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What had been a quiet news week for the Sprint Cup Series is turning into a clamor. Jack Roush, a vehement opposing figure to Toyota’s being in NASCAR, is accusing a certain Toyota team of possessing a “proprietary” part that belongs to his team.

“We had a proprietary Roush-Fenway part go missing from one of my race teams, and we recovered it from a Toyota team. I’m not going to say which team it is, but we are considering legal action, or getting NASCAR involved,” said Roush, addressing the media earlier this week. There are rumors circulating that Michael Waltrip Racing was the team found with the Roush-Fenway part.

MWR has had controversies before of its own before. After Daytona qualifying in 2007, NASCAR officials found an unknown substance in the engine of the #55 NAPA car, leading to heavy fines and suspensions.

“I don’t understand the whole procedure when a tear down happens,” said Toyota Racing President and CEO Jim Aust of NASCAR’s post-race inspection process, where the part was found. “The only thing I know is it wound up with parts we had and [which were] returned to Roush. It’s unfortunate it happened the way it did. It wasn’t anything intentional. There’s no reason to be done intentional. I have no idea how it happened to begin with.”

Aust says that the questioned part is a spring, a claim that Roush-Fenway President Geoff Smith denies. Smith would not comment on what kind of part the confiscated piece is.

This, of course, is not Roush’s first brush with the Japanese automaker. Just prior to the 2007 NASCAR season, Roush essentially declared war on the automaker, taking offense to certain tactics Toyota was employing when entering the sport.

At Atlanta Motor Speedway earlier this month, Roush took another opportunity to blast Toyota, while explaining away his own NASCAR rules offense. He said that he had evidence that Toyota tested some of their cars and parts in German wind tunnels, so NASCAR could not sanction the test. He also wondered aloud why Toyota knew that his own rules offense created an aerodynamic advantage, implying that they were cheaters for testing illegal parts and procedures.

A similar situation to this occurred in Formula One last season. A top F1 team, MacLaren, was found to be in possession of opponents’ parts and technologies, leading to multi-million dollar fines and other punishments by the sport.

With Roush possibly seeking punishment against Toyota, expect this situation to get even uglier.

Crew Chief Silly Season Shuffle

The five-race mark seems to be a watershed moment in the sport, as the top-35 standings are set and the teams have been at an enough of an array of tracks to be able to size up their performance. When performance is sub-par, crew chiefs are usually the first to move.

Michael Waltrip Racing decided to move #55 NAPA crew chief Paul Andrews to a managerial role over its test teams. Replacing him is Bobby Kennedy, who had an MWR managerial role, until being suspended in the Daytona “jet fuel” scandal at the beginning of ’07.

All three MWR teams are inside the top-35 in points, the first time any of them have been there.

Another struggling team, the Hall of Fame Racing #96 Texas Instruments Toyota and driver J.J. Yeley, has decided to replace current chief Brandon Thomas with former Sterling Marlin crew chief, Steven Boyer.

Outside the top-35, Wood Brothers crew chief Gene Nead has parted ways with the #21 team. The team is 44th in the owner’s points, having only made one race this year. Nead joins the #22 Caterpillar Bill Davis Racing team and driver Dave Blaney as an engineer.

At BDR, the ceasing of operations of the #27 team has prompted crew chief Slugger Labbe to leave the team. He was rumored to be heading to Hall of Fame Racing, before Boyer became crew chief there.

In the Nationwide Series, Walter Giles has left the #59 JTG Motorsports Kingsford Charcoal Ford and driver Marcose Ambrose. Former Todd Bodine crew chief Gary Cogswell assumes the helm of the team. Ambrose sits 16th in the points standings, with no top-10 finishes.

There is good sponsorship news…for once

The #49 BAM Racing Sprint Cup team has struggled through its whole existence, mostly due to a lack of funding. The team announced a new sponsor, a new alliance, and a new manufacturer this week.

Microsoft Small Business Specialist Community will sponsor the car and driver Ken Schrader for the rest of the season, with the team switching to Toyota and forming an alliance with Bill Davis Racing. Both BDR and BAM’s teams are outside the top-35 in points.

In the Nationwide Series, driver Jason Kendall, the series all-time leader in starts, has been bouncing around from ride to ride the past few seasons. Last year, he began driving the #11 CJM Racing Chevrolet last season, with up and down results.

The under-funded team has been without sponsorship for most of its races and was threatening to run only a partial schedule in 2008. Fortunately for Kendall and the team, America’s Incredible Pizza Company sponsored the car at Atlanta Motor Speedway and at Nashville. The company is in talks with the team about a deal to be the sponsor for the rest of 2008.

23 year-old Michael McDowell takes the reins of the #00 MWR Toyota this weekend at Martinsville, for his Sprint Cup Series debut. He breathed sighs of relief as the team secured a top-35 spot in the owners’ standings through the first five races, but has to be worrying about the team’s sponsorship situation.

Aaron’s sponsors MWR’s Nationwide team and has sponsored the #00 Cup team through the first five races and will for the next five races. After that, the team has no sponsor secured for the remaining 2008 races.

Torch-passing for Trucks at Martinsville

Drivers Mike Wallace and Rick Crawford have to be proud. Their children, Chrissy Wallace and Adam Crawford, each make their NCTS debuts at Martinsville this weekend. Both drivers tested well in the Truck test session a couple of weeks ago.

Chrissy Wallace will pilot the #03 Toyota Tundra, with her dad spotting for her and Mike Abner as crew chief. She was 11th in the Martinsville test.

Adam Crawford tested and will drive a third truck for Circle Bar Racing.

Georgia’s Billy Ballew Motorsports has two good Martinsville partners

2008 has been a great year for Blue Ridge’s Billy Ballew Motorsports. Kyle Busch is leading the standings, after driving the team’s #51 Toyotas. His Sprint Cup Series teammate Denny Hamlin will drive the truck at Martinsville, with sponsorship from Miccosukee Indian Gaming serving as the sponsor. Speaking of Miccosukee…

Phoenix Racing searches for new driver

After releasing Johnny Sauter, Phoenix Racing placed Sterling Marlin in the #1 Miccosukee Chevy. Marlin only wants to run a limited schedule, so the team is looking for a driver to run the remaining 2008 schedule. Mike Bliss is rumored to be a leading candidate for the ride, though he is running very competitively in the Fitz Motorsports #22 Supercuts Dodge. The Fitz team sits well within the top-10 in the standings.

Nationwide teams test at Richmond

Most Nationwide teams took advantage of the Series’ only short track test of the season this past week, at Richmond. Drivers leading the four sessions (two days and two nights) were Mike Wallace and Carl Edwards on Day 1 and Bobby Hamilton Jr. and Brad Keselowski on Day 2. Driver Kertus Davis and the #01 team was the slowest in three of the four sessions. The NNS races at Richmond May 2nd. Unadilla’s David Ragan was fast in both Day 1 sessions. He and Edwards’ Roush-Fenway teams skipped Day 2.

Not-so good sponsorship news

Robby Gordon has gained a lot in both marketing and engineering from Gillette-Evernham Motorsports this season. Besides his normal sponsorships, he has been able to run the colors of Valvoline and Charter Communications in races that he has been without a primary sponsor. One sponsor he has been displaying wants no part of the team, however.

Vanguard Integrity Professionals, a software company who was supposed to sponsor Gordon’s Dakar Rally team, before the race’s cancellation, is demanding its logos be removed from all team equipment. It is suing Robby Gordon Motorsports for the $1.5 million in sponsorship money it is owed from not being in the canceled race. Vanguard also requested a temporary restraining order against Gordon, to keep him from using the logos. A court denied that motion.

Gordon claims that the team cannot terminate the contract.

Teams still without full-sponsorship for the season are these: #40 Dario Franchitti, #00 Michael McDowell, #27 (shut down), #4 (shut down), #10 Patrick Carpentier, #08 E&M Motorsports, and #01 Regan Smith.

For live coverage of all three series at Martinsville and throughout the season, tune in to the Bellamy Strickland 120 with Captain Herb Emory and myself, Saturday from 2-4 p.m., on News/Talk 750 WSB.