Mikey Waltrip

samcurry

samcurry

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Okay, So ive been thinking about this.
Did Michael know about the substance or not?
Who put it in there?
And Why?

Did mike have plausably deniability?
Did his crewchief really think they could get away with it?
And what did they really have to gain by doing it?

According to mike he told the crew he just wanted to get all 3 teams into the race and stay low on the radar.
So why would someone disobey his orders and do this?

And lastly doyou think Mike should be driving today?

Please dont let this turn into a flaming thread, im just looking at the technical side of this.
 
Sam, nice to see you join in on the chat for a change. :) I'm not sure that Mikey was actually in the loop on this one, but that probably doesn't really matter. As far as making the race, I don't see why he shouldn't.

These guys have been skirting the rules from the beginning of the sport. It's my understanding that what was tried here, has been done in the past and just wasn't discovered. From my understanding about how they were caught is that one of the inspectors caught a foul odor coming from the engine and that tipped them off. Had he not got a whiff of the illegal stuff, there probably wouldn't have been anything said.

I used to work with a guy who was a car owner back in the old days (70's & 80's) and some of the things he told me would curl your hair, even if you have curly hair. He also told me that NASCAR would tell everyone what they would be looking for on any particular race day and so the teams would be sure and not play with that area of the rules. He also told me that NASCAR would come around to them and give them a scenario as to how they "would like" for the race to end. They wouldn't give any orders, but would tell the teams to take care of it their own way. But keeping all of that in mind, I'm sure that some of those guys working in the garages believe that some of that is still going on and that if they weren't told to stay away from the fuel system, it might be a good place to make some adjustments.

I can't wait for the day when NASCAR finds a car with traction control. It's there now, but hasn't been discovered. :einstein:
 
Hey buckaroo,
Yea im sitting here with my laptop watching kelly clarckson before the start.
Kinda weird seing her on raceday. but what ever.

I'm sure there are lots of things happening behind the scenes, But why would they do it after their boss tells them they want to stay under the radar?

I sure hope nascar doesnt turn back into the WWE, picking who should win and stuff just makes it turn into a show and nothing else.
 
Although the responsibility rests on Michael's shoulders for the actions taken by his team members, it is doubtful Waltrip had knowledge of the situation and the fact Michael is team owner should have nothing to do with his driving or not driving. It should have everything to do with the car being impounded or banned from the event.
Many times, team owners or drivers do not know if "adjustments" of questionable status were performed on the car.

I do not feel Michael told the teams to get the cars in the event and do it honestly, (wink, wink) as he walked away. It is most likely Michael told the teams to get the three teams in the race, do it honestly. And meant it.

His crew cheif no doubt was the culprit and Michael never found out about it until NASCAR told him. In situations such as these, the crew chief should be banned from racing for one year, the team penalized points and a sizeable fine.

It might not stop cheating altogether but one thing for sure it will make anyone thing long and hard before trying something "innovative".
 
I think Mikey knew a lot more than he is letting on. I just have a hard time believing that he didn't know something was going on with the car. Whether he knew or not, he is still wholly responsible. I feel his attempt to throw a couple of crew members under the bus as a way to skirt his responsibility is a crock of BS. Personally, I would have expected more from a man of his character.
 
Benevolent One said:
I think Mikey knew a lot more than he is letting on. I just have a hard time believing that he didn't know something was going on with the car. Whether he knew or not, he is still wholly responsible. I feel his attempt to throw a couple of crew members under the bus as a way to skirt his responsibility is a crock of BS. Personally, I would have expected more from a man of his character.
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If you have time, read this. :)

http://www.racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=33366
 
kelloggs5TLfan said:
If you have time, read this. :)

http://www.racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=33366
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That is an excellent article. Thanks for posting it. It sums up my feelings on this thing pretty well.

NASCAR says they are going to do whatever it takes to stop people from cheating. But when a guy can cheat as blatantly as they did and still run in the race and get paid and get the points, it just doesn't sound like they want it to stop.

I wonder if it was another driver who did exactly the same thing, if he would have been thrown completely out of the race. NASCAR loves any Waltrip and they obviously want to please Toyota. If it were a Robby Gordon or even a Jeremy Mayfield or any other lower level team would NASCAR have really put their foot down? We know that a Jeff Gordon (thankfully;) ) , Tony Stewart, Dale Jr or the like would have never been parked, but how about someone else?

Just thinking out loud
 
If he does throw some crewmen under the bus what does that do to their ability to get a job with another team? Are they more or less desireable?
 
Benevolent One said:
That is an excellent article. Thanks for posting it. It sums up my feelings on this thing pretty well.

NASCAR says they are going to do whatever it takes to stop people from cheating. But when a guy can cheat as blatantly as they did and still run in the race and get paid and get the points, it just doesn't sound like they want it to stop.

I wonder if it was another driver who did exactly the same thing, if he would have been thrown completely out of the race. NASCAR loves any Waltrip and they obviously want to please Toyota. If it were a Robby Gordon or even a Jeremy Mayfield or any other lower level team would NASCAR have really put their foot down? We know that a Jeff Gordon (thankfully;) ) , Tony Stewart, Dale Jr or the like would have never been parked, but how about someone else?

Just thinking out loud
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You're welcome. Someone I know posted it, thought I would share. :)
 
Mikey cheated and got caught. Plain and simple.
If you're a car owner and don't know what's going on with your crew and car then you shouldn't be a car owner.
Mikey knew what was going on.
 
Three points of interest on the story is all I can manage.

-Nascar drivers measure differences in performance in hundredths of a second over minutes of driving. No way does even the most incompetent of the DEI drivers not notice that his fuel's been monkeyed with, for better or worse. Mikey might be an ass, but he was trained by the best. He knew something was up.
-Only one of the three cars was tampered with (without a doubt, Nascar checked the other two for similar tampering). That places the culprit on this car's team. These guys don't let anyone near the cars that doesn't belong.
-The 'substance' was bought and paid for, brought into the garage area, and put (discretely) into the tank. Someone had access to the car's tank, was able to walk into the garage with the substance, and had the money to pay for it. I don't know about you, but the average wrench on a team doesn't miss a chance to pad his per diem .... he's not going to put his hand in his pocket for his own money.

Conspiracy theories not withstanding, that leaves maybe 5 people. Knowledge of exactly what that substance was would tighten that down quite a bit further. Without a doubt, they know exactly who did it. The only question left is when Mikey knew.
 
The only question left is when Mikey knew.
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Depending, this may open up a whole new set of questions. If Mikey knew then where did the idea come from. And, how long has he been doctoring his fuel tank?
 
Read the article, but i don't feel the same way at all. Why would Mikey risk pretty much everything on adding an oxidizer to his fuel? The stakes are way too high, with Toyota pretty much telling him one more strike and he looses their support is bad enough, then you have all the sponsors getting egg on their faces too. Nah.....i really think Mikey had no idea that stuff was in his tank. I also think that this was a blatant attack on his organization to make him and Toyota look bad. It wouldn't have been the end of the world if he hadn't made the 500, but it sure would of been close to it if Toyota and his sponsors had said bye bye.
 
Mopardh9 said:
It wouldn't have been the end of the world if he hadn't made the 500, but it sure would of been close to it if Toyota and his sponsors had said bye bye.
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There is no way Toyota would pull the plug on the financial investments they have made over one screw up no matter how bad it was. I also think Waltrip's team was counting on that being true.

Toyota can stomp it's feet and complain all it wants to about how angry they are about this mess. But, it is still very much about the money. Toyota isn't in NASCAR to legitimize itself in any way. It is already a generally accepted fact that Toyota makes the highest quality cars you can get without getting into Mercedes/BMW type money. Their cars are built better, get better mileage, last much longer, require much less repairs and are just plain more dependable than anything the "big three" is putting out any more. It isn't even close.

Therefore, they have nothing to gain and everything to lose financially, by pulling the plug now.
 
Benevolent One said:
There is no way Toyota would pull the plug on the financial investments they have made over one screw up no matter how bad it was. I also think Waltrip's team was counting on that being true.

Toyota can stomp it's feet and complain all it wants to about how angry they are about this mess. But, it is still very much about the money. Toyota isn't in NASCAR to legitimize itself in any way. It is already a generally accepted fact that Toyota makes the highest quality cars you can get without getting into Mercedes/BMW type money. Their cars are built better, get better mileage, last much longer, require much less repairs and are just plain more dependable than anything the "big three" is putting out any more. It isn't even close.

Therefore, they have nothing to gain and everything to lose financially, by pulling the plug now.
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Come on financially Toyota has plenty to spend, they can say see ya Mikey and put the majority of their factory support with another team. Honor and integrity, in my opinion, mean a lot more to the Japanese than they seem to mean to the other big 3. I really think Toyota would pull the plug on Mikey if he screws up again. Remember there are plenty of people that resent Mikey for luring away DJ and sponsors. Of course this is just my evil little mind at work here, but i really feel that Mikey was the victim here and not the other way around.
 
BobbyFord said:
He was 42nd fastest.
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Big deal...means little as far as i'm concerned, his other car didn't do bad in the 150s, so i don't think happy hour speeds are always a good judge of how the car is doing.
 
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