It should have never gotten to the point that 1stGen had to file a protest, the car should have never been issued a tech sticker if it had a non-compliant cage. You want to file a protest, file it against the person that issued the tech sticker or the person that signed off on the annual tech inspection.

Kirk's right on the money w/ this one. Having stewards intervene in these types of issues is not a good thing.

And if you want to talk about liability, if the driver of said car had been involved in an incident w/ another car, and the other car (or driver) sustained damage or injury, the person issuing the tech sticker, as well as the steward who discouraged the protest would be on the hook.

If the person issuing the tech sticker / annual doesn't know the rules enough to know that the cage is non-complaint, then they shouldn't be in that position (and spare me the whole 'but they're volunteers' rhetoric, you still have to be competent at what you volunteer for).

And the lack of consistency on the steward's part is a real problem. If he sent others home for the same, or similar violations, and allowed this person to race, he should have his license pulled.