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 Denny Hamlin was leading the Pep Boys Auto 500 with three laps to go when his car stalled while taking the green flag after a caution period. Martin Truex, who led the most laps Sunday, smashed into the back of Hamlin's car and finished 31st. Hamlin slipped to 24th.
Both were in the Chase for the championship.
"There are multiple teams that are showing positive for some level of water contamination level in their fuel," said John Darby, NASCAR's Nextel Cup director. "I can't tell you the exact number. It's more than two and less than (the full field of) 43 at the moment."
Darby dismissed sabotage as a possible explanation, saying too many teams were affected for anyone to have been singled out.
"For those who have their evil, twisted conspiracy hats on, we want to put that to rest," Darby said. "If it was sabotage, it would have to be the kind of thing where someone hates NASCAR racing across the board."
He said extensive testing done by Sunoco, NASCAR's official fuel supplier, showed no signs of problems in the underground storage tanks at the suburban Atlanta speedway. The problem likely occurred in the piping that runs from the tanks to the pumps, or in the pumps themselves, which teams use to fill the high-tech cans that are used for fueling.
"It's a brownish-colored water," Darby said. "If it was just water, it would be more clear. That should help us understand if it came from a failed pipe or a failed pump or some other source that allowed it to enter the fuel."
In a "huge majority" of cars that tested positive for water in their fuel systems, the amount was so small that it didn't affect performance. For example, winner Jimmie Johnson had water in his carburetor during the post-race inspection.
But the contamination was enough to affect at least two drivers: Hamlin and Dave Blaney, who had performance issues all day and finished 38th, 66 laps behind Johnson.
After a yellow flag came out late in the race, Hamlin stayed on the track, believing he had enough fuel to get to the finish and more concerned about his tires holding up.
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But, as he crept slowly toward the start-finish line to take the green, his car began to sputter.
"When I hit the gas, it took off, then it stopped. It took off again, then it stopped," Hamlin said. "I was just waiting for the hit from behind."
The team suspected early in the race that water had gotten into the fuel, but didn't have any way to address the problem. The result was a wild melee that took out some of the strongest cars.
"We weren't getting the full potential on fuel," Hamlin said, standing alongside his wrecked car after the race. "I don't know how it got in there. We just poured what we had out of carburetor, and it was a good amount
-- a very, very good amount -- of water in there. Even the bolts were oxidized."
Darby said it may take a month to determine exactly what happened to the fuel in Atlanta, but he pointed out the same supply was used for Monday's testing sessions at 1.5-mile oval. There were no problems.
"We think this is pretty much a one-off, isolated problem," Darby said.
A truck series race also was held in Atlanta over the weekend. As part of its investigation, NASCAR asked those teams Monday to break down their fuel systems and determine if any water got in the carburetors.
Darby found it striking that such a problem occurred in Georgia, which is in the grips of a record-breaking drought. If nothing else, NASCAR should be able to eliminate one potential problem as the culprit.
"From reading the news," he said, "this is about the last place you would think groundwater contamination is going to occur in the fuel system."
[The Associated Press;
By PAUL NEWBERRY]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
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