Controversies and NASCAR have gone hand-in-hand this season. More interestingly, a majority of it has come because of the penalties imposed during the Phoenix Raceway. With Hendrick Motorsports getting their punishment amended, it divided opinion among the NASCAR community. Most recently, a retired Cup Series driver expressed his unhappiness with how such rulings have been altered.

While NASCAR has tried its best to be consistent with its penalties, the inconsistency in their upholding has been questionable.  No wonder it has infuriated one of the retired Cup Series drivers. In fact, he even went on to use Denny Hamlin’s example to justify his frustration.

NASCAR legend expresses disappointment with the handling of penalties keeping Hendrick Motorsports ruling amendment in mind

At first, Hendrick Motorsports faced a historic punishment of $100,000 in fines and the loss of 100 regular and 10 playoff points for each of their four teams. However, to the surprise of many, the National Motorsports Appeal Panel rescinded the points deduction and only kept the monetary penalty in place.

Recently, former NASCAR driver Mark Martin slammed such decisions as he spoke with Kenny Wallace on the current state of the sport. He started off by pointing out how NASCAR was correct with the Denny Hamlin incident at Pocono in 2022. He said, “I just reflect on Denny Hamlin getting the race taken away over a piece of helicopter tape. I understand I get it, I understand that Nascar has to have type tolerances.”

However, he wasted little time in expressing his displeasure at events like the HMS penalty amendment. Martin said, “I understand where we are today don’t make me like it. I think that you know these penalties have to be done. I don’t like seeing appeals being overturned or lightened up.”

Further, he gave the reference to his own experience with penalties to justify his point. He said, “They didn’t [overturn] on mine, my most critical one, you know they should have but they didn’t. Back in the day when they made a decision, that was a decision, now it’s more complicated.”

So what personal event was Martin really hinting at here? For those unaware, the 64-year-old is popularly considered the “best driver to never win a championship”. In his stellar career, he finished second five times in the NASCAR Cup Series.

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However, things would have been different had he not been penalized at Richmond Raceway in 1990.

NASCAR’s penalty saw Mark Martin lose his Cup Series title to Dale Earnhardt following the incident at Richmond

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In 1990, NASCAR’s rule allowed a two-inch gap between the carburetor and the manifold. However, since the Daytona 500 that year in February, inspectors were allowing teams to weld the manifold an inch higher. This was done to maintain the said gap between the carburetor and the manifold, which in total allowed a space of three inches.

With this in mind, Mark Martin’s Roush Racing team went about their business with the same philosophy at Richmond. So, instead of welding the manifold, they bolted a two-and-a-half-inch spacer. While it did not influence the functioning of the car, NASCAR deemed it illegal.

Interestingly, this happened post-race after the car had cleared three pre-race inspections. Without a doubt, the timing of the ruling was questionable.  Furthermore, Martin received a deduction of 46 points as a punishment because of this. This saw him lose the championship title to Dale Earnhardt by 26 points.

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While NASCAR’s decision was debatable, it ultimately resulted in a heavy loss for Martin. No wonder why the former Joe Gibbs Racing driver is unhappy with the rescinding penalties recently.