Roush ponders challenges to penalty

CONCORD, N.C. -- Roush Racing president Geoff Smith said Tuesday that the organization may appeal a NASCAR sanction issued Monday or take legal action in the wake of the decision.

Roush's No. 6 team had pulled to within 87 points of Winston Cup championship leader Tony Stewart after Mark Martin finished second and Stewart 14th at North Carolina Speedway on Sunday.

In a post-race inspection, an unapproved left front spring was found on Martin's car. Monday he was docked 25 driver points, putting him 112 behind Stewart with two races remaining in the season.

Team owner Jack Roush, who fields nine teams in three NASCAR series, was also docked 25 owner points. Crew chief Ben Leslie was fined $5,000.

"We are evaluating all avenues of recourse available to us," Smith said, "including invoking the NASCAR appeals process and have asked our outside counsel to assess our options for recourse against the manufacturer and distributor of the spring."

During series sponsor Winston's weekly media teleconference Tuesday, both Martin and Leslie alleged the spring was put into the car exactly as it came out of the box on the morning of the race, and that it was a standard piece from a NASCAR-approved manufacturer.

Martin's sanction marks the third time that the 25-point penalty was invoked for a spring violation in the Winston Cup Series and is the sixth time points have been deducted from a team since July.

"We quite naturally are upset that we received exactly the same penalty as that imposed on two other teams that altered springs with the expectation of obtaining a performance advantage," Smith said.

Following the short track races at Richmond International Raceway in September and Martinsville Speedway in October, drivers Jeff Green and Ward Burton and their team owners and crew chiefs received 25-point driver and owner point deductions and fines of $5,000 per unapproved spring.

NASCAR cited the springs taken from the cars of Green and Burton for having "coil windings that were not evenly spaced and did not meet the standards set forth in the rulebook."

Both Martin and Leslie declined to offer their spring's manufacturer, but the crew chief said he accepted responsibility for the "unfortunate oversight" of not noticing the spring was not up to specification before it was installed.

"We used a spring manufactured by an approved NASCAR manufacturer exactly as it came to us out of the box," Leslie said. "We are being charged with the same penalty as teams that materially altered springs in order to obtain a performance advantage, which is completely unfair."

"It is significant to note that the spring was not altered in any way by the team," Roush team engineer Bob Osborne said, "and that the deviation was so small as to make absolutely no difference in spring travel or rate -- the two elements of spring performance that the rules were intended to regulate."

The left front spring found on Martin's car had 4 3/8ths coils, not the minimum 4 1/2 coils mandated in the rulebook.

"I feel like we just got the death sentence for shoplifting," Martin said. "Everyone in the garage knows that it was an honest mistake and provided absolutely zero advantage at that track.

"I just feel really bad for the Viagra Racing Team and everyone who has worked so hard. This is a pretty steep penalty for what is essentially a meaningless violation."

The penalty, if unabated, puts Martin in the position of having to come from further behind than anyone has ever been able to do with two races left to win the championship. Stewart only has to average a finish of 11th in his last two races to win the title, no matter what Martin does.