Hours after the race, NASCAR officials announced that initial post-race testing had revealed a compression-ratio violation — the Winston Cup limit is 12:1 — in the fourth-place Pontiac of John Andretti. Citing difficult conditions, NASCAR official Kevin Triplett announced that further examination of the Petty Enterprises engine would be conducted Monday( SpeedNet/Monte Dutton ) — UPDATE 1: I hear the engine and NASCAR inspectors will do the testing/inspection at Petty’s shop this morning — UPDATE 2: NASCAR has cleared Andretti’s engine, see the full story at NOL – Andretti’s engine clears inspection (NOL) — UPDATE 3: NASCAR Officials announced today that after a thorough post-race inspection of John Andretti’s, Richard Petty owned Pontiac, the results of Sunday’s Food City 500 NASCAR Winston Cup Series event at Bristol Motor Speedway will stand. Andretti’s engine was held by NASCAR overnight for further evaluation after Sunday night’s post-race inspection. “The process to determine the exact compression ratio is very precise,” said Mike Helton, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for NASCAR. “In the case where the finding is so very close to being legal or not legal, it is NASCAR policy to be as correct as possible before our final decision. In order to maintain the integrity of the post-race inspections, we will develop even more exact practices and procedures to finalize the inspections in a credible and timely manner.” The results of Monday’s continued post-race inspection showed a compression ratio which met NASCAR rules as described in Section 20 Rule 5.4 Article C of the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series rule book, “For all Events, the maximum allowable compression limit permitted on any cylinder will be 12.0 to 1 on all engines.”(NASCAR PR)
