TRD's White: We had nothing to do with missing Roush Fenway part

By Jared Turner - SceneDaily Staff Writer

Saturday, March 29, 2008

David Griffin/
NASCAR Scene

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Waltrip: Our team took Roush Fenway part by 'mistake'

Roush claims sway bar stolen by a Toyota team last year

MARTINSVILLE, Va. - Lee White, the senior vice president and general manager for Toyota Racing Development, rebutted car owner Jack Roush’s claim Friday that Toyota may have had a hand in stealing a front sway bar from the Roush Fenway Racing organization last fall at Dover.

“From our perspective this is an issue that appears to be between two race teams and does not involve a manufacturer,” White said in a statement. “As always our focus continues to be on enhancing our hardware, improving our performance and winning races. This year, we have eight cars in the top-35 in owner points – and at this time a year ago we did not have any. We know we’re headed in the right direction and will continue to focus our efforts on the race track rather than away from the track.”

Roush raised a stir at Martinsville Speedway on Friday when he said that a “nondescript Toyota team went behind my toolbox and took my bar out of my inventory and put it in their inventory and took it home with them.”

Michael Waltrip confirmed Friday that the team Roush was referring to was his Michael Waltrip Racing group.

White said he became aware of Roush’s claims through an ESPN The Magazine article earlier this week and thereafter took immediate steps to conduct a “comprehensive investigation of our Toyota Racing Development facilities in both California and North Carolina over the past several days.”

“The only thing we learned was of one small incident after the recent rain-delayed race in Fontana, where following ‘teardown’ on Monday afternoon a valve spring that was not ours ended up at TRD’s California location,” he added.

“However, in less than 24 hours, that part was returned to the appropriate party. We made NASCAR aware of the incident, and they indicated it was not an issue.”