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Martin's appeal to be heard Saturday

The appeal of a NASCAR penalty that hurt Mark Martin's bid for his first Winston Cup championship will be heard Saturday.

The 43-year-old driver is 89 points behind leader Tony Stewart entering the season-ending race Sunday in Homestead. Martin could be 25 points closer had he not been penalized for using an unapproved spring during the race Oct. 27 in Rockingham, N.C.

Stewart can clinch his first title by finishing 22nd, should Martin win the race and lead the most laps. But a restoration of 25 points would force Stewart to finish 13th if Martin has his best possible result.

George Silbermann, chairman of the three-member National Auto Racing Commission, and two commissioners he will appoint will hear the appeal at Miami-Homestead Speedway and announce a decision before Sunday's Ford 400.

"I just wish we weren't having to go through this," Martin said. "My hope is something wonderful will happen for us at Homestead. If it doesn't, it doesn't."

If the penalty stands, Martin said he just hopes it won't affect the outcome of the title race.

"I'm not bitter," he said. "It doesn't bother me unless it falls into that area where the 25 points would make a difference in the championship."

Roush Racing president Geoff Smith said Wednesday it was decided to appeal because the spring had an "inconsequential deviation" that had "absolutely no effect on the fairness of competition." He called the 25-point penalty a "draconian remedy."'

After the race, the spring was found to have one less coil than allowed. The Roush team said it came out of the box from the manufacturer and was put on the car in good faith.

Smith said the Roush team did a complete inventory of its springs and found one, still in its box, identical to the one used on the car at North Carolina Speedway. He added several others were found to be "marginal."

If Martin and Roush lose Saturday's appeal, they still could argue their case before National Stock Car Racing commissioner Charles Strang, the final appellate authority in NASCAR.

Mishap scares Martin

CONCORD, N.C. -- Martin's plane blew two tires as it attempted to take off from an Arizona airport, leaving the driver scared but relieved he was unhurt.

Martin's twin-engine Cessna Citation blew one of its front tires as it was about to leave the runway Sunday night in Goodyear, Ariz., he said Wednesday. Then the plane skidded, causing the other front tire to blow out.

"We stopped about halfway down the runway with two flat tires right on the edge of the runway," said Martin, whose father was killed four years ago in a plane crash. "It was a scary ride."

Martin, pilot Jason Simpson and business manager Benny Ertel were on the plane.

It was the third aircraft mishap involving NASCAR competitors in the past two weeks.

A plane carrying crewmen from Petty Enterprises also blew a tire on takeoff after a test in Phoenix. The plane of points leader Tony Stewart hit a deer while landing to refuel at a rural Texas airport on the way to Phoenix.

There were no injuries in any of the accidents.

FELLOWS MOVING UP: Ron Fellows will attempt to add to his road-racing credentials when he drives twice next season in NASCAR for Dale Earnhardt Inc.

The 43-year-old driver from Toronto, a class winner of the world's most prestigious endurance races, the 24-hour events in Le Mans and Daytona, will drive in the Winston Cup races on the road courses in Watkins Glen, N.Y., and Sonoma, Calif.

Fellows is a five-time winner of NASCAR events at Watkins Glen International, with three wins in the Busch series and two on the Craftsman Truck circuit.

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