OUCH!

[Woody]

NASCAR nails Waltrip Racing with huge penalties
 
February 14, 2007
By Bruce Martin PA SportsTicker Contributing Editor

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (Ticker) -- Michael Waltrip Racing received one of the biggest penalties in NASCAR history Wednesday.

Two key crew members were suspended indefinitely and Waltrip begins the season 100 points in the hole.

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"Anything involved in circumventing the rules to get around horsepower is so critical, it's something we will not tolerate whatsoever," said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president of competition. "The penalties are right here in front of you."

Crew chief Larry David Hyder and team manager Bobby Kennedy have been ejected from the Daytona 500 and suspended indefinitely. Hyder also was fined $100,000.

A two-time race winner, Waltrip was docked 100 points and his qualifying time has been disallowed. His Toyota Camry had been confiscated after Sunday's qualifying.

Buffy Waltrip was docked 100 championship owner points.

Only once in NASCAR history has a team been docked more points. That was in 2000 when Michael Kranefuss Racing was fined 150 points at Talladega, also in a fuel-related incident. But the suspensions and monetary fines in combination with the points deduction weren't as big as this.

The misdeeds also has Michael Waltrip in trouble with new car manufacturer, Toyota.

"I think any time you partner with someone you're bound to be disappointed if by some set of circumstances they're disparaged in the public eye by their own action," said Lee White, senior vice president and general manager of Toyota Research and Development. "We'll sit down with Mike (Waltrip) and his team and figure out what the best course of action is to move forward and make sure this never happens again."

NASCAR considered the actions were detrimental to stock car racing and parts not conforming to NASCAR rules and that Gasoline cannot be blended with agents.

The parts and the car will be transported to the NASCAR Research and Development Center for further testing.

"It was a foreign substance that should not have been inside of the engine," Pemberton said. "It's all involved the fuel. As they came to the line pre-qualifying they went to install the intake, the inspector discovered a substance inside the intake manifold, unlike anything he had seen in inspecting a race car."

NASCAR gave the team and opportunity to install another intake manifold. While pressure-checking the manifold, the substance was discovered a second time.

"We felt like there was enough reason after qualifying to impound the car, take what parts and pieces we needed to and go through a series of tests," Pemberton said. "It was completely different than oil. This was the only car that failed any of the inspections like this.

"It shouldn't have been there, end of story."

Waltrip will be allowed to compete in Thursday's Duel 150s in a backup car but will have no practice time in the Toyota Camry. Waltrip was unable to prepare the car and get it through inspection in time for Wednesday's practice.

Because his speeds were disallowed and he was not in the top 35 of car owner points from last season, Waltrip has to race his way into the field in the Duels.

"This is a team issue, this has nothing to do with a manufacturer," Pemberton said. "You don't mess around with tires, you don't mess around with restrictor-plates and you don't mess around with the fuel."
 
 

[Bufflehead]

 What a crock!!

 Kicked out forever.....they let Tony Stewert bash and smash his way around the track every weekend..endangering all involved....and they kick a crew chief and a VP out of racing for life for a fuel violation

 No wounder I don't spend much time watching Nascar anymore
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"The misdeeds also has Michael Waltrip in trouble with new car manufacturer, Toyota."

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 Good! take that non-American owned pile back to Japan..Michael don't need them..he won plenty of races with good old American made and owned cars