Will another cheating scandal overshadow Daytona 500?

By MARK LONG AP Sports Writer

Published: February 9, 2008

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Cheating was one of the biggest story lines at Daytona International Speedway the last two years.
From Chad Knaus to Michael Waltrip, Jack Roush and Ray Evernham, NASCAR officials proved they were serious about cracking down on anyone caught breaking - some would even say bending - the rules going into the season-opening Daytona 500.
Will it make a difference this time around?
“Any time you have a machine with this many parts and pieces on it, and each and every one of them produces an opportunity to have an advantage over your competition, we’re going to push a little harder than we should,” driver Jeff Burton said. “We’ll still see penalties, but I don’t think we’ll see as many as we’ve seen.”
NASCAR officials hope not. They would prefer the focus of the sport’s premier event remain on racing - for a change.
The cheating crackdown began in 2006, when Jimmie Johnson’s crew chief, Knaus, was thrown out of Daytona and suspended four races after officials found illegal modifications following qualifying.
NASCAR came down even harder on Waltrip, Roush and Evernham last year, docking points, handing down record fines and suspending crew chiefs and a competition director. In all, five teams were caught cheating during preparations for the season-opening 500.
“I never will forget a year ago this Sunday when I woke up and I was so proud of our cars because we had had a pretty decent day in Saturday’s practice and we were poised to go try to make our first Daytona 500,” Waltrip said. “And then I never will forget getting that phone call saying that we had something in our gas tank. I said, ‘There must be a mistake. There must be a reason.’
“Everyday that went by, it would become clear that there was a reason why this happened and we did not deliberately do it. All that was very, very trying. That was a low point.”
NASCAR hopes to avoid another one this year, especially with the 50th running of the Daytona 500.
Pole qualifying begins Sunday. Will penalties follow?
“I think we’ll see less of them, but I think we’ll see them,” Burton said. “I think people are more keen to the way the rules are going to be enforced, to how strict the enforcement of templates are. NASCAR made it really clear to everyone last year that this is how we’re going to do things - no ifs, ands or buts.
“It was different than the way we were doing it, but this is how we’re going to do it.”