Ah-ha! A good mystery developing at Sonoma.....

  NASCAR and Sunoco keep close tabs over racing gasoline throughout each Sprint Cup weekend. So what might have gone wrong at Sonoma's Infineon Raceway Friday morning? And why won't anyone talk about it? (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   (Developing/Updating)

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   SONOMA, Calif.
   Ah, nothing like a good mystery to make the day in the NASCAR garage.
   And that's what we had here Friday:
   Jeff Gordon's car, for some reason no one really wanted to explain, wound up with a tank of gasoline that wasn't the right stuff, when it was filled up at the Sunoco gas pumps Friday morning.
   Sunoco officials said they couldn't discuss the situation and referred questions to NASCAR officials
   NASCAR officials said they were studying the situation and didn't have anything to say just yet. "We'll know more after qualifying," NASCAR's Robin Pemberton said.
   Doug Duchardt, one of the top bosses at the Gordon-Rick Hendrick operation, likewise said he couldn't say much about the situation either.
   Chevrolet officials also declined to comment.

   Rival team owner Richard Childress said he'd leave the situation up to NASCAR: "They're the policemen here."
   Gordon himself dismissed it all, though without many specifics:
   "The craziest thing happened. We sent all of our jugs (gas cans) down there to get filled up, and they came back, and they were putting them in after we made a couple runs, and it was different color.  It was clear. 
    "We immediately started pumping it out and called NASCAR over to have them try to figure out what happened. 
    "I guess on the pumps you can get a different selection of fuel. So I think the wrong button was pushed.
    "None of our guys seem to be too concerned.  As far as I know they seem to be okay. The car ran fine after that. 
    "We feel we've got it all pumped out and made a few laps."
   A look at the three fuels available at the garage gas station shows two leaded fuels, one 114 octane, one 116 octane, and a third labeled 'unleaded' read "GTX260" at 98 octane. NASCAR teams are to be using the unleaded fuel.
   It would appear – and this is what some rivals were told – that a gas pumper inadvertently put some of the 'leaded' fuel in Gordon's car. The issue was apparently noted when the see-through fuel lines didn't show the blue-dye that NASCAR's official fuel carries, that it was instead clear. If there were other cars that also got the wrong fuel, it was unclear. But teams were told later to make sure the fuelers put the right fuel in their cars.
   There was some question that the 'wrong' fuel in Gordon's car might have been some new E-15 racing fuel, which is being tested for possible use next season in NASCAR.
   Duchardt said the fuel in question was not related to any fuel the team might have used in any recent testing: "We went to the pumps (Friday morning) and got the fuel.
  "It wasn't the color we were used to. But I don't know if the contents of the fuel were incorrect or not.
  "I haven't been in the middle of it with NASCAR so I don't know the specifics. They tested the fuel; they have the results."
  Childress: "I heard it (the fuel in Gordon's car) had some discoloration. It could have come from somewhere they were testing the car; they might not have gotten all of that (other fuel) out of the car. That would be easy to do."
   Gordon recently tested at Watkins Glen. Whether or not he might have tested with E-15 racing fuel is unclear. NASCAR teams have been testing with E-15 for some time, to help NASCAR with the planned changeover.
    Gasoline hasn't been an issue in NASCAR for years. A while back the underground tanks at Atlanta Motor Speedway apparently leaked, and some race cars got filled with water-laced gasoline.
   One fuel issue NASCAR engine builders have been talking about is the planned switch next season to an E-15 gasoline, with 15 percent ethanol. However, it appears that Sunoco might have to have an outside vendor provide that E-15 racing fuel. Some worry that the at-track fuel distribution of E-15 could present problems, because of ethanol-gasoline's propensity to absorb moisture, which can dramatically reduce octane.

  

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  Jeff Gordon: wrong gasoline? What happened? (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)