Nextel Cup Series director John Darby said a NASCAR investigation into problems with water in fuel last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway was traced to a faulty temporary pump.
Most fueling stations at tracks have several permanent pumps and those at Atlanta worked fine, Darby said. Some temporary pumps are brought in to help with the demand for fuel during races and it was one of those pumps that contributed to the problem. Jim Utter, ThatsRacin.com
Several cars, most notably those of Denny Hamlin and Dave Blaney, experienced problems with water in the fuel late in last Sunday’s event. An investigation conducted by NASCAR and official fuel supplier Sunoco found that the fueling station at the Atlanta track functioned properly, but a piece of portable equipment used to transfer the fuel did not.
“A failure did occur in a piece of portable dispensing equipment that is sometimes used to supplement the permanent pumps on busy race days, ” NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. “This failure allowed a small amount of water to be dispensed. Portable equipment has been used for many years without problem, and, in fact, this equipment functioned properly during the Craftsman [Truck Series] race at Atlanta right before the Nextel Cup race. “
Tharp added that the piece of equipment in question is not required for fueling at Texas, and that modifications have been made to prevent a repeat of last week’s event. That’s little consolation to the teams that saw their Atlanta runs ruined by watered-down gasoline. David Caraviello, NASCAR.com
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