Last Lap: Cheaters never win -- or do they?

You had to know this was coming...

Last Thursday, after I stated that Winston Cup teams knowingly cheat to gain an advantage, my email was inundated with hate mail.

In the days since, I think I've discovered to whom Tim McGraw sings "Angry All The Time."

I digress.

Your frustration was directed in three main areas. First and foremost on the list are the powers-that-be in Daytona Beach, their decision-making process and how it fails to benefit the fan.

Second, my assertion was that Chad Knaus received proper punishment for attempting to use illegal tactics in consecutive weeks at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Many of you feel as if cheating is just plain cheating, and drastic measures should be taken to eliminate it from the Winston Cup landscape.

In other words, hit 'em where it hurts - and I don't mean in the pocket, either.

Take points away, you say, regardless the infraction. I don't agree in the least. In my mind, spraying coolant near the fuel cell to be quicker in qualifying - when you're the only car on the racetrack - and compromising a part at a superspeedway where you drive three-wide at 190 mph isn't even comparable.

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Most of you cussed in rage at my explanation for why NASCAR would take points from Rusty Wallace for a pre-race infraction and not Johnson.

My reasoning was that Wallace's illegal spoiler was installed at a superspeedway.

Hoards of you screamed "a track is a track, idiot, and Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet unfailingly receive preferential treatment from NASCAR."

	Chad Knaus Credit: Autostock

Well guess what, the sanctioning body took points from Johnson last season when Knaus used offset bolts at -- you guessed it -- Daytona. Matter of fact, the 48 crew was the first outfit to have points taken away in 2002.

That's not bias on my part. That's the simple truth. Deal with it.

Third on your list was my audacious assertion that teams would actually cheat to win. Do I really believe that? Yes.

Every week, the proof in strewn about a countertop inside the Winston Cup hauler like a Sanford & Son yard sale. Illegal parts. Confiscated parts. For the whole garage to see.

Look, I am in no way an advocate for compromising the integrity of the task to gain victory. But whether or not the virtuous souls of society accept it, it happens.

How about you? How widespread do you think cheating is in the Winston Cup garage area?

Voltitan13: I lived around the Charlotte area for 5 or so years and I got to know some crewmembers pretty well. Cheating, or whatever you want to call it, is always going on. There isn't a single team that does not stretch the rulebook.

No matter if it's right or wrong it will always happen. Cheating is actually a sport in itself, the ones that do it and get away with it have a better chance of winning, others tend to float to the bottom. This is actually a sport where cheaters can win.

God Bless East Tennessee. My adoration for it is exceeded only by my love for Southwest Virginia. Excellent response, Peyton.

SelfAbuse: Of course there is cheating. Cheating isn't always a bad thing. Where would the sport be if no one every tried to push the envelope.

If I owned a Winston Cup team and my cars never failed inspections, I'd probably think that the crew chief had no nuts and I'd fire him.

I'm not saying he should bore the engine .80 over and use over-sized pistons, but trying to sneak under a template by a few thousandths is just part of tweaking the car. On the topic of penalties, I think the only deterrent is being fined points not dollars.

Ten thousand dollars is bus fare for a team owner, but being fined points would hurt in two ways.

Many responders shared Johnny Knoxville's sentiment - points deductions are paramount in truly getting the attention of those overstepping their bounds. I agree.

If a team is caught in post-race inspection with a performance-enhancing illegality - especially the race winner - dock them. End of story.

Moreover, if it's so blatant that it obviously enabled the team to achieve results they wouldn't have otherwise - illegal restrictor plate, etc. -- remove the finish from the record and take away their points.

Wishful thinking? Probably. I've been traveling the Winston Cup circuit for more than four years now and have yet to see NASCAR take a win away from a team found illegal in post-race inspection. It baffled me at first, but I don't even bat an eye anymore.

Why wouldn't you cheat? Winning is a rare luxury at the Winston Cup level, and I'd assume if you asked any owner out there they'd gladly hand over $50,000 for the hardware and a spot in The Winston.

But what about pre-race inspection?

I view this differently. Readers raised more cane than Kenya and Jamaica combined when I said that pre-race violations do not require points deductions. Heck, NASCAR took an entire car from Joe Gibbs Racing at Texas and Tony Stewart never lost a single point.

Do you think NASCAR loves him, plays him as a favorite? They're certainly not above citing him. The guy has been on probation for half his career for goodness' sake.

It is truly a unique dilemma. I've racked my brain for five days hoping to trigger a like example from another sport, but technology seems to continually set motorsports apart from its stick-and-ball counterparts.

In other sports, equipment bolsters crucial athletic talent and strategy. In motorsports, driving/manufacturing talent bolsters crucial equipment.

Without top-notch equipment, you simply won't win in today's NASCAR.

	The most celebrated picture of 2003......Credit: Autostock

Audio24: I'm sure cheating happens, however i don't think it's widespread. Let's face it if your an 1/8 of an inch off it could be considered cheating but could simply be a mis-measurement.

As far as penalty's go I would suggest that if your caught in pre-race a fine and being sent to the back of the pack would be fine.

However being caught in the post-race then you should be penalized points no matter what the infraction.

To a degree, I'll buy Bass Cannon's first point. Don't fine them points for pre-race or pre-qualifying infractions, but I'm uncertain sending them to the rear really does much damage in today's NASCAR.

Several drivers have come from the provisional abyss to win over the past two years.

UncleTom315: It seems to me that a lot of these penalties lately that have been assessed were blatant. Jimmy Johnson's fuel "innovation" was beyond fair.

However, there also should be the distinction between flagrant rule violations (fuel additives, cooling systems, etc.) and a probable mistake (1/8" longer spring, wrong part, etc.).

In my opinion, car builders and crew chiefs more often make these small, and probably unintentional, errors.

However, it seems that Chad Knaus was out of line with something like that. Actions like what he did shift the focus from "stock" cars to "let's see who can tweak their car enough to beat everyone else."

Yes, I do know that's what happens anyway...to an extent. There's a difference between fine tuning your engine to win and completely changing the focus from the driver to the car.

I had to include Harriett Beecher Stowe, as it appears the readers have elected him successor to Mike Helton in the NASCAR presidency. Good luck, kid.

While this response is extremely well thought out, and Stowe is obviously well educated on the sport, spouting off in an anonymous forum is a far cry from standing under the microscope actually enforcing the rules.

Uh oh. Did I just back Helton?

	This is a photo of Marty Smith. Well, not really, but Iraq's information minister, Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf, said it is. Credit: AP

fairplayer: Diagram this. I'm sick of WWF-CAR's inconsistency when it comes to rules and even more tired of people like Darrell Waltrip and the Iraqi Information Minister -- Marty Smith.

How many more excuses will Marty come up with to defend what has become a dog and pony show to see who NASCAR has decided it want's to win on any given week?

I'm glad more and more people are seeing this and hopefully things will change before I get totally turned off by NASCAR.

Absolutely classic. But not quite as good as the one I got just this morning from Bill Winter:

Your a yak....Where did you come from? Who do you think you are? I'm tired of seeing your face on Web site. I don't read your column cause your a yak. Go back to what ever you were doing before, you look like a bouncer at a go-go bar and your a yak....What's a yak? Yak yak yak, you don't say anything..........

Fair enough, Free Willy, I may not say anything. But help me here. What did you just say?

JCSCVERMONT: Cheating goes on at every track and every Winston Cup date there is. NASCAR knows it and the world knows.

Not everyone, Woodchuck.

fishinfool4u: I don't think there is a lot, I think sometimes the crew chiefs try new things to gain that fine line edge.

The rule book of NASCAR is sometimes very hard to define. Their rules are very confusing at times -- even on the simplest things.

I know we have seen people break some of the rules, but in all I have heard or watched on TV in the last 10 years, I can't call that widespread .

I will however agree that some of the fines and point deductions have not been fair. Some of the big name teams in the past have been slapped on the wrists, while others have paid the price.

The bottom line is simple, tell everyone here and now this is how it is going to be and there will be no exceptions ... end of story.

Well done, Hank Parker. I'll back that to a point. Set specific rules and be unwavering in their enforcement. No more "this guy gets this" and "that guy gets that."

Granted, these stipulations will likely change during the offseason, because teams are conjuring up new innovations every single day. But for the most part, certain infractions can result in certain repercussions.

And they should.

End of story.