NASCAR FINDS WATER IN THE RACING FUEL

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — NASCAR conceded Monday that water got into the fuel supply of more than two cars during the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, apparently leading to a crash that took out several top contenders in the closing laps.

Denny Hamlin was leading the Pep Boys Auto 500 with three laps to go when his car stalled while taking the green flag after a caution period. Martin Truex, who led the most laps Sunday, smashed into the back of Hamlin’s car and finished 31st. Hamlin slipped to 24th.

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“There are multiple teams that are showing positive for some level of water contamination level in their fuel,” said John Darby, NASCAR’s Nextel Cup director. “I can’t tell you the exact number. It’s more than two and less than 43 at the moment.”

Darby dismissed sabotage as a possible explanation, saying too many teams were affected for anyone to have been singled out.

“For those who have their evil, twisted conspiracy hats on, we want to put that to rest,” Darby said. “If it was sabotage, it would have to be the kind of thing where someone hates NASCAR racing across the board.”

He said extensive testing done by Sunoco, NASCAR’s official fuel supplier, showed no signs of problems in the underground storage tanks at the suburban Atlanta speedway. The problem likely occurred in the piping that runs from the tanks to the pumps, or in the pumps themselves.

“It’s a brownish-colored water,” Darby said. “If it was just water, it would be more clear. That should help us understand if it came from a failed pipe or a failed pump or some other source that allowed it to enter the fuel.”

In a “huge majority” of cars that tested positive for water in their fuel systems, the amount was so small that it didn’t affect performance. For example, winner Jimmie Johnson had some water in his carburetor during the post-race inspection.

But the amount of water was enough to affect at least two drivers: Hamlin and Dave Blaney, who had performance issues all day and finished 38th, 66 laps behind Johnson.

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Hamlin down to 12 in NASCAR NEXTEL Chase

AP Sports Ticker

Denny Hamlin’s weekend got off to a great start when he won Saturday’s NASCAR Busch Series RoadLoans.com 200 at Dover International Speedway.

However, when Sunday night rolled around, his hopes for winning the Nextel Cup championship were all but dashed.

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Hamlin entered the second race for the “Chase for the Championship” ninth in the standings, but dropped three spots to 12th and last among contenders after a disappointing 38th in the Dodge Dealers 400. He sits 158 points behind leader Jeff Gordon with eight races to go.

Even more frustrating for Hamlin was the way things went wrong in the Nextel Cup race. He was enjoying a solid run until he ran into the back of Kyle Petty’s Dodge on lap 204.

“I was battling for position and I think Kyle was several seconds off the pace and trying to do his best to get out of the way and I think by doing that, the two cars made contact,” Hamlin said. “I ran into the back of him, absolutely. But he came off the corner 10 miles per hour slower than he had in laps before and I wasn’t counting on that happening. He’s trying to battle those few cars for a top 35. We’re trying to battle for a championship.”

Hamlin drove to his garage and sat in his car while his crew repaired the damage. The usually reserved Petty approached Hamlin, pulled down his window net, then slapped Hamlin’s face shield close before stomping away yelling.

Despite suffering from flu-like conditions that nearly forced him to use a backup driver in the Busch race, Hamlin jumped out of his car and made a move towards Petty before crew members separated them.

“Don’t smack me on the helmet. You smack me on the helmet and I’m going to punch you in the face, bottom line,” Hamlin said. “You don’t come to my car; you don’t come to my pit. You meet me somewhere else and we’ll settle it. I have the utmost respect for Kyle, but don’t lay your hands on my head.”

“I did not say one word to him. I asked him to come over and talk to me. He chose to slap my helmet. I have a short fuse. Don’t do that.”

Petty, in his own race to remain among the top-35 in the standings which ensures a starting spot in each race, sarcastically took the blame for the incident.

“We were a little bit loose. I guess it’s my fault,” Petty said. “I watched the Busch race yesterday and I knew Denny was sick – I just didn’t know he was hallucinating and needed three lanes to get up off the corner because he ran all over us.

“I guess he is in a race by himself.”

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Kenseth gets win in Busch race

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Matt Kenseth made the save first, then he picked up the victory.

That might sound a little backward for baseball fans, but it made perfect sense Saturday in the O’Reilly 300 Busch Series race in Texas.

Kenseth ended Carl Edwards’ two-race Busch winning streak by pulling his car out of a spin without hitting the wall early in the race, then overtaking Denny Hamlin with 11 laps left. Hamlin’s frantic efforts to pass over the final five laps failed. Edwards finished third.

The 0.128-second margin was the closest for a Busch race in Texas.

Kenseth, who was running second when he had to pull out of the spin, got his second Busch win of the season and his 10th top 10 in 12 Texas races.

Hamlin and Casey Mears battled for the lead after a wreck during a green-flag pit stop scrambled the field about 120 laps into the 200-lap race, but a caution straightened things out, putting Kenseth and Edwards in contention.

It looked for a moment as if former Formula One star Juan Pablo Montoya might have a shot at his second Busch win. He beat everyone off pit road by taking just two tires on a caution with less than 40 laps left. But he was called back because of a missing lug nut, and he dropped further back when he scraped the wall shortly after the restart.

The day ended for Montoya, the 2000 Indy 500 winner who joined NASCAR late last season, when he tangled with Busch series rookie Marcos Ambrose on Lap 181.