The fines have been passed down, it's official,  until NASCAR decides it needs to "re-address the issue". Robin Pemberton let Toyota off the hook. (One Toyota driver was it, why were there murmurs about Toyota, anyway?) Waltrip's crew chief, David Hyder, and the team manager, Bobby Kennedy, were suspended "indefinitely". I understand the crew chief, but if NASCAR is going to imply that the team manager should have known what his team was doing, then why not assume that Michael did, too. Another good point on that is- if your going to dock Buffy 100 owner points and Michael 100 driver points, why no suspension? If they really want to make a point about cheating, make the driver sit out a race. I wonder if Michael wasn't the star of the Toyota show, would he be racing on Sunday? I am not trying to imply that NASCAR is favoring Toyota; but they do want this to work because it will make money, it could've been any new manufacturer, and Dodge was the same coming in.

I have heard it from both sides, this is NASCAR trying to mess up Toyota by messing with Mikey, and it's NASCAR trying to help Toyota by not suspending Mikey. Any way you want to take this story, the bottom line is, NASCAR fines need to be consistent. If you assume the driver knew, it's not enough, you have to prove it. Other members of the team are not so lucky, they can fall under the "we believe he had knowledge" or the "he should've known" categories. I will say that the nice little donation David Hyder will be making to the drivers fund of $100,000 will definitely make other crew chiefs think twice before they reach for a "foreign substance" again.

To sum it up, Robin Pemberton said the official that initially found the substance, which was in the intake manifold, said he had never seen anything like it before. Michael Waltrip was given a chance to replace the intake and the substance was found again. Pemberton went on to say that it was unlike anything NASCAR had seen in recent years. It was noted that the substance was not any kind of oil, like Michael had earlier claimed. Pemberton stated, when asked how long "indefinite" was, "it's a very long time." He added that it would be up to the team to re-apply for credentials, implying that they will not return soon.

So are the days of our NASCAR lives. That's why I love this sport, it never gets boring. NASCAR has sent Waltrip's car back to their R&D Center, so we should know before too long what the famous "foreign substance" really is. For now the guesses have been from jet fuel to the stuff under the catering trays. I just hope Michael didn't have anything to do with this.