Toyota "Disappointed " with Michael Waltrip and Michael Waltrip Racing

[RGFan]

Very interesting article. If anything like this happens again, I would not be at all suprised if Toyota drops their support all together for Michael Waltrip and his racing team. Where is ole DW now sticking up for little POS.:D

http://www.scenedaily.com/stories/2007/02/12/scene_daily438.html


There are also reports (PRN Radio via Sirius)that the #55 will be disqualified today. A #44 back up car will be re-tagged with #32 (POS bought out Cal Wells recently) so POS can race. If this happens, I will scream. Nascar needs to handle the damned loopholes. Every time they start getting some credibility, they let crap like this happen.

[b-makk]

Hopefully they boot the team and the driver

[RGFan]

You guys, just follow Jayski for all of this, he seems to be updating every 15 minutes. THey just started the engine to the 55 and more of this stuff showed up again. They have put a barracade around the car for all to see. My wife used to work for Toyota and spent alot of time at Corporate in Irvine. Toyota America will not have a real issue with this, but Toyota HQ in Japan, and think of the Japanese culture as a whole, they are very big on being honorable, respectful, and proud...... cheating like this is like spitting in their face she said. Very bad times are ahead for Michael Waltrip. If he does not get dropped, he will definetely get an earfull, many many earfulls.

[kaw500]

"The rules are the rules, and we expect to participate by the rules. We hold our own people to a very high standard, and certainly we hope we have partnered with the right people and hold their people to a high standard."

Key word "HOPE". I've listened to a lot of opinions on this weeks issues and still am of the belief that cheating is cheating (big or small). So don't do the crime if you can't do the time.

[Bricoop]

There are also reports (PRN Radio via Sirius)that the #55 will be disqualified today. A #44 back up car will be re-tagged with #32 (POS bought out Cal Wells recently) so POS can race. If this happens, I will scream. Nascar needs to handle the damned loopholes. Every time they start getting some credibility, they let crap like this happen.

I wouldn't be surprised to see POS escorted out of Daytona. If this happens he definetly won't be able to race the calwells/POS Racing Toyota.

[RGFan]

Latest updates/rumors......There are reports from the garage to the effect that the back up will be tagged 55 as of now. Also, there is a rumor that the #55 crew chief has been supsended for 1 year and POS will be suspended for atleast several races. Michael Waltip is refusing any and all interviews (Jayski) The more momentum that this story gains, the worse it will be for Michael Waltrip. In the big scheme of things, the easy part are the suspensions. He is in the middle of building a huge auto racing campus in North Carolina. COuld you imagine if Toyota pulled out. With no support, the teams would flounder, even more so with Toyota. If they are not competetive, the sponsors will go away. Michael might be having to actually rent furniture from Aarons if things do not change very quickly.

[firedog]

from jayski:

UPDATE 7: the car will not be #32, but is #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)

[b-makk]

Burn Him!!!

[kaw500]

So surreal it's becoming my favorite daytime soap. Keep the updates coming.

[RGFan]

Burn Him!!!


eheh eheh eheh....fire fire fire !!!!!!! Sorry, how do you do Beavis and Butthead with typing??

Ole DW is on Speed, he is talking about everyone else but Michael, not a peep about him.

[JRod]

from jayski:

UPDATE 7: the car will not be #32, but is #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)

I hope they suspend him and he doesn't get a chance to screw Reutimann and Burger King with his car swapping shenanigans...

On the other hand:

Have we really considered the ramifications of SternoGate? If POS isn't racing, can you imagine how much we'll have to see him on TV? I think I might rather see him out there getting his butt kicked all over the asphalt... Bittersweet...

[RGFan]

Jimmy Spencer just came out on Speed and said that no matter the result of the Michael Waltrip incident, because none of the other Toyota Teams have done this, Michael Waltrip has absolutely embarrased Toyota

[woundedyak]

I wounder if Nascar will really slam Toyota this hard in there first race?

[b-makk]

POS will become the new Robby Gordon of Nascar.

Shun Him!!!

[RGFan]

I hope they suspend him and he doesn't get a chance to screw Reutimann and Burger King with his car swapping shenanigans...

On the other hand:

Have we really considered the ramifications of SternoGate? If POS isn't racing, can you imagine how much we'll have to see him on TV? I think I might rather see him out there getting his butt kicked all over the asphalt... Bittersweet...

I do not think so. I think he will be to busy puting fires out with Toyota. And the last thing that Toyota is going to want is to see him all over TV after he has embarrased them the way he has. If he is smart, he will just leave Daytona, say alot of Im sorry's and get ready for his next race. Trust me, Toyota just wants this whole thing to go away. If he is on TV, it will not. The question is, is he smart?

[fishd00d]

Ok so I dont wana try and read through 1000 pages to find out what happened. How were they cheating? And how did they get caught?

[b-makk]

Ok so I dont wana try and read through 1000 pages to find out what happened. How were they cheating? And how did they get caught?

Wish we knew, nothing official released yet.


This is more exciting than catching Saddam

[RGFan]

Latest quote from Lee White, Senior Vice President, TRD...." We hold ourselves to a high standard at Toyota, we hold our teams to a high standard. We hope we have picked the right ones" (meaning teams). The #55 Crew Chief has been suspended indefinetely, that is official, More penalties for the 55 are coming and will be announced later this afternoon. It is being said that he was using a fuel additive to increase the intensity of combustion, thus creating more HP, that is not official.

[DEZERTBOUND]

We all know how those guys deal with this kind of embarrassment......

[RGFan]

We all know how those guys deal with this kind of embarrassment......

LMAO, I do not see POS going to that quite yet, although it might seem tempting right about now

[Jack]

So kind of subtance in the intake manifold, and when the clean it or change it and restart motor it shows up again.

[Bricoop]

Burn Him!!!

I would prefer a good old fashion stoning actually. J/K


On a more serious note: Two weeks ago I thought the big buzz would be about the death of Legendary Benny Parsons. Instead POS screws himself and he will dominate the discussion for the remainder of Speedweeks.

[FlyHiFlyLo]

So kind of subtance in the intake manifold, and when the clean it or change it and restart motor it shows up again.

Yeah that has me super baffled... I think the manifold is sweating.

[Bricoop]

Latest quote from Lee White, Senior Vice President, TRD...." We hold ourselves to a high standard at Toyota, we hold our teams to a high standard. We hope we have picked the right ones" (meaning teams). The #55 Crew Chief has been suspended indefinetely, that is official, More penalties for the 55 are coming and will be announced later this afternoon. It is being said that he was using a fuel additive to increase the intensity of combustion, thus creating more HP, that is not official.

From this statement I have a strong feeling Toyota will be going away from POS racing at the end of the season. He will also have to qualify for the remainder of the races this season!

[kaw500]

Yeah that has me super baffled... I think the manifold is sweating.

Just like MIKEE

[Jack]

posably sterno

[RGFan]

Yeah that has me super baffled... I think the manifold is sweating.
I think it is coming from the fuel tank. They removed the intake days ago and sent it to the Nascar R&D center. They fired up the motor in the car this morning, meaning they put a new intake on the motor. If this stuff is showing up again, I would think it would be coming from the fuel....That is my 5 cents anyways.

[kaw500]

Is it offical from NASCAR that the 55 crew chief has been suspended?

[RGFan]

posably sterno

I heard that too.....What is sterno, from what I get, it is some kind of fuel additive......please correct me if I am wrong.

[Bricoop]

Is it offical from NASCAR that the 55 crew chief has been suspended?

From Jayski

Waltrip's crew chief suspended: David Hyder, the crew chief for Michael Waltrip, has been suspended indefinitely for infractions discovered on the #55 Toyota during Sunday's post-qualifying inspection for the Daytona 500. Further penalties against Waltrip's team will be announced at a press conference later on Wednesday. They are expected to be more severe than the two- and four-race suspensions of crew chiefs from four other teams that were announced on Tuesday. NASCAR chairman Brian France and president Mike Helton were among those that met with Waltrip and officials from Michael Waltrip Racing before Wednesday's first practice session. One official described the situation as "very serious." Lee White, the senior vice president for Toyota Racing Development that is making its Nextel Cup debut at Daytona, said he also planned to meet with Waltrip. "I wouldn't call it a setback, but it's disappointing for anyone that we partner with to have this happen in some form or fashion," he said. "We will talk with them to see where we need to go for the future." White said TRD has been working with NASCAR on the situation. "I can honestly tell you from an ethics standpoint and integrity, along with character and honesty, those things are paramount in our company," he said. "We hold ourselves to a high standard and we hold our teams to high standards. We hope we've picked the right ones."(ESPN.com)(2-14-2007)

[b-makk]

He's officially suspended but no idea how long yet

[RGFan]

Damn it, I have to go to work..... I will check in tonight

[RGFan]

He's officially suspended but no idea how long yet




It is indefinite

[Bricoop]

I heard that too.....What is sterno, from what I get, it is some kind of fuel additive......please correct me if I am wrong.

It is a cooking Fuel. In most buffet lines they have cans of sterno(on fire) underneath hot dishes.

[kaw500]

BRICOOP, thanks forgot to refresh.

This is incredible I would never have thought MWR would pull a stunt like this.

[spalind]

It is a cooking Fuel. In most buffet lines they have cans of sterno(on fire) underneath hot dishes.

Or in Chinese food places its the blue jelly type stuff they light on fire in the center of a Pu-Pu platter!!

[woundedyak]

fly,you mention this in another thread!

Somebody mentioned "STERNO"

COMPOSITION/INFORMATION ON INGREDIENTS:
OSHA REGULATED COMPONENTS (present at a concentration > or = 1%):
Component CAS # % PEL TLV
Ethanol 64-17-5 67 1000 ppm
Methanol 67-56-1 3-4 200 ppm
Acetone 67-64-1 2-4 750 ppm

It burns cool! oh man he is gone!

A gelled Fuel! Spec is SDA-3A (ethyl alcohol denatured with methyl

alcohol.)

Would this make the intake sweat?

[Bricoop]

Would this make the intake sweat?

Joke??? if not I'm assuming you might mean condesation. Anwser=No.

Fly's was definitly intended as a joke.

[b-makk]

Deep fried POS for supper...

[FlyHiFlyLo]

Joke??? if not I'm assuming you might mean condesation. Anwser=No.

Fly's was definitly intended as a joke.

I'm baffeled becuase when they put the second manifold on it was fine untill they ran the motor, then the stuff appeared... As tho the manifold sweated the stuff out...

[Bricoop]

I'm baffeled becuase when they put the second manifold on it was fine untill they ran the motor, then the stuff appeared... As tho the manifold sweated the stuff out...

fuel tank I'm guessing

[FlyHiFlyLo]

fuel tank I'm guessing


It has to be something slicker than that... NASCAR has seen it all.

[firedog]

From Jayski:

UPDATE: SPEED is reporting an announcement is coming this afternoon, could be as soon as the last Cup practice of the day is run [around 3:00pm/et], hearing another report that the 'substance' could be jet fuel.(2-14-2007)

[FlyHiFlyLo]

M anifold
W ith
R esidue

[kaw500]

Any recent developments? Was there a MWR press conf or did NASCAR hold one?

[Bricoop]

Any recent developments? Was there a MWR press conf or did NASCAR hold one?

it is supposed to be going on now but they may have delayed it, they will have one today for sure though.

[REEVESRacing]

the 55 is in "Tech" on Speed Channel...NASCAR Press Conference scheduled at 4:30 EST per commentators???

Will post any news...

[Hemp]

thanks for all the updates guys...i can't find my way around nascar.com

and as a pos hater, i am loving this

[stuckthrottle]

I hate the NASCAR website. I can never ever find anything. A total cluster....mess.

[OldStroppeTeam]

Off Jayskis in the last hour ...

Waltrip announcement soon? hearing that NASCAR will make an announcement soon fining Michael $100,000, docking him 100 owner and driver points and suspending the crew chief indefinitely. Waltrip will be able to run in the Gatorade Duel 150's but will start from the rear of the field.(2-14-2007)

ALSO: Bobby Kennedy, MWR's Director of Competition, was escorted out of the track at Daytona by NASCAR's Robin Pemberton.(2-14-2007)

[REEVESRacing]

I hate the NASCAR website. I can never ever find anything. A total cluster....mess.
Victor....could not agree more....looked for qualifying results on RG and just literally gave up and not going back.


Edit:

SPEED TV says announcement very soon...

Press Conference:

Crew Chief and Vp of Competition - Ejected, Suspended Indefinitely, $100k
Waltrip -100 Championship Points
Owner - $100k / 100 Owner Points
Qualifying Time Disallowed

"Blended Fuel / ethers / Oxygenates"

Confiscated car and parts to nascar research senter in NC with ongoing investigation

He will race in another car.

[FlyHiFlyLo]

Mike Waltrip just set a new NASCAR record (His only record in 20 years). HE HAS THE LOWEST AMOUNT OF POINTS EVER IN NASCAR's 50+years... Hell they should put him in the hall of fame.

[OldStroppeTeam]

Here is why FLY said what he just said !!! Hot off Jayskis !!

NASCAR Release: NASCAR announced Wednesday that it has confiscated the primary car of the #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.(NASCAR PR)(2-14-2007)

Thought I had the scoop..... oh welll .. Sorry Reeves !!

[kaw500]

I'm no MIKEE fan but what a blow. For a 2 time Daytona 500 winner and now team owner to pull this stunt his first time out with Toyota, amazing. Too much pressure on him? Who knows but this whole story will not die even after the 500. His reputation is shot and I don't know he can recover, how do you spin something like this. I'd really like to know what his fellow racers honestly think about all this.

[Bricoop]

I'm no MIKEE fan but what a blow. For a 2 time Daytona 500 winner and now team owner to pull this stunt he first time out with Toyota, amazing. Too much pressure on him? Who knows but this whole story will not die even after the 500. His reputation is shot and I don't even know he can recover, how do you spin something like this. I'd really like to know what his fellow racers honestly think about all this.

Anyone have POS's shop address, I have a can of Sterno I would like to send him.

[erikh]

Maybe his next trick will be to teach those kids on the Napa commercials how to spell "cheater." Maybe a math lesson is in order for the kids. What's 0 minus 100?

erik

[Mary Kay]

Jimmy Spencer, who in the past has talked like MW is God, blasted him on live TV right after the press conf. My guess would be fellow racers are not pleased with MW. Who could blame them?

My guess is he will not recover from this, I don't care how great of a talker he is, which he is, he is finished after this season!

[DSRacing]

Speed TV posted Waltrip's response to the penelties,

“During preparations for the 2007 season and especially the 2007 Daytona 500, I specifically requested that our competition teams not disrespect NASCAR, our competitors or our sponsors by blatantly circumventing the rules,” he said in a statement issued Wednesday night. “This is not the action of an organization, a manufacturer or a sponsor. This was an independent act done without consent or authorization from me or any of my executive management team. As an owner, I realize I am ultimately held responsible for the actions of my employees. Therefore, I accept the penalties issued tonight by NASCAR."

Let's see, if I read this correctly, he told his team not to be obvious about cheating, and he didn't know anything about it. Righhhhht. His VP of competition just got kicked to the curb indefinitely, I guess he isn't part of his management team.

I'm suprised he didn't blame RG for slipping him some of that bad fuel he had from Dakar.

What a knucklehead.

[FlyHiFlyLo]

Everything that Mike got handed to him was just. The only thing that was missing? They should have sent the whole NAPA team home.

Maybe Ol Childress is lagging a bit so far, is he knew NASCAR was going to come out of the box laying down the law keeping these teams from thinking they can "Tweak" the COT later in the season. So he decided to leave all the tricks back home.

NASCAR should just come out and say "If you think these penalties are tough, Just try messing with The Car of The Future. We have had enough."

[Hemp]

so pos is running someone else's back up car. how come he didnt run his own? perhapas it was loaded with some sterno as well

[FlyHiFlyLo]

First off 100 points doesn't mean crap... Mike wasn't going to make all the races this year (Cheating or not)or even get close to the top 35 in points penalty or not. So basically... The penalty was very weak.

If he didn't know about the tweak to his car? That is no question. He knew it wasn't right... Even with a guy as dippity doo dah as Mike is... He has been this sport for 25 years and he knows damn well NO SUBSTANCE OTHER THAN GASOLINE can get into the intake. He should have taken responsibility for what he allowed to happen with his car and said he was sorry to his team. Instead he threw them right under the bus... It wasn't like NASCAR was going to nail him anymore than they did... Mikey is weak to the bone. Nobody will work for him anymore and do questionable things because they no know how much he will support them.

[RGFan]

I really think the bigger story in all of this is what will Toyota do, how will they react about all of this. With another manufacturer, I do not think that MWR is a 3 car team. Toyota is footing the engine bill and all of the R&D, leaving MWR with parts and payroll. They are paying alot of employees alot of money, persuasion money so to speak to leave the big teams and come over to Toyota/MWR. If Toyota dumps them, they will have to go over to one of the other manufacturers. They will not get the support that they get from TRD and will not be on top of the pecking order as well. MWR is in the midst of building Michael Waltrip Racing World, a multimillion dollar racing campus, comparing in size to Penske's new digs (300,000 sq ft.) Dale Jarret has to be shaking his head right now wondering what he got himself into. All kidding aside, if this whole deal falls apart, this will be one of the biggest stories of the decade for Nascar. I believe that the only reason that Nascar let Michael Waltrip race was for Toyota's sake. I honestly believe that if he would have been suspended, they(Toyota) would have dumped MWR. Nascar knew that this could have been catastrophic for Toyota. That would have hurt Nascar as well. Michael Waltrip should be thanking his stars that politics saved his ***.

[RGFan]

I think this story will tell it how it is for MWR......

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=2&id=2765503

He has used his excuses all up. I think what some are not realizing is that a fuel violation is one of the cardinal sins in Nascar. It is like corking a bat in baseball, blatantly going at the knees in football, it is like going up to David Stern and kicking him in the nuts in basketball. Messing around with the fuel you just do not do. THe other teams penalized were trying to find ways around the rules and crossed the line. MWR blatantly said "F" the rules, there is no gray area when it comes to doctoring fuel.

[BSchlimme]

I wonder how much money Toyota kicked down to MW to take a fall? To me a reasonable PR move for Toyota to have MW caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Look at all the cheating that takes place in NASCAR and tell me MW did more/worse than the rest?

I would say that all the heat that people have been throwing Toyota about buying their way into NASCAR would be nicely deflected by having the organization drop the bomb on what to me is no different than the antics of other cheaters in their organization. Don't see the same treatment for Kenseth, Kahne, Riggs and Sadler this year.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no MW fan but here is a guy that ran mid pack AND cheated. Hardly seems to be a threat to NASCAR's image, whatever that be.

And for Toyota I would be embarrassed. You got a guy juicing the motor and still has an anchor tied to the back of his car.

[RGFan]

I wonder how much money Toyota kicked down to MW to take a fall? To me a reasonable PR move for Toyota to have MW caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Look at all the cheating that takes place in NASCAR and tell me MW did more/worse than the rest?

I would say that all the heat that people have been throwing Toyota about buying their way into NASCAR would be nicely deflected by having the organization drop the bomb on what to me is no different than the antics of other cheaters in their organization. Don't see the same treatment for Kenseth, Kahne, Riggs and Sadler this year.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no MW fan but here is a guy that ran mid pack AND cheated. Hardly seems to be a threat to NASCAR's image, whatever that be.

And for Toyota I would be embarrassed. You got a guy juicing the motor and still has an anchor tied to the back of his car.

MW did not take the fall though, he passed the buck to his crewchief and competition director. What Jimmy Johnson/Chad Knaus did last year was cheating, but they wer working in between the rules so to speak, in the gray area. What the other guys did this year besides for MW was working in the gray area. There is no gray area when it comes to doctoring fuel, that is why Nascar was so pissed. What those other guys did was subtle, what MWR did was blatant. You might as well have grabbed John Darby and spit in his face. Robing Pemberton said that they were insulted by MWR's attempt.
Toyota is extremely embarrased. Like I posted yesterday, The American Reps for Toyota culturally can tollerate such a violation. The Japanese reps for Toyota, If Michael Waltrip was Japanese, and this happened 60 years ago, he would be falling on his sword literally, suicide with honor. I posted an article above, Toyota is in no way supported Michael Waltrip. They left him dangling, he is lucky he still has Toyota as a manufacturer. He f'd up bad

[dezertranger1600]

Do you guys think toyota will eventually drop him?

[RGFan]

Only they know. But he has used up all of his favors with them if you ask me. They have alot invested in him. He is for all purposes the face of Toyota. That has now changed IMO. I think their marketing strategy will change and you will see Toyota atleast pause from using any Michael related commercials, if not scrap them all together. The fact that they stood by him, shows me he is a convincing salesman. They have given him another chance, but under the circumstances this may have been out of necessity rather then kindness. If he does as much as soils his underwear in the next year, they will drop him IMO, and they will not wait until the end of the season. What MWR needs to understand is that this is Toyota's first year. THey are going to suck, they are going to miss races. This first year is a research year, gain info, lots of info and show sparks of brilliance every now and then. Why they came out this year IMO was wrong on Toyota's part with the phase out of the old car and the phase in of the new car. But nobody held a gun to MW. He knew what he was getting into. One thing is for sure, it sucks to be Michael Waltrip right now. He just found his way to middle age and hypertension, all with one stupid action.

[b-makk]

He'll be forced to retire soon. He wasn't good when he was young and he's even worse now that he's older. I can only hope and pray that they'll keep him out of the broadcast booth.

[dezertranger1600]

he sounds & walks like a woman...i hope he stays out of the booth too ha ha

[OldStroppeTeam]

[QUOTE=FlyHiFlyLo7;253208] He should have taken responsibility for what he allowed to happen with his car and said he was sorry to his team. Instead he threw them right under the bus...""

Exactly

So with a boss like this , who is going to want to work for the JERK ? At least he could have acknowledged they were " a little behind the curve" and he appreciates his guys trying extra hard to get him in the show !!

or

MAYBE (?) he didn't know, but I find that REALLY hard to believe !!!

[firedog]

Looks like MW has one more strike left as well as all the other teams and then they loose Toyota support...sounds like MW messed it up for all Toyota teams!

From Jayski:

Toyota issues warning to teams: Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president for competition, was emphatic this [the #55 infraction and penalty] was a team issue and not a Toyota issue. While embarrassed over the incident, Toyota officials insisted they would maintain a relationship with MWR. "This is not the way you want to enter NASCAR's Nextel Cup Series by any means," said Jim Aust, the president and CEO of Toyota Racing Development. "For this to happen to him is extremely disappointing and extremely disappointing to Toyota. ... He has certainly apologized to just about anybody that would be associated with his organization. He's beside himself with what's happened." Toyota isn't resting on an [Waltrip] apology. Company officials are expected to send a letter out to all Toyota teams next week stating Waltrip's organization has used two of the company's three strikes. The next team that crosses the line will face the loss of the manufacturer's support. Lee White, the senior vice president for TRD, said TRD worked with NASCAR throughout the process. "I can honestly tell you from an ethics standpoint and integrity, along with character and honesty, those things are paramount in our company," he said. "We hold ourselves to a high standard and we hold our teams to high standards. We hope we've picked the right ones."(ESPN.com)
AND: Jim Aust, vice president or Toyota Racing Development, was asked if this was his worst nightmare. "I would say that's pretty close to accurate," Aust said. "This is a week we had looked forward to for many years. To begin this way certainly takes some of the limelight and happiness out of it." It also doesn't help the Toyota guys win over some NASCAR followers who didn't want them here in the first place. That marketing campaign just got a lot tougher.(ESPN.com)(2-14-2007)

[bajafox]

Decent article on 10news.com

http://www.10news.com/sports/11022677/detail.html

[dezertranger1600]

His whole project is a joke & needs to be shut down