Toyota backs its cheating team

UPDATE #2 Michael Waltrip got a vote of confidence from Toyota President Jim Aust on Wednesday after Waltrip's team received the stiffest monetary fine in NASCAR history. NASCAR hammered Michael Waltrip Racing with a $100,000 fine, a 100-point deduction, and the sanctioning body indefinitely suspended crew chief David Hyder and vice president of competition Bobby Kennedy for an illegal substance found in the intake manifold before and after qualifying Sunday.

Waltrip owns three Toyotas in the manufacturer's entry into Nextel Cup this year, and Toyota Racing Development President Jim Aust called it an "embarrassment" for Toyota and the team.

"We will continue on with our relationship with Michael," Aust said following the announcement of the penalties. "This is not the way you want to enter the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series by any means. … We'll continue to work with the organization in hopes that they find the resolution to the problem, and I think they'll be stronger because of it." Scenedaily.com

02/14/07 Rumor has it that Michael Waltrip and the No. 55 ejected from the Daytona International Speedway and will be suspended several races and his crew chief the entire year. Word is what NASCAR found in the intake manifold was not just oil as the cheating Toyota team claimed.

02/14/07 The penalties expected to be handed down to Michael Waltrip Racing for its possible rule violation discovered before Daytona 500 qualifying could affect the team's relationship with Toyota, Lee White, the senior vice president of Toyota Racing Development, said Wednesday.

"One thing I can tell you is that the elements of ethics, integrity, character, honesty are things that are extremely important, probably paramount, to my company," White said. "Are we a little disappointed that one of our teams is involved in things that have transpired here? Yes, we can't deny that. … Depending on what that outcome is, obviously, we will have some further discussions with that team and decide what our relationship is going to be in the future.

"The rules are the rules, and we expect to participate by the rules. We hold our own people to a very high standard, and certainly we hope we have partnered with the right people and hold their people to a high standard."

"…. Is it a setback? No, I think it is a disappointment," White said. "Anytime you partner with someone, you are bound to be disappointed if, by some set of circumstances, they are disparaged in the public eye by their own actions or by some other action. We'll sit down with Mike and his team and figure out what the best course of action is to move forward to try to ensure that anything like this never happens in the future. "