NASCAR impounded the primary #20 [Home Depot] Chevy presented for inspection by Tony Stewart’s team Friday morning at Texas Motor Speedway, forcing the team to switch to a backup before it started practice. The confiscated car was rolled to a prominent position beside the NASCAR transporter and roped off. NASCAR officials did not allow the team to put a cover over the car, and the orange race car was drawing a lot of attention. While presented for inspection prior to the first practice for Sunday’s Samsung/RadioShack 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, NASCAR officials found that the #20 Home Depot Chevrolet did not conform to the specified templates mandated by NASCAR.. The issue arose at the rear of the car, specifically the area encompassing the greenhouse and decklid. As a result, NASCAR impounded the car, forcing the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Team to pull the backup car from the transporter and use it for the rest of the race weekend.. The car now being used by the #20 team for the Samsung/RadioShack 500 is Chassis No. 75. It is a brand new chassis.. A car from the Joe Gibbs Racing facility in Huntersville, NC, is currently en route to Texas Motor Speedway to be used in the event another backup is needed. See my #20 Team News and Links page for all the news and statements by Tony Stewart, Greg Zipadelli and Mike Helton.(3-28/29-2003) from NASCAR.com: #20 [and #18] team owner Joe Gibbs said on Saturday that his team was embarrassed after NASCAR impounded Tony Stewart’s #20 Chevrolet, and vowed to find out what went wrong. See full story at NASCAR.com – Gibbs apologizes, seeks answers in impropriety (3-29-2003) Car gone the impounded #20 Home Depot Chevy has been loaded up on a NASCAR hauler and is on the way to NASCAR’s R&D facitily near Charlotte. NC.( XM Satellite- NASCAR Radio – Subscription Required)(3-29-2003) Gibbs Comments: “The first thing I want to say is that we believe in equal cars for the teams and let the teams make the difference. That’s what NASCAR is trying to do and we support that. We want that. So, for us to be in this situation is something that we don’t. First of all, I want to apologize to NASCAR. I want to apologize to Home Depot. This is our fault. We’re trying to go back through a process of figuring out how it happened. Obviously, we’ve got fast race cars. All our other cars fit the templates. This one – there is kind of an unusual set of circumstances in our construction process here and we’re trying go back and figure out exactly what happened. This thing is our fault. There is no excuse, so we apologize to everybody and we’re going try to figure out a way now to add a process and make sure that it never happens again. That’s generally our feeling.” see full story at the Joe Gibbs Racing site .(3-30-2003) UPDATE: Garage sources overheard a heated discussion early Sunday between NASCAR president Mike Helton and team owner Joe Gibbs, who lost Tony Stewart’s primary car during Friday inspection at Texas because it did not fit the “X” measurement from the corners of the rear deck up to the corners of the roof. Maybe Gibbs discovered a NASCAR official’s list of options for the impounded car: giving part of it back, giving none of it back or using it as a test car on the SAFER wall barrier in Nebraska. Fellow Chevrolet teams insist the “X” measurement, which was implemented just before the start of the season, was NASCAR’s way of minimizing an advantage the No. 20 car apparently gained over others in the offseason through creative body work.( Sporting News )(3-31-2003)
