BY TEAM FORD RACING CORRESPONDENT

Dover, Del. — NASCAR strongly denied published reports that it gave parts confiscated from the Winston Cup garage to the Toyota startup effort.

One such written account attributed Tony Stewart and crew chief Greg Zipadelli saying NASCAR had given Toyota the No. 20 Home Depot Pontiac, which was confiscated during the Texas race weekend. The same report indicated NASCAR had given Toyota the Robert Yates Racing engine confiscated during The Winston weekend.

However, NASCAR Vice President of Corporate Communication, Jim Hunter, addressing both allegations said that the parts are still in NASCAR’s impound in the Concord, N.C., Research and Development Center.

Hunter added, “We spoke with [Joe] Gibbs last Tuesday about getting the parts back to the car, that we're going to give him and he's working to comply with the requirements"

"NASCAR would never give a competitor a confiscated part," Hunter added. "It would be foolish to put confiscated parts back into circulation."

RAIN HALTS DOVER PRACTICE
Mother Nature once again played a prominent role in the NASCAR schedule when a light rain fell during the scheduled time of the second Winston Cup practice. NASCAR was forced to cancel the session.

The first session was interrupted twice for reasons other than rain, remarkably. The expiring motor in Joe Nemechek’s Chevy, and resultant wreck, caused a 15-minute hold early in the first and only practice. The session came to an end with a with a bang a couple of minutes early when Dale Earnhardt Jr. wrecked his car on the back straight.

Both cars received damage beyond what was fixable, meaning that both drivers will start from the back of the field after digging into the trailer for their backup rides.

Fast Ford Taurus on the day belonged to Kurt Busch, who practiced third fastest in the single session, and Elliott Sadler, who ran his Robert Yates Racing-prepared Taurus eighth fast.

Next up on the Ford timing sheets are the team cars of Matt Kenseth and Mark Martin, who practiced 17th and 18th fastest, respectively. Greg Biffle ran his Grainger Ford 20th fast during the session.