Michael Waltrip’s #55 Toyota has been confiscated by NASCAR. Forget about what those other crew chiefs did, this team has gotten itself into the some serious trouble. I wonder if Michael knew all along? When he was interviewed during qualifying for the Daytona 500 this past Sunday he didn’t seem to be his normal gregarious self.
Here’s more from the NASCAR press release:
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 14, 2007) – NASCAR announced Wednesday that it has confiscated the primary car of the No. 55 Toyota team that competes in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series with driver Michael Waltrip, as a result of rule violations found during pre- and post-qualifying inspection for the Daytona 500. Crew chief Larry (David) Hyder and the team’s vice president of competition Bobby Kennedy have been ejected from this week’s events at Daytona International Speedway and suspended indefinitely. Hyder also has been fined $100,000.
NASCAR also penalized Waltrip with the loss of 100 driver championship points. His qualifying time from pole day on Feb. 11 was disallowed. Team owner Elizabeth (Buffy) Waltrip has been penalized 100 car owner championship points.
The actions taken by NASCAR resulted from violations of 12- 4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing), 12-4-Q (car, car parts components and/or equipment not conforming to NASCAR rules) and 20-15.2C (gasoline must not be blended with alcohols, ethers or other oxygenates).
The confiscated car and the parts related to the violations will be transported to the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C. for further inspection.
NASCAR said the investigation of the confiscated car is ongoing.
