Penalty puts Martin on the back foot.

Mark Martin firmly believed he had closed to within 100 points of Winston Cup points leader Tony Stewart after finishing second in last Sunday's Pop Secret 400. That was until NASCAR said otherwise.

The chase for the 2002 Winston Cup title, so long a multi-sided battle, has effectively narrowed to just two contenders and following post-race scrutineering on Sunday at the North Carolina Speedway, one-eighth of an inch has now put the ball firmly in Tony Stewart's court.

One-eighth of an inch was the amount found to be lacking from the left front spring of Mark Marin's #6 Viagra Roush Racing Ford Taurus following Sunday's 393-lap race. As a result NASCAR imposed a 25-point penalty to both Martin and the #6 team to leave them 111 points behind Stewart with just two races remaining. After watching Stewart finish 14th at Rockingham, Martin's previous 87-point deficit seemed far more manageable than anything over 100 at this late stage.

Although NASCAR has imposed similar penalties for similar infractions to other teams already this year, team boss Roush was irate at the decision and may even consider appealing the penalty.

Martin meanwhile took NASCAR's decision on the chin and, while speaking on the NASCAR Today program he said that no matter the outcome of the Championship, he was happy with the performance of his team this year.

"I'm very pleased with my team and (crew-chief) Ben Leslie," he said. "I feel they've revitalised my career."

Martin came in to 2002 on the back of one of his worst seasons ever in the Winston Cup. However in the 'Year of the Young Gun,' Martin and the entire #6 Roush team have fought back resiliently and Martin is now on course for at least a runners-up spot in the Winston Cup standings.