Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Martin docked 25 points for violation

Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2002 | 9:58 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

Mark Martin's Winston Cup championship hopes took a hit Monday when NASCAR penalized him 25 points for a rules violation on his No. 6 Ford.

Martin's crew chief, Ben Leslie, and team owner Jack Roush also were penalized for using an unapproved left-front spring in Sunday's race at North Carolina Speedway.

The penalty came after Martin had cut Tony Stewart's championship lead to 87 points with a second-place finish Sunday. Martin now trails Stewart by 112 points with two races remaining.

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

"Anybody in the Winston Cup garage would know that spring meant nothing to the performance of my car."

NASCAR rules require springs have a minimum of 4 1/2 coils and the spring in question on Martin's car had approximately 4 3/8 coils, according to NASCAR.

In addition to Martin's penalty, Roush was penalized 25 car-owner points and Leslie was fined $5,000.

It marked the third time this season NASCAR officials have taken points from a Winston Cup team because of unapproved coil springs.

Martin already has lost one Winston Cup championship as a result of a points penalty. In 1990, Martin was docked 46 points for using an illegal carburetor spacer in a race. Martin lost the championship by 26 points that year to Dale Earnhardt.

Busch, who still has a mathematical chance of winning the title, is 248 points behind Stewart but only 29 points out of third place.

Although the top seven drivers in points have not been mathematically eliminated from the title chase, Stewart only has to finish 11th or better in the final two races to clinch the championship.

Fittipaldi, who is moving to NASCAR with Petty Enterprises next season, will drive the team's No. 44 Dodge in place of the injured Jerry Nadeau in the Checker Auto Parts 500.

The Hispanic Racing Team has decided not to enter Saturday's NASCAR Busch Series race at Phoenix. Instead, the team will enter the car for Guerrero in the Busch Series season finale Nov. 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.