Denny Hamlin and Dave Blaney were just a couple of drivers that complained about having water in the fuel.
As if the 2007 NASCAR season has not been interesting enough, now we are hearing about the possibility of water being found in some team's fuel- Joe Gibbs Racing's 11 team driven by Denny Hamlin and Bill Davis Racing's team driven by Dave Blaney. Also, Roush Fenway Racing's 16 team driven by Greg Biffle apparently had the same issue.
John Darby admitted to water solution being found in several cars. "There are multiple teams that are showing positive for some level of water contamination level in their fuel," he said. He also pointed to a possible failed pipe or pump. Sabotage is an unlikely cause for this bizarre problem.
Hamlin was leading as the Pep Boys 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway was about to take the green flag on lap 321. His car never accelerated, and a small pileup ensued as Martin Truex Jr, the driver that dominated the race, rammed into the back of Hamlin's Chevrolet. Kyle Busch also received damage in the melee.
"I felt we were pretty good on fuel and even felt like we were real close even if it went green-white-checkered," Hamlin said. "All day, we had been getting water in our fuel, we weren’t getting the full potential of the fuel. I feel bad for the guys behind us who got caught up in that wreck.”
Tommy Baldwin, crew chief for Dave Blaney said, “We didn’t know what was going on (with the engine) and we drained (the fuel cell) and it was half water, half fuel. I’m guessing maybe it was because we were one of the first ones, us and (Hamlin), to get fuel this morning."
