Hamlin, Blaney had water in fuel tanks-UPDATE 4-contamination widespread
Quote selected text Published October 30th, 2007 in NASCAR News
UPDATE 4:
Water found in the fuel tanks of cars driven by #11-Denny Hamlin and #22-Dave Blaney during Sunday’s Nextel Cup race at Atlanta 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 #2-Kurt Busch and #12-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 #29-Kevin Harvick, #07-Clint Bowyer and #31-Jeff Burton. #16-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. 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. Darby dismissed sabotage as a possible explanation, saying too many teams were affected for anyone to have been singled out.
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UPDATE 3:
More teams - including Pep Boys Auto 500 winner Jimmie Johnson - have found water contamination in their fuel systems as they have torn down their cars back at the shop today, NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Director John Darby said Monday afternoon.
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UPDATE 2:
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.
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.
“It’s obviously something we’re concerned about,” Darby said during Monday’s test of the Car of tomorrow.
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.”
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UPDATE:
“Sabotage is also a possibility”, NASCAR Vice President Jim Hunter said. “There are ways people could put something in there. We don’t anticipate that. We have security here all night,” he said.
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Denny Hamlin, who thought he had enough gas while leading when his car sputtered and didn’t start with three laps remaining in the Pep Boys Auto 500, actually had water in his fuel cell at the time.
Whether that caused him not to accelerate and get hit from behind by Martin Truex Jr. is uncertain, Joe Gibbs Racing Senior Vice President Jimmy Makar said Sunday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway, site of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race.
But what is certain is that Hamlin and Bill Davis Racing’s Dave Blaney had water in their fuel cells, and Roush Fenway Racing’s Greg Biffle also might have had a similar situation.
NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Director John Darby said that no water was found in the Sunoco pumps following the race. Darby said all of the Sunoco documentation from the weekend shows no water in the tanks.
“The teams did give me a sample from each of those cars that has a little bit of water in it, but again water always settles to the bottom,” Darby said. “What you don’t know is when the water got introduced, was it two weeks ago, was it a week ago …
“What we’re pretty confident of is the dump cans they were using today, because they’re all stored in their tractor trailers and locked up all weekend, and all the fuel that we’ve taken, including just doing a chemical test on the [Sunoco] tanks over there, show no condensation.”
Bookmark to:
- Fuel systems of COT cars in Atlanta testing clear of any water
- NASCAR, Sunoco to investigate water in gas at Atlanta-UPDATE
- Gibbs team may have fuel cell flaw in cars
- Several drivers say the track wasn’t ready for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race
- Blaney will start Cup race today, Bliss on standby to fill in
How do teams of that caliber get watered-down fuel ??
John Speed wrote:
If their was no water in the Pumps, then its not how do those teams get watered down fuel, its How did water get into the fuel when it was sitting in the dumpcan waiting to be put into the car during the pitstop?
lol the same thing happened to my truck, water in the gas tank is not good
This is a big deal folks! It doesn’t get there on its own….especially race fuel that is closely monitored and checked.
I sure hope NASCAR doesn’t sweep this under the rug like so may other things they do.
Funny that it wasn’t in Hendricks.
Just because NASCAR tested the fuel after the race doesn’t mean there couldn’t have been fuel in the tanks. The fuel would settle to the bottom where the pumps pickup is and would get flushed out first.
Its kinda ironic that this is happening at a track that is in a area that is going thru an extreme drought.
Tony-a wrote:
nor Childress, nor DEI, nor Redbull. That’s kind of crazy on your part, don’t you think?
Fisha695 wrote:
That’s what I was just going to mention! We’re on a total outdoor watering ban, and they’re talking about it getting so bad that they might have to start some kind of rationing, and here’s they’re running around with water in their tanks =-0
Jeff wrote:
They are saying the drought is extreme. 90 day supply at the most. someone might have been trying to make a statement.
Worse than having water in your tanks, whether it be sabotage or not: Martin Truex Jr. He was having a great day and maybe he wouldn’t have won with so few laps left, but he had a chance at a great finish and he got caught behind him when so many others had a chance to go around. I felt bad for him more than anyone else.
Yeah Erica, Martin got HOSED. I was listening to the race on the radio and it sounded like he just didn’t get out of the way in time… When I saw the replay on TV, there’s nothing he could have done to avoid that one. Shame that he ended up with a trashed car that was a very legitimate contender!
Poor Blaney…
Hahahaha Hamlin.
They’ve said that water could be more valuable than gasoline one day. some teams took that a little TOO literally
It did rain during the beginning of the week
Haha sabatoge, huh? That’s just stupid. Wait let me guess… Teresa got bored of sabatoging Dale’s motors so she moved on to sneaking around the track and putting water in fuel cans? Or is this an extension of Knaus’ cheating? He’s taking his cheating to a whole new level!
I thought it was a bad move when nascar went away from 76 fuel. Sunoco on the commercial market has a reputation for not exactly having the best gas. I still use 76 racing fuel and 20-50 oil in my late model and have never had any issues.
I’m sure someone has access to the fuel and someone put water in it before the race. Lets look at the leaders and folks that did well in the race…hmmmmm? Can you say Jeff Gordon..haha
That’s really unfortunate that this happened even if it wasn’t sabotage. Maybe Jr would have won the race if that crash never happened, or maybe he would have finished better than he did. He said before the race that he wanted to be in the headlines on Monday, well he got it! lol That sucks…
I was at the track all weekend and not sure how this works but the morning dew was horrible. Could dew have gotten in the fuel? We had puddles of it laying on our tables at camp. For it to have happened to mroe than one team might be a possibility, but then again not sure if that could happen. Don’t know the technical side of things. And what does water in the fuel tanks have anything to do with Jr. wrecking and not doing good he lost a tire. Why does he get brought into every talk on here?
nash wrote:
Too funny. I was thinking that maybe someone found the secret of turning gas into water.
Guys…i’m not just saying this because I don’t like HMS, but..notice there’s drivers from most of the racing teams EXCEPT HMS that had water in their fuel tank. A bit suspiscous, anybody agree? Hendrick is a big money pit and can surely pay off anybody to do some dirty work for him.
I hope NASCAR doesn’t blow this off because big Mr. Hendrick’s money grows on trees.
sushstewart20 wrote:
well only to prove you wrong read the update.
and btw what a stupid comment
Brandon wrote:
Thanks Brandon, said it all for me right there.
I will be expecting apologies from everyone who badmouthed HMS…
though I know I won’t get any, because people are shallow. They are willing to take their own speculation as truth…but then never admit to their errors later. But any of you who care to prove me wrong, I’ll be looking for you to say sorry.
I just saw on NascarNow on ESPN, that the issue very well might have originated at Sunoco. If that is proven to be the case, then not a single team woud have been immune from this issue, and it’s just dumb luck (or lack thereof) that some fuel was more contaminated than others.
DW
PROUD JIMMIE JOHNSON FAN
sushstewart20 wrote:
What kind of idiotic comment is that? Geez people… Nascar is fair. Hendrick rules. Get over it.
Brandon wrote:
Thanks Brandon. Well said. This also applies to everyone who badmouthed HMS and is going along with this “Hendricks conspiracy” crap.
Grow up people.
Oh yeah, and we will be accepting apologies from all you who did place blame on HMS and anyone else. Looks like Sunoco at this point was the source of the problem…
Right Brandon…
Speculation, what a beautiful thing. I love how Hendrick, HMS money, and Chad Knaus are always the reasons anything bad happens to anyone else on the track. OMG-shut up with the blame game already. Its getting old!
Okay, I posted that before the new update. So, it wasn’t HMS. Shut the hell up already, i’m SURE i’m not the only one on here who’s finger points to HMS first. Look at their history; alot of cheating, especially on Chad’s part. Can you blame people for immediately pointing fingers at HMS? Now that the update has been posted, I can eliminate HMS from the sabotage theory.
Question is, who did it? Sunoco?
Note to sushstewart20
Its not cheating. Its creative Innovation.
Without teams pushing the rules technology would not have developed in Cup cars as rapidly as it has
Im sick of you and your conspiracy theorists
Let me guess. HMS is guaranteed the championship by NASCAR, America never landed on the moon, and Elvis is still alive?
Oh,but there is no Hendricks conspiracy here.There was indeed water found in Jimmie Johnson tank.Nice try folks!
Really-why is sabotage the word that keeps getting thrown out? Couldn’t it have been just something simple that may have happened? Couldn’t it have been the dew somehow? Why is someone always at fault?! Sush…I give you credit for taking back your comment about HMS, but really…”Shut the hell up already”? Couldn’t the same go for you? There’s no reason an HMS fan can’t stick up for their driver/team when you’re pointing the finger.
Ha ha - it was found in HMS also… quit hating and just realize that they are dominant.
Every team has their tide to ride and right now it is HMS.
Erica wrote:
Yeah. Still waiting for apologies.
“shut the hell up” doesn’t constitute one.
Andrew, nice retort with the moon and Elvis references.
It was alllll Teresa’s doing…
Why is it that Jimmy Johnson found water in his tank and Gordon didn’t? Are we waiting for that update to? Even though they are on the same team, don’t you think that’s suspicious? Don’t they get ALL their fuel at once?
Fuel cells are made to keep moisture OUT! So I doubt some heavy dew could do that much damage. Only a regular metal gas tank from the 70’s would do such a thing, it happened to my 74 Nova SS and I had to dump all the fuel out.
Could it be that there is a conspiricy to have Gordon win the championship? I sure as hell hope not. I am afan of Jimmy, but not of Gordon-”the wife cheater”.
OK, I’m gonna say this one more time for the simple minded, I’ll type slowly and use small words:
THERE IS NOT, NEVER WAS, NOR COULD THERE BE ANY FORM OF “CONSPIRACY”
If you are stuck on that conspiracy BS, you’re so stupid that you ought to be drug out into the street and shot, as Garfield would say. Or could it be that you’re just so damn juvenile that you can’t accept the fact that the Hendricks camp just has their sh*t together and are on a helluva roll? Jealousy rears it’s ugly head and people make up stories of conspiracy and sabotage whe their drives are doing poorly.
As a Jimmie Johnson fan, I myself wasn’t too excited to see two races in a row end the way they did, even though I was stoked with the victor. People are whining like children over that as well, just like they did before the implementation of ‘green white checkered’. When their driver doesn’t win, they will always cry like babies.
With all thes bickering and BS, I’d like to take this opportunity to give kudos to JJ, Hendricks, Bruton Smith, Lowes and everyone else that contributed to the ARC fire relief efforts. Well over a million dollars at last count.
Too bad people are so shallow that all they wanna do is talk about what a cheater he is.
Shame on those of you.
Just because water was found in the 48 tank after every one else did does not mean HMS had nothing to do with this. It would be a good way to deflect blame, to H20 your own tank after the fact…
So all you outraged paranoid HMS fans that think every body is out to get your boys, Your Right
Bob, you’re so good at justifying bulls**t you could be a New York Senator.
aint no way anyone can point
the finger of blame at anyone!
y’all know what happens when ya
ASSUME?????
Tony-a wrote:
More teams - including Pep Boys Auto 500 winner Jimmie Johnson - have found water contamination in their fuel systems as they have torn down their cars back at the shop today, NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Director John Darby said Monday afternoon.
re-read that. INCLUDING JIMMIE JOHNSON. read before you comment.
besides, if it was conspiracy, why the hell would they wait until NOW to do it? well if we are going to play the blame game let’s blame tony stewart, who hasn’t been doing so hot and could use a chance to get better?
come on people, they’ve monitored this s * *t for years!! why would it just now pop up?? eff that! it’s not conspiracy, nascar just wants to start drama to get people interested again.
There is serious censorship going on in these blogs now. Freedom of speech obviously includes the “right” to slanderize others and make up conspiracy theories that the simple minded are taking as gospel truth. But you no longer have the right to call others out on their lack of maturity and expose their lies.
No longer can you type profanity using asterisks in place of some letters.
Attention Americans, your freedoms are at risk. This is one example of it.
Brian France was the 2nd gunman on the grassy knoll!
Donny wrote:
Slander is not accepted here.
‘Calling out’ others is accepted here as long as name calling and attacking the person is refrained from and it is done with a measure of respect. It is spelled out clearly above.
If you (or anyone) has been name-called or attacked and we’ve missed it please let us know and we will remove the post.
FYI !!!!!!
NO all teams do not get their fuel at the same time, they go and get fuel after every pit stop.
Every team does not pit at the same time, some are on different stratagies and pit at different times
Most tracks have more than one fuel tank and most are underground.
There are many different ways to get water in fuel and yes condensation does happen in metal and plastic fuel tanks.
I have seen many times at Texas water on the ground near the fuel station from teams washing their transport rigs, speedway employees washing the concrete, rain, dew
Most pumps have a water seperator filter on them, if they dont change them regularlly they can cause problems.
Franko,
gasoline (race fuel) is a hydrocarbon and floats on top of water, so the water would be the first to come out of the tank. If they switched over to the second tank during the race and it was the one that had the water in it, then who ever was the first ones to get gas out of that tank would have the water in their tanks. Depending on how much water was in the tanks would be how many were affected.
Methanol or alcohol is a polar solvent and will mix with water (it is misable), that is why you use water to fight a Methanol fire and dry chemical to fight a gasoline fire.
Kenneth - ARS Editor wrote:
—AGREED!! SLANDER IS ILLEGAL. to state an opinion is one thing, but to wilfully say something that is known to be false, is entirely different
This all is a serious matter, regardless how the water got into the tanks. Any of these drivers could have been seriously injured due to the water in the tanks, causing mechanical failures/wrecks. I just can not phathom that ANY team would risk legal ramifications to sabatoge other teams. Think about it! Just because you don’t like one team doesn’t mean they would stoop to this level!
CHEF wrote:
Last sentence….slander.
All around other posts…made up fairy tales of how one team or another is cheating. I guess making up stories to fit ones personal agenda is not illegal, or Hillary Clinton would have been arrested a long time ago.
I’m sorry Kenneth, I wasn’t triying to be a stupid donkey. No disrespect intended brother.
I just got a little sick of people coming up with these crazy ideas of how HMS was watering down their own tanks to divert blame…it’s just really, really lame. Like I mentioned before, jealousy turns ugly real fast.
Hey Donny…what happened to you being NICE? You were my friend on myspace [not anymore]. You were agreeing with me on older posts on topics about Tony Stewart and backing me up. WTF?
Leave US to think what the hell we want to. If we believe that it could be sabotage, HMS or another source, LEAVE US ALONE AND LET US THINK IT! One way or another, someone WILL be wrong in the end when it’s all figured out. So back off and stop putting people’s ideas and thoughts down because they arn’t YOUR thoughts. Sorry, not everybody thinks or does like the ‘great Donny’.
Donny wrote:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Now, Donny, please please please tell me where free speech applies to situations outside of government action? Where???? The 1st Amendment is a Constitutional protection guaranteeing that the GOVERNMENT cannot limit free speech. Nowhere is it said business, private organization, or website.
I honestly cannot single out Donny since people are too willing to throw around the free speech argument mostly where it doesn’t apply. A lot of you could stand to brush up on basic Constitutional principles before ignorant statements are made establishing their level of foolishness.
Also, there is a higher standard of proof for a public figure (such as Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon) to claim libel or slander. Check your facts before you feel the need to spout off recklessly at the keyboard.
Jimmie Johnson sucks.
Oh Marty Marty Marty!!! You have been sooooo brainwashed by something…the right to free speech and it’s limitations goes far beyond government. I as a person cannot sit here and tell people that you (THESE ARE MADE UP EXAMPLES TO ILLUSTRATE MY POINT!!!) that you have a criminal record, that you killed five people in their sleep. To sit here and say that “HMS watered down it’s own tanks to look like they were a victum of this circumstance” is not of the same extent, but it’s of the same principle. Free speech ends when you have no basis for statements and it degrades the character of another. It is not a right for me to make up stories about you and tell people that you did these things when in fact you did not.
The disclaimer at the top of the page before comments are posted explains how this is also applies to a privately owned website.
I would like to know where you received your education. While I give you credit for saying that you cannot single me out, I find it ironic that you’d make such a big deal out of it here and say, not over at MOVEON.ORG, where they publicly slanderized General David Petrayus.
Seems like you’re willing to hide behind your keyboard as you accuse others of doing.
Sush, my account was hacked. I tried emailing you and all of a sudden I wasn’t able to…I had this issue with many friends who are no longer there as well. Never once did I try to restrict your right to THINK something. But when you come out and say that it was sabotoge, that’s no longer just a thought, that is an unfounded accusation. Why should I back off when you’re talking out the side of your neck on my guy? You sure as hell don’t sit by when someone says something about TS….
I stand up for what I believe is right. I voice my opinion as long as it does no harm to another.
On a side note…I’ll still be smiling and (still) know the truth about who the best driver and the best team is at the end of the season when they hoist that Trophy up over their head…
It WILL be the #48 team.
I honestly cannot single out Donny since people are too willing to throw around the free speech argument mostly where it doesn’t apply. A lot of you could stand to brush up on basic Constitutional principles before ignorant statements are made establishing their level of foolishness.
By the way MARTY, you might wanna brush up on your vocabulary and English skills. According to this statement, it is the Constitutional principles that exhibit a level of foolishness. If you really wanted to put me down, you should have written:
A lot of you could stand to brush up on basic Constitutional principles before ignorant statements are made establishing YOUR level of foolishness.
:-]