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Top 2 teams earn warnings from NASCAR

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By JENNA FRYER The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 3, 2009

KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson used a pair of wins to race their way to the top of the Sprint Cup standings.

Fair and square. No cheating involved.

Even so, tongues were wagging Friday at Kansas Speedway after NASCAR warned the two Hendrick Motorsports teams they came awfully close to failing post-race inspection last week at Dover.

"There was no room to breathe," Sprint Cup director John Darby said. "Both cars passed inspection, or we would be having a whole different conversation with this."

Johnson led Martin to a 1-2 finish on Sunday, and their Chevrolets were taken back to NASCAR's research and development center in North Carolina for further inspection. Johnson's car was taken as the race winner, while Martin's represented the random selection.

During the inspection, NASCAR found that the body of the cars came very close to exceeding allowed specifications. Hendrick officials were called in the next day to go over the measurements and NASCAR let the teams go with a warning:

"Don't put it so close that your head's in the guillotine and somebody is holding a lighter on the rope," Darby said.

Martin won his career-best seventh pole of the season Friday, while Johnson qualified 11th for Sunday's race.

But the two Hendrick Motorsports teams are on the defense at Kansas, where rival teams openly wondered if Martin and Johnson were given an unfair pass by NASCAR so their championship chances would not be disrupted. Martin, winner of the Chase opener at New Hampshire, holds a 10-point advantage in the standings over Johnson, the three-time defending champion.

"If we were cheating, I wouldn't be standing here today, I'd be back in Charlotte," said Johnson crew chief Chad Knaus. "The cars were legal. That's the thing everybody has to understand. It's turned into a bigger issue than what it really should."

Martin crew chief Alan Gustafson argued that as a five-time winner this season, his cars have been scrutinized more than anybody else in the series. Gustafson said the No. 5 has gone back to the R&D center after all five of its wins, and again last week.

"That's our sixth car through there this season, so it's not like they don't know what our stuff looks like," Gustafson said. "So how can you say that? My car has been over there more times than anyone else in the series. There's some teams in the top 10 who have not won, so I am not sure they have ever been through the process."

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