Michael Waltrip: Fluke or Fraud?
Michael Waltrip's car was found to have "an oily substance" in the intake manifold. The team changed the intake and NASCAR allowed them to qualify. NASCAR then impounded the car to attempt to discover the source of the substance. This may have been a cheating attempt or it may have been a problem of some type. NASCAR intends to figure out which.
Kenseth and Kahne: Playing With Air
Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne apparently had aerodynamic modifications to their cars. As I understand the issue there are holes in the rear wheel wells that can divert air into the car. These are supposed to be plugged during qualifying. Kenseth's plugs came out during his run and Kahne was using duct tape which came loose.
NASCAR suggested that these violations are as severe as the one that got Jimmie Johnson's crew chief Chad Knauss suspended for four races in 2006.
However, this is a bit different as both teams have a relatively clean history when it comes to rules violations. Also, both teams are guaranteed a spot in the Daytona 500 so it doesn't make a lot of sense for them to cheat during a meaningless qualifying session. I am inclined to encourage NASCAR to go easy on them. It has to be a mistake doesn't it? Why bother to cheat when it doesn't matter?
NASCAR should announce their findings for all three race teams at some point before the Gatorade Duel qualifying races on Thursday.
