The battle for the 1990 NASCAR Cup Series championship resulted in one of the closest finishes in NASCAR’s history and one in which the outcome was not effectively decided until the season’s next-to-last race.
However, had a series of unusual circumstances not taken place, the championship outcome could have been even closer – and with a different winner.
Dale Earnhardt and Mark Martin were locked in a season-long duel that saw neither driver take a sizable advantage over the other.
Ultimately, it was Earnhardt’s dominating victory in the Checker 500 on Nov. 4 at Phoenix Raceway that made the difference. Had he not won that race, Martin’s chances to win a career-first championship would have improved considerably.
In addition to Earnhardt’s victory at Phoenix, Martin was earlier victimized by the aforementioned unusual circumstances.
They happened at the second race of the season, the Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond Raceway.
Competing in his third season for team owner Jack Roush, Martin shot out of the pits first and held the lead for the final 16 laps to beat Earnhardt to the checkered flag.
But during a lengthy post-race inspection conducted on Martin’s No. 6 Ford, it became clear something was amiss.
Afterward, Cup Director Dick Beaty announced that the Roush team would be fined a whopping $40,000 and be stripped of 46 points.
Beaty explained that the carburetor on Martin’s Ford was mounted on the engine’s intake manifold with an aluminum block spacer that was a half-inch thicker than the two inches allowed.
Many media members – and fans – wondered how a half-inch difference in an aluminum block spacer could be the type of infraction that commanded such a high penalty.
The Roush team had the same response.
“It’s a dumb rule,” said Roush Team Manager Steve Hmiel. “NASCAR lowered the ground clearance and we had to raise the carburetor by the same length to maintain proper air flow.
“We got slammed for something that’s in the gray area, if that.”
The removal of 46 points was the difference between first and 10th place, the position of the last car on the lead lap.
Remember those lost points.
Despite the Richmond debacle, Martin was the points leader going into the final four races of the year, at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Rockingham Speedway, Phoenix and Atlanta Motor Speedway.
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