False Start: Toyota Hits Speed Bump In Nextel Cup Debut

NASCAR’s John Darby (r) Examines Engine Of Michael Waltrip’s Camry

Toyota’s “much-anticipated entry” into the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series “turned into a public-relations nightmare Wednesday after one of its marquee teams was slammed with one of the strongest penalties in the history of the sport,” according to Rick Minter of the ATLANTA CONSTITUTION. Michael Waltrip Racing crew chief David Hyder and VP/Competition Bobby Kennedy were suspended indefinitely and fined $100,000, and the team was docked 100 points because of a “performance-enhancing substance discovered in their car during qualifying Sunday.” Waltrip issued a statement “blaming the infraction on an unnamed employee of his race team.” Toyota Racing Development USA President & CEO Jim Aust said, “This is not the way you want to enter the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series by any means.” Aust acknowledged that having one of his teams accused of cheating “will hamper [Toyota’s] attempt to win over American fans.” NASCAR VP/Competition Robin Pemberton noted that the other Toyota entries “passed the same checks that Waltrip’s failed” (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 2/15). NBCSPORTS.com’s Marty Snider wrote Waltrip is the “face of Toyota Motorsports. ... As much as they want to avoid the topic, this whole situation was a disaster for both Toyota and Michael Waltrip” (NBCSPORTS.com, 2/14).

NEW CAR SMELL: ESPN’s Brad Daugherty said of the penalties, “I think the reason that the penalties are so severe is simply because of Toyota’s emergence into this sport. ... I think if this had been another team, a domestic team or one of the older teams, it would not have been such a big deal. But [NASCAR] had to fire a huge shot, simply because if they didn’t — in that garage area, with Jack Roush and some of those people — they would have never heard the end of it. So they had to come out and show their loyalty and their integrity” (“NASCAR Now,” ESPN, 2/14).