Martin penalized 25 points for coil infraction

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- For the second time in his career, a NASCAR Winston Cup point penalty will affect Mark Martin's hopes for a championship.

	Mark Martin Credit: Autostock

On Monday, NASCAR officials announced that Martin and his car owner Jack Roush were each docked 25 points in the Winston Cup driver and owner standings, respectively; and that crew chief Ben Leslie had been fined $5,000 for an unapproved left front spring that was found in Martin's No. 6 Viagra Ford following Sunday's Pop Secret 400 at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham.

The infraction was discovered in post-race inspection and involved Section 12-4-Q in the NASCAR Winston Cup rule book: "Any determination by NASCAR officials that parts and/or equipment used in the event do not conform to NASCAR rules."

The left front coil spring on Martin's car had approximately 4 3/8 coils. The required minimum number of coils is 4 1/2. A spring with fewer coils would compress more and aid the car's handling.

After he was told of the penalty early Monday afternoon by phone, by NASCAR president Mike Helton, Martin said the infraction didn't make a difference in his car's performance.

"I am disappointed," Martin said. "Anybody in the Winston Cup garage would know that spring meant nothing to the performance of my car.

"I am heartbroken over what the fans will think -- that we were cheating. The sad part is they will think that is why my car ran so good."

Benny Ertel, Martin's business manager, said Leslie had taken the questionable spring off the team's transporter Sunday morning, fresh out of the box and put it on the car. After the spring was questioned in inspection, Ertel said Leslie got another new spring off the truck, took it from its package and it, too, failed to pass.

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This is the third time this season officials have taken points from Winston Cup teams because of unapproved coil springs. Driver Jeff Green and owner Richard Childress were each docked 25 points and crew chief Todd Berrier was fined $5,000 for a single spring after the fall race at Richmond. Driver Ward Burton and owner Bill Davis were each docked 25 points and crew chief Frank Stoddard was fined $10,000 for two bad springs after the fall race at Martinsville.

It is the third time Leslie has been fined this season and the second major penalty. Leslie was fined $50,000 after Martin's winning car was too low in post-race inspection following the Coca-Cola Racing Family 600. He was hit with a $1,000 fine for an unapproved window strap at Talladega in October.

NASCAR began issuing point penalties in July when it decided monetary fines were not making enough of an impact on teams.

Martin was fined 46 driver points in 1990 for an illegal carburetor spacer on his Roush Racing Ford that was discovered after the spring race at Richmond International Raceway. Martin lost the Winston Cup championship that year to Dale Earnhardt by 26 points.

Sunday, Martin finished second to first time Winston Cup winner Johnny Benson and led the most laps in the 34th race of the season; while Stewart struggled to finish 14th while never getting close to the front.

After the race, Martin trailed by 87 points, but his penalty knocks him to 112 points behind Stewart with only two races to go, this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway and Nov. 17 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

With an 87-point gap, Stewart still only had to finish eighth or better in both races to win his first Winston Cup title, no matter what Martin did. With a 112-point edge, his designated finishing position drops to 11th.

Stewart needs to leave Phoenix with a 151-point edge in the standings in order to just have to start the race at Homestead, while a 185-point lead will give him the title over Martin without even going to Homestead.

Up until now, Martin has refused to be much drawn into any discussions about points and the championship. So in that respect, the penalty won't affect the way he approaches the last two races. He said his second-place finish hadn't given him any greater hope going to Phoenix, even before the penalty.

"I've always said that confidence doesn't score the points, the result really does," Martin said Sunday. "We've got to go and put up performances like we did today. If we get lucky, then maybe we don't have to perform as well as today -- but it all comes down to each and every race means the same.

"We've had a lot of good races this year and we've had our share of disappointments and so has everyone else. It's kind of boiling down here (but) I am very pleased with my team, with Ben Leslie and all these guys. They've revived my career."

Martin said he wasn't giving anything away to Stewart over the last two weekends.

"That's one of the reasons why these grandstands are full every week," Martin said. "You don't know -- you just don't know."