Toyota's NASCAR cheating: Bubba-san!

On the NASCAR home page the two biggest news items according to voting fans at that site are:
1. the suspension of four crew chiefs by the sanctioning body for cheating (various offences)
and
2. Toyota's Michael Waltrip still qualifies with his Camry (-resembling) race car

Those who fretted admitting Toyota to the field would be un-kosher somehow may have to rethink their red meat red state American only traditionalism.

In a very strange way Toyota has become as "Bubba" as the moonshiner founders of the sport like Junior Johnson and his ilk.

A conspiracy advocate could even suggest that the tall foreheads at Toyota wanted to get caught. There's a long tradition in all of sports but particularly in NASCAR of interpreting, stretching and even breaking the rules. As recently as the late Dale Earnhard and the currently disgraceful Tony Stewart the sanctioning body (and many armies of rabid fans) have not only tolerated but worshipped this cutthroat 'win at any cost' moonshiner attitude.

True, the France family (which has ruled the body since day one) has done wonders with their "New Country-WWF" style marketing of the drivers on the circuit but there's always that sly nudge nudge wink wink tolerance of cheating and dirty driving. Good ole boahs will do them kinda thangs doncha know.

But along comes Toyota, can it be true, and not only procures a decent and quite well liked driver (Waltrip) who won the Daytona 500 in which Chevy's Earnhard was killed blocking (then) Dodge's Sterling Marlin so Waltrip could win the race and...Bubba-san is caught with a sticky substance inside the intake manifold which boosts octane and or oxygenation of the fuel at high rpm, just when you need it.

There hasn't been much tech released on the substance yet but the Toyota "gotcha!" eclipsed the news of the suspension of the 'other' four (American make) crew chiefs and in a very real sense is a huge P.R. triumph for the Japanese auto maker.

Not only have they stealthily built tested and deployed (!) a very fine (and delicious sounding) V8 engine in their trucks but they have, with this slap on the wrist by NASCAR's tech people, confirmed that they are as Bubba as Bubba. "Bubba-san, wha' can honourable Toyota executive say, shi-shi happens!"

And Michael Waltrip not only escapes sanction apparently but qualifies for the Daytona 500 in his backup car. Scriptwriters could not have written anything so perfect. If Waltrip wins Daytona the stock car Pearl Harbour will be complete.