30 -06man, I live in Stanfield, about an hour East of the "Queen City" and LMS. Where are you at?
As far as the old days of NASCAR during the 70s being more equal. I'm not sure how you figure that. Seems to me those days were dominated by a few guys like King Richard and Davy Alison.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not condoning what the Pat's did but you know full well that every sports team is always looking for a competitive edge and the pressure is great to push the envelope and bend the rules, especially when you are the defending champions.