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Nationwide Teams Facing Penalties

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 16, 2008

DAYTONA BEACH - The Nationwide Series season apparently is going to start with a rash of penalties.

Five drivers had their times disallowed Friday after their cars failed the post-qualifying inspection for today's Camping World 300, and the teams of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Zephyrhills' David Reutimann also face sanctions.

Affected drivers Friday were Kertus Davis, Johnny Sauter, David Gilliland, David Stremme and Cale Gale. All but Davis were able to get into today's race on owner points.
NASCAR officials confiscated the carburetor in Reutimann's No. 99 Toyota on Tuesday - something that escaped media notice initially - and impounded the No. 5 Chevy of Earnhardt on Thursday night. Earnhardt's car was returned Friday, but NASCAR kept the rear deck lid and spoiler, which was modified to improve aerodynamics.

Reutimann's carburetor failed inspection because the venturis were too large, meaning more air could pass through and possibly generate additional horsepower. Michael Waltrip Racing, which owns the car, obtains its motors from Triad Racing Development, a partner company of Toyota Racing Development that's owned by Bill Davis Racing.

Reutimann and Earnhardt drove legal cars in qualifying and took the 18th and 19th positions.

NASCAR issued no suspensions, fines or points penalties, but based on history, several sanctions will be levied next week. Nationwide Series director Joe Balash said Friday night that his group "won't even think about" penalties until next week.

Reutimann finished second in the Nationwide (formerly Busch) standings last year to Carl Edwards and will run the full series again this year. Reutimann's main competition for the championship are fellow Sprint Cup drivers Edwards, Clint Bowyer and David Ragan.

Earnhardt's car is owned by Earnhardt and Rick Hendrick and fielded by Earnhardt's JR Motorsports.

STEWART AGAIN: Tony Stewart continued his strong Speedweeks by winning the pole for today's race in his No. 20 Toyota. He gave Joe Gibbs Racing its third consecutive pole in Daytona's winter Nationwide race, with last year's top spot being taken by Tampa's Aric Almirola.

Bowyer took the outside pole, and Jason Leffler and 2007 Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti took the second row.

LIFTERS AND CAMS: Hendrick Motorsports isn't the only team that has had to wrestle with a mysterious engine problem this week. Toyota teams Joe Gibbs Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing and Red Bull Racing have changed out several engines, although none of them blew.

Toyota Racing Development general manager Lee White described the issue as premature wear of the interface between the lifters and the cams. He said it was first discovered when a valve spring in Dale Jarrett's motor broke before last week's Bud Shootout, and that could be anything from a bad batch of lifters to a gear change that has the engines running lower RPMs.

"I think what it shows is everybody is pushing this thing so close to the edge because it's the Daytona 500," White said.

White noted that Bill Davis Racing, whose Toyota engines are built in-house by Terry Elledge, has not seen the issue.

The engine issue is newsworthy because Hendrick Motorsports and JGR are the favorites in Sunday's race. And while both organizations say they have a handle on the problem, there's no guarantee it won't surface in the 500.

TWO FOR THE SHOW: Two of the four prominent rookies from open-wheel racing will compete in the 500.

Three-time Indy Racing League champion Sam Hornish Jr. and 2007 IRL champion Franchitti didn't have to worry about qualifying because they had guaranteed starting spots. (Hornish has Kurt Busch's points from last year, and Franchitti has Stremme's.) They'll start 19th and 40th.

Hornish's ninth-place finish in Thursday's second qualifier was his best finish in any NASCAR race.

Jacques Villeneuve, the 1995 Indy 500 winner and 1997 Formula One champion, and former CART standout Patrick Carpentier not being able to accumulate points at Daytona will put both of them in a hole heading into next week's race at California.

Tony Fabrizio

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