During qualifying in Denver, Jerry Tolliver’s Rock Star Toyota went off the end of the racing surface and ended up on its side in the sand trap. The team replaced the already heavily used and visibly repaired body with a fresh shell for eliminations, and that would have been the end of the story but for what took place the following morning.

Tolliver’s crew left the now even more damaged body on the ground in the pits with no note or written notice of any kind affixed to it. As far as everyone who saw the body is concerned, it had been left for scrap. If, as Tolliver’s people are now suggesting, a shipping company was to pick up the shell and return it to Roush Engineering for repairs, there was no note attached to the remains to that effect. In other words, there was nothing left with the body that would have stopped a track clean-up worker from picking up the remains with a forklift and depositing it in a Dumpster. During qualifying in Denver, Jerry Tolliver’s Rock Star Toyota went off the end of the racing surface and ended up on its side in the sand trap. The team replaced the already heavily used and visibly repaired body with a fresh shell for eliminations, and that would have been the end of the story but for what took place the following morning.

Tolliver’s crew left the now even more damaged body on the ground in the pits with no note or written notice of any kind affixed to it. As far as everyone who saw the body is concerned, it had been left for scrap. If, as Tolliver’s people are now suggesting, a shipping company was to pick up the shell and return it to Roush Engineering for repairs, there was no note attached to the remains to that effect. In other words, there was nothing left with the body that would have stopped a track clean-up worker from picking up the remains with a forklift and depositing it in a Dumpster.

When Warren and Arlene Johnson prepared to leave the track in their motorhome for Seattle they had to physically drag the remains of the Toyota body out of the way before they could exit the facility. After the Johnsons left the crewmen driving the race car rig examined the body and noted that all of the mounting hardware was still there, and could be used for other purposes. They got out their tools and removed some of the mounting hardware and also cut the roof off the body as a souvenir. They then loaded up and left the track.

Tolliver’s people had then reportedly arrived back at the track and saw what had happened. A series of phone calls ensued, with Johnson’s team tracked down while northbound on I-25. They turned around and returned to the track where they returned all of the hardware to Tolliver’s team, and then headed back out to Seattle.

Although Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com has been unable to confirm this, rumor has it that Tolliver’s people – or someone – seeing how severely damaged the Toyota body then was, reportedly cut it up into small pieces and threw it into a Dumpster.

When he was appraised of the situation Warren Johnson reportedly volunteered to pay for the damages, with the result being a face-to-face discussion with Tolliver in the pits at Seattle International Raceway on Friday afternoon. Tolliver began by demanding $60,000 from Johnson, but when it was pointed out to him in no uncertain terms that this was a heavily used and previously damaged body, not something brand new, he lowered his demand to $43,800 and ultimately down to $37,500. Johnson has reportedly refused to pay that amount.

“When we got ready to leave Tolliver’s pit area had been stripped clean,” Johnson told us. “There wasn’t a clutch disc, a floater or anything left on the ground. It was clean. The only thing they left was the body.

“The way I see this is that both parties were wrong. His people should have indicated the body wasn’t being discarded, and my guys shouldn’t have taken the parts off it, but I view this as a salvage situation.”

Johnson figures that, based on the length of time and number of races the Toyota body had been through that it wasn’t worth more than $6,250, but he says he’ll probably agree to paying $9,000, but no more than that.

In the meantime Tolliver has apparently tried to involve both NHRA and General Motors in the situation, with no results. Both parties have reportedly informed Tolliver that this is a dispute between individual racers and does not involve either the sanctioning body or WJ’s sponsors.

Tolliver continues to state that this is a legal issue, and refused to discuss any aspect of it with Torco's CompetitionPlus.com.