NASCAR doesn't give a rat's behind about the old time fans. They started showing it a long time ago. How else do you explain: (1)Jeff Gordon being caught with illegal parts during a race(suspension parts that broke) and there being no penalty while Rusty Wallace was caught with illegal parts during a prequalifying inspection(roof flap system that actually worked better than the required one) and is fined (2) Ongoing rule changes during a racing season that kept taking things away from Dodge while giving things to Pontiac(there were only two teams running Pontiac) giving Tony Stewart the championship (3) Allowing Hendricks Racing's cars to not pass post-race inspection without penalty. These are only three examples, questions could also be raised about why suddenly the only people that constantly win are the "young guns" when all the cars are supposedly prepared to the same rules?
They had not violated the letter of the rule.