Dale Earnhardt and his car owner, Richard Childress, who finished second in the race, protested the result because of the findings of the post-race inspection. NASCAR eventually ruled that Martin and car owner Jack Roush would keep the victory, but would lose 46 points as a result of the infraction. This has spawned many years of speculation that NASCAR was biased toward Earnhardt, the eventual seven-time champion, but given that the race was only the second of the season (27 races still remained), nobody could have foreseen that the penalty would decide the points championship at the conclusion of the season. GM Goodwrench 500 The GM Goodwrench 500 was held on March 4, 1990, at North Carolina Motor Speedway. Kyle Petty won the pole. Top Ten results 42-Kyle Petty 11-Geoff Bodine 25-Ken Schrader -1 94-Sterling Marlin -2 27-Rusty Wallace -2 17-Darrell Waltrip -3 15-Morgan Shepherd -3 57-Jimmy Spencer -3 1-Terry Labonte -3 3-Dale Earnhardt -3 This was Kyle Petty's first pole on his 277th start in the No. 42 Peak Pontiac owned by Felix Sabates and wrenched by crew chief Gary Nelson, later of NASCAR R&D. Petty dominated the race en route to victory, leading 433 of the 492 laps. Petty claimed the Unocal 76 Challenge, which had rolled over 29 times since it had last been won. Petty won a bonus of $228,400 in addition to the race purse, for an all-time NASCAR record (at the time) $284,450 single-race payday. Car owner Felix Sebates presented Petty with a Rolls-Royce as a gift for winning the elusive bonus. Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 The Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 was held on March 18 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Dale Earnhardt won the pole. Top Ten Results 3-Dale Earnhardt 15-Morgan Shepherd 4-Ernie Irvan 25-Ken Schrader 6-Mark Martin 42-Kyle Petty 11-Geoff Bodine 7-Alan Kulwicki -1 33-Harry Gant -1 94-Sterling Marlin -2 Failed to qualify: 14-A. J. Foyt, 46-Greg Sacks, 70-J. D. McDuffie Dale enjoyed his first win since November 1989, which was also at Atlanta. Although he was suffering from an upset stomach, Earnhardt made up a lost lap to score a narrow victory over Morgan Shepherd. The race was virtually caution free as Earnhardt led 216 of 328 laps in recording a track record race average speed of 156.849 mph. Ernie Irvan replaced Phil Parsons in the No. 4 Oldsmobile for Morgan-McClure Motorsports. This began a 3½ year tenure for Irvan in the