Mark Martin remains one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history without a Cup Series championship. The Hall of Famer finished second in the standings five times, but the most agonizing what-if was arguably associated with his first runner-up performance in 1990.
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A post-race inspection at Richmond initiated by rival team owner Richard Childress resulted in a penalty that eventually decided Martin’s championship battle with Dale Earnhardt.
“They fined him $40,000 and 46 points. I mean, that’s like hanging a guy for shoplifting,” former Cup Series driver Benny Parsons said in a Mark Martin documentary released on the NASCAR Classics YouTube channel.
Parsons, who was working as a reporter that day in Richmond, explained why Martin’s 1990 penalty remains so contentious.
He had just won a Cup Series race for the second time in his career, defeating Earnhardt after a late-race caution gave him the chance to make a decisive move on the pit road. Roush Racing manager at the time, Steve Hmiel, has vivid memories of the incident. Martin came out ahead of Earnhardt after taking two tires on the last stop. After that, he was able to pull away and win.
The celebration, alas, was short-lived. After rolling the vehicle into the garage, Martin’s crew lifted the hood and started getting the engine ready for a post-race examination. Childress walked a NASCAR official over to Martin’s car to point out a technical violation, and they discovered a carburetor spacer issue.
The regulation only permitted two inches, yet the spacer measured two and a half inches. Confusion about how NASCAR had applied the regulation earlier in the season was the root of the problem.
Inspectors had permitted teams to weld the intake manifold at the Daytona 500 so that it sat an inch higher. Teams were essentially given a three-inch gap between the manifold and carburetor. Martin’s squad thought they had the same three-inch limit when they got to Richmond. They simply bolted a 2½-inch spacer onto the vehicle rather than welding the manifold to generate the extra room.
Martin didn’t gain a competitive edge from the spacer itself. The team’s failure to produce the additional clearance according to NASCAR’s exact instructions was the real issue. What was more frustrating was the fact that before the race, the car had passed three inspections.
Martin kept the win at Richmond, but the team was fined $40,000, and Martin lost 46 championship points. He didn’t realize how important those points would be at the time. After his next DNF, he finished 14th or better in each of the next 26 races, making him Earnhardt’s main rival in the championship because of his consistency.
About a third of the way through the season, Martin took the points lead and held it for 16 races. However, Earnhardt regained the lead with two races remaining.
Martin finished the season with three wins, 16 top-five finishes, 23 top-10s, and three poles. In the end, though, Earnhardt won the championship by 26 points.
At that point, it was hard to overlook the Richmond penalty. In theory, Martin would have finished 20 points ahead of Earnhardt had it not been for the inspection instigated by Childress for his driver.
For Martin, the mistake initially felt manageable. As he later recalled, it was only the second race of the season. But by November, that half-inch had become one of the biggest what-ifs of his career.