NASCAR's greatest cheats detailed

It is only fitting that NASCAR has as history of cheating that's as cunning and varied as the methods of the original, moonshine-running racers skirting the law. Popular Mechanics has detailed 11 great moments in the bending and breaking of NASCAR rules, which include a cheating incident and ejection in the very first series race in 1949, an inflated basketball to circumvent gas tank capacity and frame rails loaded with BBs to get around weight restrictions.

And although a stricter rule book and the Car of Tomorrow might make "rules violations" harder ever year, it certainly hasn't stopped: a site that keeps track of NASCAR penalties shows the series has docked five teams five teams already this year. Perhaps that's because, as Darryl Waltrip said after getting busted in 1976, "If you don't cheat, you look like an idiot."

[Source: Popular Mechanics | Image: Jason Smith/Getty Images]

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