Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 15, 1993 TAG: 9308150046
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BROOKLYN, MICH. LENGTH: Medium
Martin, driving a Ford Thunderbird, picked up his third Grand National victory of the season and 10th of his career as he held off a late challenge from fellow NASCAR Winston Cup star Dale Earnhardt to win by 0.88 seconds.
After the race, NASCAR technical inspectors found Earnhardt's team had used an illegal carburetor and dropped him from second to last place in the 41-car field, with everyone else moving up one spot.
Chip Williams, a NASCAR spokesman, said the carburetor's metering blocks, which measure fuel feed, had four holes drilled in them.
Earnhardt said, "I only run 12 [Grand National] races a year as a hobby and to fulfill an obligation to my sponsor Goodwrench, so we don't have the facilities, the capabilities, the time or the money to build our own stuff. So we buy it in good faith and we put it in our cars.
"I assure you, absolutely no one on this team knew about this until NASCAR showed it to us after the race."
The penalty cost Earnhardt's team about $7,000 of the $9,300 that second-place was worth.
Last fall at Rockingham, N.C., Martin was fined $5,000 for a similar infraction after winning a Grand National race. He was allowed to keep the victory. Williams said that there was no specific rule to cover the infraction at that time, but that one has since been written into the rule book.
The disqualification gave second place to Grand National regular Robert Pressley, followed by Winston Cup star Terry Labonte.
Steve Grissom finished fourth and regained the Grand National point lead by 47 over David Green, who finished 18th. Grissom came in trailing Green by just four points.
Martin averaged 124.611 mph as he picked up the winner's share of $26,900.
The race had several crashes, with the most spectacular coming on the second lap when Johnny Benson Jr., driving in his first Grand National race, slid backwards through the infield grass on the backstretch and soared high into the air. When the car came down, it dug into the grass, did a half-spin and then barrel-rolled five times. Benson escaped injury. No drivers were hurt.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB