Michael Waltrip and the Mystery Intake Additive
When the Inspector Pulled His Hand Out of the Manifold
Michael Waltrip Racing already had enough to worry about when it arrived at Daytona in February 2007. Toyota was entering NASCAR’s Cup Series, Waltrip’s new three-car organization was trying to establish itself, and 61 cars were fighting for 43 Daytona 500 starting positions.
The No. 55 was not guaranteed one of them, so qualifying speed was useful.
Then a NASCAR inspector reached into the intake manifold.
His hand came back wearing something that did not belong there.
That Didn’t Look Like Engine Oil
Technical inspectors spend enough time around race engines to recognize the usual collection of oil, fuel, sealant, dirt and miscellaneous garage slime. This stuff was different.
NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton later described the material as clear, silicone-like or Vaseline-like. The team initially suggested it might simply be engine oil.
NASCAR was not convinced.
Officials confiscated the intake manifold and sent it away for examination. Michael Waltrip Racing installed another manifold and carburetor, which should have removed the suspicious part and ended the discussion.
Then NASCAR checked again.
The stuff came back.
Now they had a story.
One Strange Manifold Could Be an Accident
Two strange manifolds begin to require a better explanation.
NASCAR allowed Waltrip to make his qualifying run while officials tried to determine what they were dealing with, but afterward the No. 55 Toyota was impounded. The investigation was no longer limited to one questionable intake manifold.
Officials fired the engine.
The substance appeared again.
At that point the harmless-engine-oil explanation was becoming considerably harder to sell.
Daytona restrictor-plate engines were deliberately limited in airflow to control speed. If somebody could introduce additional oxygen into the combustion process another way, more fuel could be burned and more horsepower could appear without asking the restrictor plate for permission.
NASCAR eventually said the violation involved gasoline blended with an oxygenate.
Exactly what oxygenate was another question.
The Garage Supplied Plenty of Recipes
Once word got around, NASCAR’s garage became remarkably well stocked with amateur chemists.
Sterno was mentioned. Jet fuel was mentioned. Reports even appeared claiming some form of rocket fuel.
NASCAR specifically said it was not jet fuel.
Beyond that, officials were less generous with the recipe. They said the material did not belong in the engine, did not appear to have arrived accidentally and was connected to an attempt to introduce an oxygenate into the fuel system.
They knew what the trick was intended to accomplish. They knew where they had found the evidence.
They simply never handed everybody a neat little label for whatever had been smeared through the No. 55’s intake system.
The Penalty Didn’t Need a Chemical Name
NASCAR did not need to satisfy every garage chemist before reaching for the penalty sheet.
Crew chief David Hyder and Michael Waltrip Racing competition director Bobby Kennedy were ejected from Daytona and suspended indefinitely. Hyder was fined $100,000, then a NASCAR-record crew-chief fine.
Waltrip lost 100 driver points. The No. 55 lost 100 owner points. His qualifying time was thrown out, and NASCAR kept the primary car for further examination.
That is a fairly expensive response to something the team had initially hoped might be ordinary engine oil.
Waltrip said he had not known what had been done and apologized for what happened inside his organization.
Whatever the chain of responsibility, he still had another immediate problem.
He had to make the Daytona 500.
So Michael Had to Race His Way Back In
With the qualifying time gone and the primary car confiscated, Waltrip climbed into a backup Toyota for the Gatorade Duel. There was no comfortable guaranteed starting position waiting for him.
He had to race his way into the field.
Waltrip started deep in the pack and finished eighth.
That was enough.
After several days spent losing a race car, a crew chief, a competition director, a qualifying time and 100 championship points, Michael Waltrip still managed to qualify for the Daytona 500.
There are easier ways to make a starting field.
NASCAR Found the Trick, Not the Name
The strange part of the whole affair is that the mystery survived the punishment.
NASCAR’s rule was clear enough: gasoline was not to be blended with alcohols, ethers or other oxygenates. Officials concluded that the No. 55 had crossed that line.
What they never supplied was the satisfying answer everybody wanted.
Oil? No.
Jet fuel? NASCAR said no.
Sterno? Garage rumor.
Rocket fuel? Reported, but never publicly confirmed by NASCAR.
The inspectors did know one thing. When they reached into Michael Waltrip’s intake manifold, their hands came back with something that was not supposed to be there.
They changed the manifold.
It came back.
NASCAR never gave the mystery substance a satisfying public name.
They did, however, give it a $100,000 fine and 100 points.