Roush says Toyota Team "Stole parts"?

openwheelracer · Admin/Mod/Eyewitness

Roush says Toyota Team "Stole parts"?

openwheelracer · Admin/Mod/Eyewitness

More from Jayski.com:

UPDATE: Jack Roush, co-owner of Ford-based Roush Fenway Racing, leveled another serious accusation at nemesis Toyota at Atlanta Motor Speedway -- one that took nearly three weeks to surface. No one from either RFR or Toyota was willing to comment on Tuesday, but no one was denying Roush told a reporter from ESPN The Magazine on March 7 that a Toyota team had been in possession of an RFR team part.(ESPN)(3-26-2008)

UPDATE 2: Toyota officials on Wednesday identified the Roush Fenway Racing part that owner Jack Roush said was found in a Toyota team's possession during a Sprint Cup post-race teardown as a spring. Jim Aust, the president and chief executive officer of Toyota Racing Development, said once the part was found to belong to RFR that it was returned. He was uncertain how the part, discovered on a table with other Toyota parts, got there or from which team it came. "I don't understand the whole procedure when a teardown happens," said Aust, referring to a post-race process in which several cars are broken down by NASCAR inspectors. "The only thing I know is it wound up with parts we had and [which were] returned to Roush. "It's unfortunate it happened the way it did. It wasn't anything intentional. There's no reason to be done intentional. I have no idea how it happened to begin with." Roush Fenway president Geoff Smith said the part in question was not a spring, but he would not elaborate. No one at RFR has identified which Toyota team had the part. "Jack is the only one to talk to at this time and he presently doesn't want to make any additional comments," Smith said.(ESPN.com)(3-26-2008)

openwheelracer · Admin/Mod/Eyewitness

From Jayski.com:

Latest on the 'stolen' Roush "proprietary part" UPDATE MWR: Jack Roush said on Friday that a Toyota team stole a sway bar made specifically for Roush Fenway Racing from one of his Sprint Cup teams last season at Dover. "A theft did occur," the co-owner of Roush Fenway said during practice at Martinsville Speedway. "The part was recovered ... We are still considering what if any legal action to seek." One of Roush's options is asking for a restraining order to guarantee the team in question does not duplicate the bar, which has been determined legal by NASCAR, for a competitive advantage. "It's lawyer time," Roush said. Roush made his first comments since he was quoted in ESPN The Magazine as saying a proprietary part was found missing from his inventory and discovered with a Toyota team. He discounted comments made by Jim Aust, the president of Toyota Racing Development, that a valve spring was found during a teardown inspection, identified as belonging to Roush and returned. Roush said the theft occurred in the garage area at Dover in September [2007], where the only Toyota teams in the field belonged to Michael Waltrip Racing and Team Red Bull.
Lee White, the general manager of TRD, said his organization launched a full investigation into the allegation when Roush's allegations were published in ESPN The Magazine. He said a valve spring that did not belong to Toyota ended up at TRD's California location after the California race, that it was reported to NASCAR and returned. Roush said he became aware of the theft in early January when the vendor that produced the product for Roush Fenway was contacted by the Toyota team in question about duplicating the bar.
Roush said he's had several discussions with NASCAR officials about the situation. He was alarmed when Robin Pemberton, the vice president of competition for the series, said disappearing parts are a common occurrence and the teams needed to work it out amongst themselves. Roush said there is something fundamentally wrong if NASCAR doesn't intercede, reminding the governing body has no problem reacting when somebody uses an illegal part -- on purpose or not. Roush, noting he has been in the business 22 years, and said this is the first time he's heard of such a situation. He declined to respond to a question in which Michael Waltrip Racing was insinuated as the Toyota team. "I don't substantiate," he said. Waltrip declined to comment until he heard how the question was posed and the way Roush responded.(see full story at ESPN.com)

MORE Waltrip admits it was MWR...mistake: Michael Waltrip confirmed Friday afternoon that it was his team that Jack Roush was alluding to when saying a Toyota team had stolen a sway bar from Roush Fenway Racing at Dover last September. It was a mistake, Waltrip said. Look at the back of these toolboxes. There are sway bars, theres jack handles, and it wound up in our possession. We called them and said, We want to give this back. (full story atSceneDaily), see past news about this on the #17 Team News and Links page.(3-28-2008)

openwheelracer · Admin/Mod/Eyewitness

From Nascar.com:

http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/headlines/cup/03/29/mwaltrip.responds.partgate.jroush/index.html

openwheelracer · Admin/Mod/Eyewitness

From Jayski.com:

NASCAR won't intervene in Roush dispute with Toyota team: NASCAR officials say they will not intervene in the dispute between Roush Fenway Racing and an unspecified Toyota team that allegedly took a part from the Ford organization. Team owner Jack Roush is asking NASCAR for relief on the issue, but NASCAR Vice President of Competition strongly dismissed that idea on Friday. If theyve got issues with each other or other teams, then theyve got to talk to those other teams, Pemberton said. I didnt take a part or a piece, all right? Nobody in this [NASCAR] trailer took a part or a piece. We know Jack said that, and apparently some other team acknowledged having a part or a piece. Those people need to work their deal out. Roush said a Toyota team took a sway bar home from a September race at Dover last season. If thats true, Pemberton said, Then shame on a team that has that person working for them. If youve got a guy that takes a part or a piece from another team, then, in my opinion, I wouldnt have a guy like that work for me, he said. Still, that doesnt mean NASCAR is going to do anything about it. [The teams] have to work together, he said. Were not going to build walls in here. Were not going to separate everything. Were going to run this garage area just like its been run. If you have issues, then you've got to work it out.(SceneDaily)(3-29-2008)