[jks812]

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Water found in the fuel tanks of cars driven by Denny Hamlin and Dave Blaney during Sunday's NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway was not isolated to those teams, a NASCAR official said Monday.
Water also was discovered in the fuel of the Penske Racing cars driven by Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman after returning to Charlotte, N.C. In addition, water was found in the fuel cell of all three Richard Childress racing team cars belonging to Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton.

Greg Biffle believes his car may have had water in its fuel, although no evidence was found.

NASCAR Nextel Cup Series director John Darby said the problem is more widespread than originally thought and that NASCAR has issued bulletins to all Cup and Truck Series teams to check for evidence of contamination so they can locate the source.

"There are multiple teams that are showing positive for some level of water contamination level in their fuel," Darby said, according to the Associated Press. "I can't tell you the exact number. It's more than two and less than 43 at the moment."

Darby said the contamination could have occurred as early as Thursday when the trucks took the track for the first time. He said NASCAR is working with Sunoco to aggressively find out how the water got there.

"It's really difficult to pinpoint," he said. "We have to almost work backwards."

Darby said everything from the underground fuel-holding tank at the track to the fuel trucks that deliver the gas to the individual gas cans are being analyzed. He said the underground tank is the least likely source because there is an alarm system located that can detect the slightest amount of contamination.

"All reports from that show zero water," he said.

Darby dismissed sabotage as a possible explanation, saying too many teams were affected for anyone to have been singled out.

"For those who have their evil, twisted conspiracy hats on, we want to put that to rest,'' Darby said, according to the AP. "If it was sabotage, it would have to be the kind of thing where someone hates NASCAR racing across the board."



Darby doesn't believe water was the reason Hamlin's car shut down on the restart with three laps remaining Sunday, allowing Jimmie Johnson to take the lead and win to pull within nine points of teammate Jeff Gordon in the championship standings.

He believes Hamlin's car sputtered from being low on fuel just as Gordon's did on a late restart earlier this season at Talladega.

Mike Ford, Hamlin's crew chief, disagreed. He said there was plenty of fuel remaining to fire the engine and that the water simply shut the engine down.

"You saw several guys stumble on restarts," Ford said. "You're like, 'This could be a problem.'"

Ford first noticed water in Hamlin's car during the first pit stop.

"We found water in our catch can," he said. "The first restart after that the car stumbled for a couple of laps. It stumbled after the first couple of stops, actually.

[Racer Duck]

oh gosh! now NA$CAR is responsible (although accidentally) for the outcome of the race. inadvertently they did manipulate the race because the water in the fuel prevented equal competition. this can be inferred from what Mike Ford said though he did not blame NA$CAR, but instead refuted Darby's contention that Hamlin had other problems which caused him bad restart.

it gets curiouser and curiouser...

[jks812]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

oh gosh! now NA$CAR is responsible (although accidentally) for the outcome of the race. inadvertently they did manipulate the race because the water in the fuel prevented equal competition. this can be inferred from what Mike Ford said though he did not blame NA$CAR, but instead refuted Darby's contention that Hamlin had other problems which caused him bad restart.

it gets curiouser and curiouser...

Maybe thats why they are now saying Johnson had water in his carb.

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by jks812

Maybe thats why they are now saying Johnson had water in his carb.

so now it's fair 'cause the race winner had watery gas? how gullible do they think we are? don't answer that! I already know .. and they are so far out in left field they're in a different ball park in a different city!!!

[jks812]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

so now it's fair 'cause the race winner had watery gas? how gullible do they think we are? don't answer that! I already know .. and they are so far out in left field they're in a different ball park in a different city!!!

Yeah I guess they figured if they said the winner also had some,we'd all say well then it doesn't matter.

[LSC9901]

I must have water in my tank also. I was a bit sluggish getting off the light this morning.

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

I must have water in my tank also. I was a bit sluggish getting off the light this morning.

I suspect your problem is related to something higher octane than water

[kcoruol]

Knowing nothing of how fuel is dispensed at a NASCAR track, I would think that the fuel would be filtered or at the very least checked prior to using it.

However; I heard from some reliable sources that Kyle Busch was spotted driving around the pit area the night before in a water truck!

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

I suspect your problem is related to something higher octane than water

After my weekend at Penn State .... yes.

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

After my weekend at Penn State .... yes.

never fear .. though it does take some time to get the system back to normal after one of those "outings", it will get there sooner or later .. that is, provided you don't abuse it in the meantime...

my suggestion for recovery would be an extended stay in the trailer .. "relaxing"...

[Quality88]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

my suggestion for recovery would be an extended stay in the trailer .. "relaxing"...

I would suggest hair of the dog.

[Quality88]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

I already know .. and they are so far out in left field they're in a different ball park in a different city!!!

RD are you just now noticing this.