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A statement from NASCAR said the discrepancy to the car was sizeable enough that "it could not be repaired at the racetrack in a timely and effective manner, necessitating that it be confiscated."
A Hendrick Motorsports spokesperson said the improper dimension was the same "x-measurement" that Tony Stewart's Chevrolet failed earlier this season at Texas Motor Speedway, when his car was also confiscated.
The measurement is done from the base of the car's back window diagonally to the back corner of the rear fender.
Hendrick Motorsports only brought one car for Busch and decided the effort to switch decals, seats and all the ancillary equipment necessary from another of Hendrick Motorsports' backup cars was not warranted simply to give Kyle Busch some seat time, Hendrick spokesman Chris Haid said.
Stewart's Joe Gibbs Racing team had its car's chassis returned in early June, sans the bodywork.
After some concerns from drivers about "finding their marks" while navigating the new pavement in the turns of Homestead-Miami Speedway, it was still being determined Thursday evening if NASCAR would require the speedway to paint lines on the surface.
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After three days of driving the track's jet-black new pavement in the redesigned 20-degree banked turns of the 1.5-mile oval, NASCAR competitors thought the facility needed one more tweak.
"There aren't a lot of markings out there to go by," Dale Jarrett said. "There's nothing on the wall and nothing on the racetrack, so that makes it a little bit more difficult to be precise each and every lap.
"You've got the seams to go by, but we probably need some hash marks there or something, and then if we could just get some lines on the wall to where you've got an idea where you're at, that would help a little bit."
"I would agree to that," Ricky Rudd said of Jarrett's idea for some type of line. "They need to put a bright white stripe around the bottom -- even if they just came around and put a couple of dots on the racetrack, at least until you get to the center of the corner."
Track president Curtis Gray said Thursday afternoon that NASCAR officials had called a meeting for the evening following the first official day of practice and qualifying, and the determination would be made at that point.
Craftsman Truck Series championship leader Brendan Gaughan was on his third engine of the week by the time that series Happy Hour was held at the end of the day, Thursday.
But that didn't keep the Orleans Dodge driver from leading the session with a lap of 170.234 mph -- the second fastest truck lap of the day. Bobby Hamilton, who won the Bud Pole and had the fastest lap of the day in the opening truck practice, was second quickest in Happy Hour in his Square D Dodge.
The other championship challengers were looking for speed in Happy Hour. Travis Kvapil was sixth, Dennis Setzer was ninth and Ted Musgrave was 12th.
Due to the engine change, however, Gaughan will have to drop from his 13th starting spot back to the rear of the 36-truck lineup for Friday's Ford 200.
Sources said Thursday that Chevrolet would announce a three-pronged support program Friday morning at Homestead that would include drivers Matt Crafton, Dennis Setzer and Jack Sprague. Later in the morning, Toyota is expected to announce its teams and driver lineups for its four-team Truck Series lineup for 2004.
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