Track Smack: The Winston

If this week's Track Smack is slow getting up to speed, drive a few laps before you park it in the garage. It gets better. Let the Smack come to you. Race the smack, not the actual smackers.

With all due respect to Humpy, who will win The Winston?

Dave Rodman: I know nothing he has done yet this year gives any indication Jeff Gordon can do it -- but I am gonna pick ol' Jeff. That boy is stone cold efficient when it comes to winning special events such as this -- look at what he did last year, when he should have been shaken to his core. He still came back to win, sore neck and all.

Tim Packman: I have been talking this over with a lot of people I couldn't even come up with one pick that leaps out at me. But, since you pose the question I'd like to think Tony Stewart will use The Winston as a vaulting off point toward a championship.

Ryan Smithson: I am going to go out on a semi-limb and say Matt Kenseth. He's just the type of person who might be running in mid-pack if they invert the field, and he's the type of driver who'd be able to take advantage of it.

Marty Smith: It's hard as hell to go against Jeff Gordon. Then again, he has to wreck his primary car in order to do so.

Ryan Smithson: Man, I got to agree that Stewart is not even close to being eliminated from the championship.

Dave Rodman: Of course he's not. Eating snots at Daytona didn't cause him to blink. Him and Zip just put their heads down. When he gets that slit-eyed thing goin' on, look out.

Tim Packman: That last 20-lap segment is going to be pretty cool because it's twice as long as before.

Marty Smith: Not only that, Pack. It's only 10 cars man. That deal is gonna be insanely intense.

Dave Rodman: If all 10 have got their stuff working… Lowe's is a classic venue for someone hooking their stuff up and just leaving everyone in a short run. It's too fast to try to just hook someone and spin 'em into the infield. But the anticipation of that 20-lapper will be cool.

Jeff Gordon during a test at Kansas last week Credit: AP

Ryan Smithson: Stewart is one of only two drivers -- Gordon is the only other one -- that could reel off six straight wins.

Tim Packman: It's a short-track shootout on a 1.5-mile, fast oval.

Marty Smith: Those 10 guys are gonna be beating the crap out of each other. 750 grand? I'd be one mean sunuvagun with three-quarters of a mil on the line.

Tim Packman: I will definitely be in fan mode for that last segment. Oh, what else would be new, right?

Marty Smith: Six straight wins. No way, son. Not in today's NASCAR.

Dave Rodman: Ryan, I hate to say you could be right. Those guys have no weak points in terms of race tracks. They have won everywhere. And sure, it ain't likely to happen -- but they could do it.

Marty Smith: Tim Packman -- Superfan.

Tobey Maguire (left) and Kirsten Dunst Credit: AP

Ryan Smithson: Packman doesn't look like Tobey Maguire.

Tim Packman: Why thank you, Marty. Ryan, you will never see that again. Harry Gant can take the title of Mr. September and keep it forever.

Tim Packman: No I don't look like Tobey, but I'll take his dough right now.

Marty Smith: You're so right, Pack. I'm telling you, Ryan, that it's an impossibility to win six races in a row.

Ryan Smithson: I strongly disagree. Momentum is everything.

Dave Rodman: They don't even need momentum. They have what it takes to do it -- therefore it could happen.

Marty Smith: For anybody. There's just way too many extraneous factors to deal with.

Tim Packman: Two has become tough and three even more so. You can win six races, but not in a row. Momentum schmomentum -- it's not going to happen.

Ryan Smithson: Gordon did it just four years ago.

Marty Smith: Dude, look at what you just said. Winston Cup today ain't Winston Cup 1998 -- it's a totally different situation man. Tim Packman: That four years ago is a long time off and many different drivers, teams and technology.

Tony Stewart. He wins a lot. Credit: ASP

Ryan Smithson: True, but they said Gehrig's record would never fall either. Now they are saying Randy Johnson has a slim chance to break Nolan Ryan's strikeout record.

Tim Packman: Look how many guys are still in Cup that were in it in 1998. And, then look where some of them are now in the standings. Baseballs and race cars are a just a little different, Ryan.

Marty Smith: And, Gordon never won six straight. The most he ever won was four straight -- and that's when he was head and shoulders above the entire racing world.

Ryan Smithson: Yeah Tim, NASCAR machines are so much more advanced than they were in 1998! They added fuel injection, traction control, oops. I wasn't supposed to mention that.

Dave Rodman: Well, if they couldn't police that in Formula One, as much as I like John D and his boys, they don't have a chance with it in Winston Cup. The most interesting thing would be getting anybody to tell you they had it…

Tim Packman: Well, they might have added traction control, but they haven't been caught with it, that we know of, yet.

Ryan Smithson: That is too funny. I can hear 'em on the radio: (Driver) "This car is on rails, boys!" and the crew chief saying, "Actually, it is!"

Tim Packman: Hell, they could have rocket boosters in there and my No Tech Tim self wouldn't be able to tell. Actually, you'd hear the crew chief yelling, "Shut up...you trying to get us in trouble?"

So you guys aren't picking Harvick? When do you think he will win again?

Dave Rodman: That's what happens when your face gets all dirtied up -- whether from not washing it or getting splashed by a mud puddle -- everyone forgets about you. He could come out of nowhere and win at any given weekend, but unfortunately last year's out-of-his-head season raised the expectation bar pretty high.

Tim Packman: Kevin Harvick certainly seems to have lost some of the sparkle he had on his star last year. He hasn't lost his ability to drive, he has been caught in many wrecks this year, too.

Ryan Smithson: I think Harvick will get himself turned around at someplace weird -- like Sears Point. When you least expect it, he'll be there.

Does Kevin Harvick need to bump up his Busch schedule? Credit: ASP

Dave Rodman: Ryan, you look at what Kevin did at Sears last year -- it wouldn't be a surprise to me if he wins there…

Marty Smith: Kev's fine. He's having a terrible season, with terrible luck, but he's fine. I know he learned a lot at Martinsville, you can tell by his reaction to being punted at Richmond. He'll be fine. He'll win this year, somewhere. I'd bet he goes two-in-a-row at Chicago.

Dave Rodman: I would like to think it would not take him until July to win.

Tim Packman: He can drive on any type of track, he's proved that at Richmond, Daytona, Atlanta and others.

Ryan Smithson: A lot of people speculate that Harvick needs his Busch car feedback -- even now. I can buy that.

Tim Packman: He doesn't need that sleep deprivation and IV's to get him ready to drive in the next race, for sure.

Dave Rodman: Well, he wouldn't need to go to places like Nazareth, for sure - but in the combination races, that sounds pretty plausible, Ryan. Now, he would just need to get someone to underwrite it. It would be a good deal to get another good car in the Busch field, for sure.

Ryan Smithson: I know this probably sounds stupid, but I kinda admire Jeff Burton's willingness to go to Loudon in a stand-alone Busch race to try to learn the track. Anything to win, you know?

Marty Smith: I agree, Smithson. I totally agree. I was really impressed that Burton went up there to compete and show his loyalty to Brad Parrott and those guys on the 9.

Marty Smith: Back to Harvick. He's an awesome talent, no one disputes that. I think they're kind of going through what Roush did last year -- struggling a bit with chemistry and luck.

Ryan Smithson: Marty, that's a pretty good statement comparing Richard Childress Racing 2002 to Roush 2001, but it's kinda scary. If you're right, it's going to be a long year.

Dave Rodman: A verrrrrryyy long year.

Tim Packman: Remember that ol' Hee Haw song? "If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all. Gloom, despair and agony on me."

Ryan Smithson: They had Hee Haw in Buffalo?

Dave Rodman: Rednecks are NOT just a Southern phenomenon, buddy. In fact, I saw a good bit of 'em in New England this week.

Tim Packman: Man, we had to watch that every week!!

Ryan Smithson: When I was a kid, I watched Hee Haw in much the same way people watch Biography now. It was a history lesson.

Dave Rodman: Dayyam, Ryan I didn't know you had false teeth?!? I don't know that I would've made that claim. You waitin' on the second coming of the Civil War?

Marty Smith: There were some hot chicks on Hee-Haw. My Daddy watched that show every week.

Tim Packman: It was a variety show to us.

Dave Rodman: Apparently it was stress relief to others.

Marty Smith: I loved the Duke boys son. Bo and Luke...that was the best show ever. I still watch it.

Ryan Smithson: I met Boss Hogg once. He was very educated -- had a degree from Yale.

Dave Rodman: Boss Hogg still works in the media center at Talladega. Helluva guy. Used to grill up an awesome batch of ribs. That was all the education we needed.

Marty Smith: No way...I actually met Bo. He was at Richmond last fall. His lil' boy kept spilling red Kool Aid on the carpet. It was hilarious. Bo kept getting on him.

Dave Rodman: I bet he said 'Boy, watch yo'self -- Boy!'

Tim Packman: Batman has been on from 4-5 a.m. lately. I still say the Batmobile could take the General Lee any day.

Dave Rodman: Pack, the Batmobile was the 3rd generation of Mercedes' Formula One car. That unit had turbocharging, traction control. Batman might as well have been a robot for all the driving ability he needed.

Ryan Smithson: Boss Hogg -- for money -- used to take the car around to shows. We saw him at the armory. I was 6 -- I asked him -- "do you really eat all that chicken?"

Marty Smith: You're insane son. The General Lee is the single most awesome machine ever constructed. That is how many they had to use.

Dave Rodman: It was good on dirt, too -- and that says a lot.

Marty Smith: I bet those boys could win Daytona right now. Hell, they had NASCAR experience you know.

Tim Packman: No way!! Batmobile had flames and all those cool gadgets on it.

Ryan Smithson: You Northerners just don't understand, Tim. Gotham City, my butt.

Tim Packman: It's Gotham, you Hee Haw head. Marty Smith: Son, the General had a CB that could reach to California.

Tim Packman: You know what, the more I do Track Smack with you guys, the more I like my dog.

Marty Smith: Hazzard County.

Ryan Smithson: No, Marty -- you're in Chickasaw County now.

Track Smack appears every Wednesday on NASCAR.com and the opinions expressed here are solely those of the participants. And we mean that. Really.