“There obviously was no intent,” said Wilson, senior vice president at TRD, which manufacturers engines for Toyota teams in NASCAR’s premier series. “… It was an oversight. Now, how can this happen? Obviously that’s our biggest concern and what we’re principally focused on today.”

According to the Sprint Cup Series Rule Book, connecting rods must be composed of solid magnetic steel with a minimum weight of 525 grams. Wilson said only one of the vehicle’s eight connecting rods was in question, and it measured 2.7 grams under the minimum weight. Its neighboring rod, he added was more than 4 grams over the minimum.

Wilson said NASCAR mandates the material and minimum weight of a connecting rod, because otherwise engine builders would try to construct them out of a lighter substance such as titanium. If there was an intent to gain a competitive advantage, he added, all the connecting rods would have been lighter, and not just one. Making one rod lighter than the others only unbalances the load on the bearings, and carries a higher risk of failure.

“The notion that you would reduce the weight of one rod, and by 2.3 grams, as an opportunity to enhance your performance is patently absurd. Because what you actually risk is placing an uneven bearing load on the crank shaft. What you strive for is every connecting rod to weigh the same … At 10,000 RPM, if you don’t have a balanced bearing load, you’re going to fail,” Wilson said.

“You’d never do that. If we were going to undertake this, it would absolutely be across all eight cylinders, or you’re running the risk of damaging a main bearing and failing an engine. … There’s zero motivation, zero incentive” to have one rod lighter than the others, he added.

So how did it happen? Like many engine builders, TRD outsources some components from vendors — including connecting rods. TRD has been using the same supplier for connecting rods since the fall of last year, and Wilson said the company is certified at the highest level by the International Organization for Standardization.

Since TRD can’t measure every part that comes to its facility from a vendor, it leans on that ISO certification as a safeguard. “We place a lot of the burden of that qualify control on them,” Wilson said. “Because that’s by definition what they do. What doesn’t correlate here is, how could that supplier have made that mistake? And what is our exposure level?”

Wilson said TRD checked the paperwork for all the engines in Toyota vehicles bound for this weekend’s event at Richmond International Raceway, to ensure none of the connecting rods were suspect. They weren’t. “So at that point we’re characterizing it as a fluke,” he added. “At this point, we’re not making any excuses. And whether it’s a fluke or not, it’s on us.”

How much of a role that might play in Gibbs’ planned appeal to the National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel is yet to be seen. “We are going to support them in whatever manner we can,” Wilson said. “Certainly we think we have a responsibility therein. They’re running the show, though. It’s their appeal. We’re there to hopefully support them, and achieve a good result.”

It’s been a stressful season for TRD, which, despite its success on the race track, has endured some rough weeks early in the year due to valve problems. But Wilson said NASCAR has torn down 10 Toyota engines this season, and did the same to roughly 26 last year, and none of them revealed similar issues with connecting rods. At the end of their long telephone conversation into the wee hours Wednesday morning, Gibbs ensured Wilson there was no plan to change engine manufacturers.

“The last thing he left me with last night was, ‘Hey, we signed up for this partnership, and we are going to get through this together as partners. We have no intention of laying you guys away. We take the good with the bad,’” Wilson said. “You remember last year through the crises with Kyle (Busch), that arguably could have stressed this partnership. But we stood firm behind the team just as we expect they’re going to stand firm behind us. We’ll get through this.”

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Kenseth’s victory at Kansas was his second of the season. As is customary, the race-winning engine was taken to the NASCAR R&D Center for inspection. Although Joe Gibbs Racing engines are provided by Toyota Racing Development, the team is ultimately held responsible for what it brings to the race track. Gibbs Racing said it plans to appeal through the National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel.

According to NASCAR, the No. 20 team’s Kansas engine violated the sections of the 2013 Sprint Cup Series Rule Book that stipulate connecting rods must be made of solid magnetic steel and have a minimum weight of 525 grams. Each of the eight rods in a Sprint Cup engine is weighed with its connecting rod cap and cap fastener.

Joe Gibbs Racing said in a statement that one of the engine’s connecting rods was ruled too light. “We are working with our partners at TRD on this issue,” the team said. “In the meantime, we will plan to appeal the penalty.”

Toyota said in a statement that the connecting rod in question was three grams under the legal minimum weight, and none of the other seven were found to be at fault.

"We take full responsibility for this issue with the engine used by the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) team this past Sunday in Kansas — JGR is not involved in the process of selecting parts or assembling the Cup Series engines," TRD president Lee White said. "It was a simple oversight on TRD’s  part and there was no intent to deceive, or to gain any type of competitive advantage. Toyota is a company that was built on integrity, and that remains one of the guiding principles of the company. The goal of TRD has always been — and will continue to be — to build high-performance engines that are reliable, durable and powerful, and within the guidelines established by NASCAR."

Kenseth stood eighth in the Sprint Cup standings following his victory at Kansas, but the loss of 50 points would drop him to 14th. His Kansas win will also not be credited toward Chase Wild Card eligibility.

NASCAR traditionally takes a very hard line on engines, which by rule cannot exceed 358 cubic inch displacement. One of the most severe penalties ever levied by the sanctioning body involved the engine of driver Carl Long, which was found to be too large during Sprint All-Star Race weekend in 2009. Long’s team was fined $200,000 while the driver was docked 200 points and suspended for 12 weeks, although that number was reduced to eight upon appeal.

Not even potential NASCAR Hall of Fame members are immune from the sport’s stringent engine guidelines. Maurice Petty, engine builder for brother Richard Petty and a nominee for next year’s Hall of Fame class, was fined $35,000 for an engine in the No. 43 car that was found to be too large following the 1983 fall race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. His brother was also docked 104 points.

NASCAR has nullified Chase bonus points before — in 2008, Carl Edwards lost the 10 bonus points he would have garnered under the old scoring system after the cover of his vehicle’s oil reservoir tank was found to be missing in inspection following a victory at Las Vegas. Crew chief Bob Osborne was suspended six races, and the 10 bonus points Edwards would have carried into the Chase were withdrawn.

The penalty to Kenseth’s team comes in the wake of sanctions levied last week against Penske Racing. Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano each lost 25 points, while their respective crew chiefs, car chiefs and race engineers were all suspended six weeks for rear-end housing parts that were confiscated prior to the April 13 race at Texas. Penske is appealing the penalties, and the suspended crewmen have been allowed to work until that appeal is heard Wednesday morning.

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