In the minutes after he was penalized for driving below a yellow line, Geoffrey Bodine likened NASCAR's enforcement of the rules to another recent judgment call in sports.

"To me, enforcing the rule just became pairs figure skating at the Olympics. It all comes down to NASCAR's judgment," he said

The inconsistencies in Winston Cup racing have not reached the level of scandal seen in Salt Lake City, but NASCAR has not been without its share of credibility problems through the first two races of the season.

From a discrepancy over when to red-flag a race to penalizing drivers under the yellow-line rule, nothing has been consistent.

Questions have been raised before about spotty enforcement of NASCAR's rules. In fact, it can be difficult even to get a copy of the series' official rule book.

"I think NASCAR is always subject to criticism for any number of reasons, whether it's a subjective call that makes one side happy or one side mad, or a kind of ball and strike call," said spokesman Jim Hunter. "But overall, I think our credibility hangs on whether or not we do the right thing more times than not.

"It's very difficult to get every single thing right in our sport because things happen so fast and because special circumstances arise so often."

That's held true since the start of 2002, when a flurry of last-second rule-bending kicked off Speedweeks.

When the Fords complained they were at a disadvantage, they got not one but two separate adjustments to the rear spoiler. Then NASCAR tossed Dodge a bone by also reducing its spoiler.

The moves infuriated the General Motors camp, which was left wondering why its Chevrolets and Pontiacs were immune to the generosity.

"It doesn't seem to matter what the rule book says, and maybe you don't even have to work hard, because if you struggle, it's likely NASCAR will give you some help to make up the difference," said Chad Knaus, crew chief for Jimmie Johnson's Chevrolet.

Then there was an arbitrarily used yellow-line rule at Daytona. The way it was explained to the drivers, if they went below it on the track to improve their position, they would be black-flagged.

Bodine and Johnson both went below the line in a qualifying race and were penalized despite adamant claims that competitors forced them below the line to prevent them from making a pass.

So before the Daytona 500 was run, NASCAR tweaked the rule and decided that if "in its own judgment" another car forced a competitor below the line, that driver could also be penalized. But when the race was run, there were no penalties for anyone even though Sterling Marlin, Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick all briefly crossed the line.

A blocking issue also cropped up at Daytona, with drivers claiming there was too much of it during the 500 and it caused many accidents. NASCAR is now looking at a way to address blocking -- as well as more possible changes to the aerodynamic package -- before the series goes to its next restrictor-plate race at Talladega in April.

All of it pales in comparison to the recent controversy over when a race should be red-flagged.

In the Daytona 500 -- NASCAR's premier event -- officials threw the red flag to ensure a competitive finish after a multicar pileup with seven laps to go.

A week later, in almost an identical situation, it reversed its stance at Rockingham and allowed the race to continue to an anticlimactic yellow-flag finish.

The inconsistency infuriated many drivers, none more than Marlin and his Chip Ganassi Racing crew.

"I can't understand the red flag situation," Marlin said after his second-place finish Sunday. "Whoever's running the show up there sometimes decides to do it and sometimes they don't. It depends on who's leading the race."

As Marlin was forced to follow race winner Matt Kenseth around and around North Carolina Speedway without attempting a pass, team manager Tony Glover screamed over the radio that NASCAR had just taken its second straight race away from Marlin.

At Daytona, he was leading the race and probably would have won had NASCAR allowed it to end under the yellow. Instead, he finished eighth after being penalized for trying to make repairs under the red flag so he would be competitive in the final shootout.

A week later, he was affected again when the decision not to stop the race prevented him from trying to pass Kenseth in the final few laps.

The explanation given by NASCAR president Mike Helton was confusing at best. Helton said "there wasn't enough time to red flag it and finish under the green" because there were just a few laps left, the pace car wasn't immediately able to pick up Kenseth, and the cars still had to be allowed to pit and be bunched back together.

Glover, who went to NASCAR and asked what the standard practice was going to be after the Daytona race, didn't buy it.

"We had a discussion about the red flag and decided that as long as they're consistent, it doesn't matter," Glover said. "In my opinion they weren't consistent. But I'm 0-for-900 with NASCAR, so I don't plan on winning this one.

"But it's created a situation that they aren't doing the same thing every week and you never know what to expect."

The sentiment was shared by almost everyone in the garage, even drivers who don't like late-race shootouts.

"One time you know, and the next time it's different," Bobby Labonte said. "If it was just a consistent deal, it would be better -- whichever way it is, it would be better. It doesn't matter if it's right or wrong, just make one decision, and who cares at that point in time because everyone knows what's going to happen. Now, no one ever knows what's going to happen."

So NASCAR is looking into the situation, although Helton has refused to be pinned down on the red-flag rule because he maintains every situation is different.

One possibility is passing the "green-white checkered" rule that NASCAR's truck series already has, a policy that extends races a few laps to ensure finishes are always under green.

Either way, Hunter is certain the problems that have plagued NASCAR's first two races aren't going away anytime soon and shouldn't be the only thing used to judge the start of the season.

"The way I look at it, we've had two different winners and we've had two really good races," Hunter said. "You could characterize it that we've had two problem-races, but we're going to have an incident every race and that's one of the things that makes our sport so exciting.

"There's never a dull moment. Someone is always going to have some issue with something we do every weekend, and that's OK."