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 change engines, go thru tech inspection and make a qualifying attempt, Waltrip qualified 25th.(2-11-2007) UPDATE: the #55 Toyota was impounded by NASCAR and Hunter said the car would be inspected ‘with a fine tooth comb’.(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) UPDATE 5: Marty Snider of Sirius NASCAR Radio, Ch 128 reported that NASCAR has not given the primary car back, has given no indication if the team will get the car back or any penalties, the #55 team is preparing the backup car from #00-Reutimann’s team to practice today, which is scheduled to start at 12:00noon/et.(2-14-2007) UPDATE 6: Sirius NASCAR Radio, Ch 128 had PRN’s Mark Garrow on the Driver’s Seat show this morning and reported that the team had taken a #44 Toyota is reskinning the car and putting the #32 on the car, soucres say the #55 team and Waltrip may be ejected. Waltrip bought the #32 owners points [going with the #00 team] and Cal Wells is listed as the #00 owner. AND MORE: Garrow is reporting that crew chief David Hyder is not at the track and SPEED’s NASCAR Live reported that NASCAR fired up the engine and the substance reappeared, now NASCAR has put up a 50-foot perimeter to keep anyone out of the area and has pulled the engine out of the car and the car will not be #32, but is will keep the #55 and it is a Reutimann backup. Waltrip has declined interviews, probably will not be allowed to practice in the first practice. The team is still preparing the car. Also word around the garage is Waltrip could be suspended a few races and crew chief Hyder suspended as long as the full season.(2-14-2007)
