Roush set to appeal Martin points penalty

Martin was docked 25 points after finishing second in Sunday's race at Rockingham, North Carolina when officials found an illegal front spring on his car. The penalty puts Martin 112 points behind leader Tony Stewart with only two rounds remaining.

Roush has responded angrily to the penalty, claiming the spring was a standard issue part. Crew chief Ben Leslie said: "We used a spring manufactured by an approved NASCAR manufacturer exactly as it came to us out of the box. We are being charged with the same penalty as teams that materially altered springs in order to obtain a performance advantage, which is completely unfair."

Team president Geoff Smith said: "We are evaluating all avenues of recourse available to us, including invoking the NASCAR appeals process, and have asked our outside counsel to assess our options for recourse against the manufacturer and distributor of the spring."

Mark Martin added: "I feel like we just got the death sentence for shoplifting. Everyone in the garage knows that it was an honest mistake and provided absolutely zero advantage at that track. I hope the fans understand that and understand that it had nothing to do with the way our car ran on Sunday."