-17-2007)
UPDATE: ESPN's Terry Blount reported on Wednesday's NASCAR Now that NASCAR would NOT release the name of the substance found in the #55 intake manifold, treating it like any driver caught with substance abuse.(ESPN's NASCAR Now)(2-22-2007) UPDATE 2: Michael Waltrip Racing vice president Ty Norris told ESPN.com Thursday that the company offered crew chief David Hyder an opportunity to come clean about the illegal additive found in the fuel system of Waltrip's Toyota following qualifying for the Daytona 500. Hyder didn't do it. In fact, he claims he can't. Norris said Hyder maintained his innocence -- even with the company promise of no termination in exchange for information. Norris said Hyder continues to say he has neither information nor answers as to what the substance is, how it was introduced into the fuel system or, ultimately, what it does. The crew chief was unavailable for comment Thursday. Hyder had been given an indefinite leave of absence with pay from Michael Waltrip Racing on top of his suspension by NASCAR. Norris said earlier this week that Hyder will not be allowed at the shop until it is determined if he had anything to do with the foreign substance that was found in Waltrip's engine during pre-qualifying inspection for last Sunday's 500. NASCAR suspended Hyder and competition director Bobby Kennedy indefinitely. Hyder also was fined $100,000 and Waltrip was penalized 100 championship points. A source close to the situation told ESPN.com last week that Hyder eventually will be fired.(ESPN.com)(2-22-2007)