Guys...I appreciate all the advice. The timing belt groove is at the front of the timing belt and has basically shredded appx 1/8 in off the front of the belt. I already had the airbox off too and the seal looks good and the flapper is not restricted. At this point, I'm leaning towards the timing belt having backed off a tooth or two. When the problem happened, I was doing about 35 in 3rd gear and had just let off the gas and dropped into 2nd gear when the backfire occurred.
