The car owner said Wednesday he will appeal a 25-point penalty imposed against driver Mark Martin for an illegal suspension spring at Rockingham, N.C. If the National Stock Car Racing Commission agrees the mistake was inadvertent and had no bearing on Martin's second-place finish, he will enter Sunday's Ford 400 only 64 points behind series leader Tony Stewart.

"According to NASCAR rules, penalties for violation of NASCAR rules are determined by the gravity of the situation and its effects on fairness of competition," said Geoff Smith, president of Roush Racing. "Since the spring in question had an inconsequential deviation from the rule-specified length, since its use had absolutely no effect on the fairness of competition and since the penalty imposed was harsher than the intent of its own published standards for the imposition of penalties, we have elected to take advantage of the review process NASCAR has provided to us."

NASCAR rules state springs must have at least 4-inch coils. Martin's spring had 4 3/8-inch coils.

Roush said the spring was provided by a NASCAR-approved vendor and the mistake came in manufacturing.

The sanctioning body imposed similar 25-point penalties against Jeff Green and Ward Burton for illegal springs. In those cases, those springs and been altered.

The commission rarely overturns NASCAR decisions.

In 1990, Martin was penalized 46 points for having an illegal spacer between his carburetor and engine. He wound up losing the championship to Dale Earnhardt by 26 points.

As it stands, Stewart can clinch the championship by finishing no worse than 22nd on Sunday. He also would clinch if Martin finishes worse than 14th.

If the commission agrees with Roush, the scenario will change. Stewart then would clinch with a top-14 finish or a finish out of the top 21 by Martin.

EARNHARDT LAW CHALLENGED: While most major newspapers in Florida have settled their lawsuits over the Earnhardt Family Protection Act, the student-run Florida Alligator has taken its fight to the Florida Supreme Court.

Several newspapers were unhappy with a law that allows viewing of autopsy photographs only with a judge's order. The law was quickly enacted in Florida after the death of racing icon Dale Earnhardt on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.

The Florida Alligator wants autopsy photographs to be available under public record laws, meaning anyone can view them. The newspaper said it's important for the media and watchdog organizations have the ability to review and challenge autopsy results.

The newspaper already lost an appeal with the 5th District Court of Appeals in Daytona Beach. The Florida Supreme Court might hear the case next summer.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. recorded radio commercials for help re-elect Gov. Jeb Bush, saying the governor was instrumental in keeping his father's autopsy photographs private.

PEMBERTON TO MB2: Ryan Pemberton left Jasper Motorsports and driver Dave Blaney to be the crew chief for Jerry Nadeau's car next year.

Ken Schrader and M&Ms are both leaving MB2 at the end of the season. Nadeau will be the new driver, and the U.S. Army will be the sponsor.

With Nadeau settled in at MB2, there are only a few vacancies on the circuit for next year. Schrader and Jimmy Spencer are the favorites to end up at Andy Petree Racing, while Petree's current driver, Bobby Hamilton and Blaney are candidates for the open seat in Chip Ganassi Racing's No. 41 Dodge, a ride currently being held by Spencer.

PIT STOPS: Winston Cup Series teams were told this week they would be limited to five test sessions next year, instead of seven. The reason for the change is to cut costs. ... Jeff Burton and Rusty Wallace have one last chance to finish the season with one victory. Burton has at least one win in his past five seasons; Wallace has a win in each of his past 16. Both are winless this year.

Reach Don Coble at doncoble@bellsouth.net.

--From the Thursday, November 14, 2002 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle