Water found in Hamlin's fuel blamed for crash in closing laps of Atlanta Cup race
NASCAR conceded Monday that water got into the fuel supply of more than two cars during Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, apparently leading to a crash that took out several top contenders in the closing laps.
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 Jr., who led the most laps Sunday, smashed into the back of Denny Hamlin's car and finished 31st. Denny Hamlin slipped to 24th.
"When I hit the gas, it took off, then it stopped. It took off again, then it stopped," Denny Hamlin said. "I was just waiting for the hit from behind."
John Darby, NASCAR's Nextel Cup director, dismissed sabotage as a possible explanation, saying too many teams were affected for anyone to have been singled out.
"There are multiple teams that are showing positive for some level of water contamination level in their fuel," he said. "I can't tell you the exact number. It's more than two and less than 43 at the moment. For those who have their evil, twisted conspiracy hats on, we want to put that to rest," Darby said.
Darby 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.
Up in smoke
Tony Stewart's slim hopes of making a run at his third Nextel Cup championship were snuffed out.
Tony Stewart, who came into Atlanta fourth in the points but 249 points behind Jeff Gordon, ducked into the pits under green on Lap 137 with a mysterious handling problem. He fell far off the pace and finished 30th, six laps behind winner Jimmie Johnson.
Tony Stewart brushed off reporters as he headed for his motorhome.
Johnson helps out
California native Johnson wanted to help his home state, where wildfires have killed at least seven people, destroyed more than 2,000 homes and scorched hundreds of thousands of acres.
Johnson and team owner Rick Hendrick will donate their $349,561 in winnings from the Pep Boys Auto 500 to the American Red Cross for the wildfire relief effort in California, along with matching donations promised by several other NASCAR organizations.
