Waltrip had Roush part, refutes notion it was stolen
By Raygan Swan, NASCAR.COM
March 29, 2008
03:58 PM EDT
type size: + -MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Like others in the NASCAR garage, Michael Waltrip is making light of Jack Roush's allegation that his team may have maliciously stolen a proprietary part -- a sway bar -- from Roush-Fenway Racing last season.
Inside the Martinsville Speedway media center Saturday morning, Waltrip, owner of Michael Waltrip Racing, admitted he had the part, however, he said "no one went to [Roush's] toolbox and swiped his sway bar."
Bain of his existence
When Jack Roush says he doesn't like Toyota in NASCAR, he isn't kidding. Now comes accusations of a stolen swaybar directed at one of the manufacturer's teams. While some may be laughing, Joe Menzer writes its Roush who needs a good chuckle.
Complete story, click here
Furthermore, Waltrip said if anyone had any more questions to go ask Jeff Gordon, the Hendrick Motorsports driver who contends the incident, now referred to as "Partgate," has been blown out of proportion.
"Our spokesperson on this subject is Jeff Gordon, so if y'all have anything to ask go ask Jeff. I don't think I could've said it near as well as he did," Waltrip said.
Tongue-in-cheek, Gordon said, "I think we should investigate more. I think we should get the FBI involved."
Both Gordon and Waltrip said that after post-race inspections parts are left lying around and at times get picked up or even mixed up. Mistakes are made and Waltrip said the part was returned to Roush without dramatics or under any threat from the Roush organization.
"The told us, hey you have our sway bar and we said, 'we do?' ... it was laying in a storage room somewhere," said Waltrip, a Toyota owner who said he learned his team had the part in January.
Two opinions are being exchanged around the NASCAR garage this weekend in Martinsville. On one hand, some are of the opinion Roush, a Ford-supported operation, is being over-dramatic while others feel the allegation is substantial and when a noted team owner talks of a lawsuit, it should be taken seriously.
Waltrip said, "He [Roush] feels like he was wronged and that is his prerogative and I respect that man," said Waltrip, before adding, "I hope we don't dignify this with a whole lot of time and effort ... this is not intellectual espionage."
On Friday, Roush held a lengthy news conference explaining his frustration about the missing sway bar (Garage Pass), which he said is not subject to NASCAR teardown in post-inspection.
"It was not a part that would have been mixed up with other Toyota parts, a front anti-roll sway bar ... we designed our own part and we did an analysis of it. We optimized the torsional effect of it with minimizing the weight of it through heat treating ...," Roush said.
The sway bar had a distinctive paint job, was numbered and uniquely configured, Roush continued.
"They wouldn't fit somebody else's car unless they copied it," he added. "The other team, the non-descript Toyota team, went behind my toolbox and took my bar out of my inventory and put it with their inventory and took it home with them. That's the fact."
Still, Waltrip maintains his innocence and said on an average race weekend there are more than 70 racing vehicles in a NASCAR garage and that parts get strewn about and mistakes are made.
"If I truly felt if someone purposely got it for any specific reason, I could see why he's upset," Waltrip said.
Upon the return of his sway bar, Roush believes the appearance of the part was altered and said the incident has yet to be resolved.
"We are still considering what, if any, legal action we'll seek in the public sector," he said.
By Raygan Swan, NASCAR.COM
March 29, 2008
03:58 PM EDT
type size: + -MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Like others in the NASCAR garage, Michael Waltrip is making light of Jack Roush's allegation that his team may have maliciously stolen a proprietary part -- a sway bar -- from Roush-Fenway Racing last season.
Inside the Martinsville Speedway media center Saturday morning, Waltrip, owner of Michael Waltrip Racing, admitted he had the part, however, he said "no one went to [Roush's] toolbox and swiped his sway bar."
Bain of his existence
When Jack Roush says he doesn't like Toyota in NASCAR, he isn't kidding. Now comes accusations of a stolen swaybar directed at one of the manufacturer's teams. While some may be laughing, Joe Menzer writes its Roush who needs a good chuckle.
Complete story, click here
Furthermore, Waltrip said if anyone had any more questions to go ask Jeff Gordon, the Hendrick Motorsports driver who contends the incident, now referred to as "Partgate," has been blown out of proportion.
"Our spokesperson on this subject is Jeff Gordon, so if y'all have anything to ask go ask Jeff. I don't think I could've said it near as well as he did," Waltrip said.
Tongue-in-cheek, Gordon said, "I think we should investigate more. I think we should get the FBI involved."
Both Gordon and Waltrip said that after post-race inspections parts are left lying around and at times get picked up or even mixed up. Mistakes are made and Waltrip said the part was returned to Roush without dramatics or under any threat from the Roush organization.
"The told us, hey you have our sway bar and we said, 'we do?' ... it was laying in a storage room somewhere," said Waltrip, a Toyota owner who said he learned his team had the part in January.
Two opinions are being exchanged around the NASCAR garage this weekend in Martinsville. On one hand, some are of the opinion Roush, a Ford-supported operation, is being over-dramatic while others feel the allegation is substantial and when a noted team owner talks of a lawsuit, it should be taken seriously.
Waltrip said, "He [Roush] feels like he was wronged and that is his prerogative and I respect that man," said Waltrip, before adding, "I hope we don't dignify this with a whole lot of time and effort ... this is not intellectual espionage."
On Friday, Roush held a lengthy news conference explaining his frustration about the missing sway bar (Garage Pass), which he said is not subject to NASCAR teardown in post-inspection.
"It was not a part that would have been mixed up with other Toyota parts, a front anti-roll sway bar ... we designed our own part and we did an analysis of it. We optimized the torsional effect of it with minimizing the weight of it through heat treating ...," Roush said.
The sway bar had a distinctive paint job, was numbered and uniquely configured, Roush continued.
"They wouldn't fit somebody else's car unless they copied it," he added. "The other team, the non-descript Toyota team, went behind my toolbox and took my bar out of my inventory and put it with their inventory and took it home with them. That's the fact."
Still, Waltrip maintains his innocence and said on an average race weekend there are more than 70 racing vehicles in a NASCAR garage and that parts get strewn about and mistakes are made.
"If I truly felt if someone purposely got it for any specific reason, I could see why he's upset," Waltrip said.
Upon the return of his sway bar, Roush believes the appearance of the part was altered and said the incident has yet to be resolved.
"We are still considering what, if any, legal action we'll seek in the public sector," he said.
. However, I'm making the point because we can't just blindly believe anyone in the garage. It doesn't matter if it's Richard Petty, or the rookie qualifying for his first race. Everyone needs to be on even turf, and I think in this case, if it was a newer team, or someone else - no one would be even talking about it.
