Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson used two wins to race their way to the top of the Sprint Cup standings.

Fair and square. No cheating involved.

Even so, tongues have been wagging this week at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., after NASCAR warned the two Hendrick Motorsports teams they came awfully close to failing post-race inspection a week ago at Dover, Del.

"There was no room to breathe," Sprint Cup director John Darby said. "Both cars passed inspection, or we would be having a whole different conversation with this."

Johnson led Martin to a 1-2 finish last week, and their Chevrolets were taken back to NASCAR's research and development center in North Carolina for further inspection. Johnson's car was taken as the race winner, while Martin's represented the random selection.

During the inspection, NASCAR found that the body of the cars came very close to exceeding allowed specifications. Hendrick officials were called in the next day to go over the measurements and NASCAR let the teams go with a warning:

"Don't put it so close that your head's in the guillotine and somebody is holding a lighter on the rope," Darby said.

Martin won his career-best seventh pole of the season Friday, while Johnson qualified 11th for the race today.

But the two Hendrick Motorsports teams are on the defense at Kansas, where rival teams openly wondered if Martin and Johnson were given an unfair pass by NASCAR so their championship chances would not be disrupted. Martin, winner of the Chase opener at New Hampshire, holds a 10-point advantage in the standings over Johnson, the three-time defending champion.

"If we were cheating, I wouldn't be standing here today, I'd be back in Charlotte," said Johnson crew chief Chad Knaus. "The cars were legal. That's the thing everybody has to understand. It's turned into a bigger issue than what it really should."

Martin crew chief Alan Gustafson argued that as a five-time winner this season, his cars have been scrutinized more than anybody else in the series. Gustafson said the No. 5 has gone back to the R&D center after all five of its wins, and again last week.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel earned the pole position for the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix today in Suzuka. Toyota's Jarno Trulli will start from second in the race today, with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Force India's Adrian Sutil on the second row.

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