Illegal Fuel Additive Chief Hired to Pump New Life Into BDR

Now that NASCAR has lifted the indefinite suspension of David Hyder, team owner Bill Davis has no qualms about picking up the crew chief who was in charge during Michael Waltrip Racing's "Intake Gate":

"My opinion is he served his time with NASCAR, and they've reinstated him and that's all I need. I certainly don't think I'll ever know what happened in Daytona, nobody does. But the penalty was assessed and he's served it. He deserves the opportunity to go back and work."

Davis told the AP that he's been trying to bring Hyder on for years but didn't have the right position. Now he does. Next week, Hyder starts his new gig as crew chief for Jeremy Mayfield, who has qualified for only four races this season. Davis hopes that Hyder can pump some ~~illegal fuel~~ energy into the struggling #36 team:

"I've been everything you can think of -- sad, mad, angry, frustrated -- anything you can call it or everything you can call it. We just didn't expect to struggle with that deal."

By "that deal," I assume Davis means being far outside the top 35 in owner points and failing to qualify for races.

It's that time of year ... almost a third of the way through the season, halfway through the race to the chase ... time for teams to assess where they're at. During this phase, crew changes tend to come before driver changes--Dale Jarrett and Greg Biffle are also trying new ones on. Something better click pretty quick for this #36 team or Mayfield himself is likely to be the subject of the team's next silly season headline.