by Lee Spencer

The organization's sanctioning body indefinitely suspended seven Gibbs employees, including crew chiefs Jason Ratcliff (No. 18) and Dave Rogers (No. 20), who were also fined $50,000 each. NASCAR also deducted 150 driver and owner points from both cars after inspectors discovered that the Nationwide Series Toyotas had intentionally used a magnetic spacer under the gas pedal to compromise the results of the chassis dynamometer at Michigan International Speedway

Drivers Joey Logano and Tony Stewart, along with their entire Nationwide teams, were each placed on probation until the end of the year.

Joe Gibbs Racing gave NASCAR no choice. Gibbs is a perennial championship team that spanked the Nationwide Series by winning 14 of the first 20 races before NASCAR reduced the size of the tapered spacers mounted on the intake of the Toyota engines on July 22. Despite NASCAR's attempt to establish parity, Gibbs went back to the drawing board, worked overtime on its cylinder heads and improved the overall performance of the engines.

But that wasn't all the Gibbs engine department was working on. Crew members not only devised a specific slot to hold the spacer, but also invested the time in finding out the approximate length the spacer had to be to knock approximately eight to 10 horsepower off the engine during the dyno test.

Once NASCAR inspectors discovered the spacer and reran the Camrys on the dyno, Toyota topped the chart with 640 horsepower — eight additional counts without the spacer. Before the spacer was discovered, Toyota tanked with Dodge at 632 hp. The Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets and Roush Fenway Racing Fords were all in the 634 to 636 range.

Ford and Chevrolet both predicted Toyota's dominance. While only two Camrys won in 2007, there were early signs — particularly on the dyno — that the trends were leaning toward Toyota. However, with Ford winning the title and Chevrolet scoring 22 victories in 35 attempts. neither manufacturer felt it was appropriate to lobby for change.

As the engine dyno was revving in the background at Michigan, Nationwide race-winning owner Jack Roush gave a detailed account of the initial advantages Toyota was given to help the Camrys get up to speed when the manufacturer entered the sport in 2007.

"(NASCAR) gave them a bunch of considerations from a parameter point of view, a dimension point of view that was outside the box in terms of what the Ford engine was," Roush said. "The pushrods are straighter. The camshaft is higher. The pushrods are shorter. The valve train is stiffer. The cooling system works better. All of those things were things that NASCAR uses discretion to approve that obsoleted the Ford engine and we can't make as much power as they do with the parts we have and right now we can't afford to obsolete all the parts that we have.

"So NASCAR, in the interest of fairness and balance in the competition from a potential point of view, after they went to great lengths to be able to check the engines to find out what they were doing, decided that they needed to rein Toyota in and that's what they did. There's crying and complaining about it, but the problem was when they submitted the engine, Toyota had approved things that obsoleted, really, everybody else, and now we've all got the necessity to come back and re-design and obsolete our current engines in order to get competitive.

"The error wasn't ours for getting behind. The error was in what Toyota offered and what NASCAR approved."

Roush isn't the first competitor to take offense at the garage questioning whether other manufacturers had gotten behind. Brad Keselowski, the driver of the No. 88 Navy Chevrolet, who is currently third in the point standings, has heard the excuses all season long.

"I think the frustration on the team side or the team side other than Gibbs, you know, everyone across the board, why we are so upset about this, so angry about this is we've been told now for six straight months from the media, from NASCAR, from anyone that (Toyota is) just better than us," Keselowski said. "We're losing races because they're just better than us. Denny Hamlin is just better than I am. Kyle Busch is just better than you are. His crew chief, is better than your team. Their shock guy is better than your team. And then you go and you see something like this and you go, 'Wait a minute.'

"I started to believe it. I started to get beat down like everyone else did that, 'You know what? Maybe Joe Gibbs is just better that what we've got. Maybe Denny Hamlin is just that much better than I am.'

"Then you see something like this and you go, 'Wait a minute. What was I thinking?' I can run with these guys and I've been beat up now for 12 months or six months or whatever it's been for no reason and that's very sad."

Joe Gibbs released a statement Wednesday afternoon apologizing for "this most unfortunate situation."

"First, we want to apologize to NASCAR, all of our partners, all of our families at JGR, and all of our fans for the unfortunate incident that took place this past weekend in Michigan with our two Nationwide teams," Gibbs said. "A poor decision was made by some key members of our organization and 100 percent of the blame rests with us.

"In 17 years, we have never had any representative of Joe Gibbs Racing knowingly act outside of NASCAR's rules, and that is something we consider essential to how we operate on a daily basis. What we have determined is that these individuals involved used extremely poor judgment in attempting to alter the results of NASCAR's dyno test following Saturday's Nationwide Series race in Michigan. Although in no way was anything done that might have altered the race outcome, these JGR employees attempted to circumvent the NASCAR rule book and that is unacceptable."

The greater problem — and what engine men across the manufacturing board agree on — is cheating on the dyno is far worse than a tricked up car in a race. The implications of altering the dyno numbers could affect the advantage that one manufacturer has for weeks, months and even years to come.

And like NASCAR and his fellow non-Toyota competitors, Keselowski feels the Gibbs organization took full advantage of the situation and it went well beyond what occurred in the CarFax 250 at MIS. There was more than just one trophy on the line.

"From a penalty status, the biggest thing that sets out in my mind is what they did. They did not cheat in that race at Michigan, in my opinion. A hundred percent, they did not cheat in that race at Michigan. But what they did was even worse than that. They attempted to cheat in the next two seasons by doing what they did on that dynojet. It's worse than cheating in that one race. They attempted to cheat for the next whatever session that was going to be before the next dyno session before NASCAR could prove it.

"It's almost like what they did was just worse than even cheating in that one race. I almost wish they would have cheated in that one race because I would have felt better about it. But what they attempted to do was cheat us for the rest of the season all the way up to probably Atlanta of next year before another dyno test was done. So that's what makes it even worse."

Gibbs added the company takes "full responsibility" for the incident and accepts the sanctioning body penalties.

"We had come to the conclusion that we would add to any NASCAR imposed penalties with the minimum being suspension for the remainder of the season for those involved, including our two Nationwide Series crew chiefs," Gibbs said. "There will also be an additional monetary fine beyond the amount announced by NASCAR earlier today, which will be the responsibility of those involved."

Gibbs said the company was disappointed that the drivers were put on probation "as they had no knowledge or involvement" in cheating, but as anyone who has ever signed for a NASCAR license knows, tampering with engines and fuel is taboo. The drivers are guilty by association and must share the crime along with car chiefs Dorian Thorsen and Richard Bray, engine tuners Michael Johnson and Dan Bajek and crew member Toby Bigelow.

Although only Gibbs knows whether this was the first dyno test that the crew rigged the throttle, it will likely be the last. NASCAR's penalties certainly sent a clear message that blatant engine tampering will not be tolerated now or ever.