Pontiac Excitement 400
The Pontiac Excitement 400 was held at Richmond International Raceway. Ricky Rudd won the pole. Mark Martin won the race, only to lose 46 championship points after NASCAR officials discovered a somewhat oversized carburetor spacer plate in his car. This is widely considered to be the key factor in determining the 1990 championship. This also may be the coldest race in NASCAR history. The temperature was in the mid-20's with winds gusting to 41 MPH generating a wind chill of about 5 degrees.
Top Ten Results
- 6-Mark Martin
- 3-Dale Earnhardt
- 5-Ricky Rudd
- 9-Bill Elliott
- 66-Dick Trickle
- 27-Rusty Wallace
- 15-Morgan Shepherd
- 26-Brett Bodine
- 57-Jimmy Spencer
- 25-Ken Schrader
Failed to qualify: 70-J.D. McDuffie, 53-Jerry O'Neil
- It was admitted later that the spacer plate was actually not oversized and not technically illegal. The part was bolted on instead of welded on, thus landing in the "gray area" of NASCAR rules. Dale Earnhardt and his car owner, Richard Childress (being the closest team competitor of Mark Martin at the time) complained to NASCAR and got them to penalize Mark Martin and owner Jack Roush. This has spawned many years of speculation that NASCAR was biased toward the 7-time champion.
Read more about this topic: 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Famous quotes containing the word excitement:
“One of the joys our technological civilisation has lost is the excitement with which seasonal flowers and fruits were welcomed; the first daffodil, strawberry or cherry are now things of the past, along with their precious moment of arrival. Even the tangerine—now a satsuma or clementine—appears de-pipped months before Christmas.”
—Derek Jarman (b. 1942)