Track Smack: Michigan

Rumors?! You want the best, juiciest, who-is-going-where rumors? Read on!

How come only 43 cars are entering the Winston Cup race again this week?

Ryan Smithson: Because Haas-Carter is down to one car, because Andy Petree is down to one car, because Melling Racing down to no car, because Dave Marcis retired. Get my drift? Comes down to money.

Tim Packman: Well, instead of there being 45 or more, it seems the struggle is on for Winston Cup to field a field of 43 cars. Last week, Carl Long entered on Thursday and Frank Kimmel entered his back-up ARCA car. Kimmel did eight laps, Long ran 18 and both walked away with a good chunk of change for 15 minutes work.

Marty Smith: One word: money. It's getting so hard to find sponsorship in the current economy that guys can't justify the cost of traveling so far, staying in hotels, feeding the guys and totaling a car after 10 laps.

Dave Rodman: It's got to be economics. Even though it is about $50K if you make a race, unless you can bring an all-volunteer crew of three and not have to pay their expenses and run one set of tires -- you're losing money.

Ryan Smithson: Not sure about that, Dave. I am thinking Carl Long and Frank Kimmel both made a profit last weekend. No tires used in practice, one set in qualifying, one set in the race, not bad. $35,000.

Marty Smith: Sure, they'll make $50,000 just for entering, but it's still like lighting those Benjamins on fire. It's amazing how much teams spend on tires every week, isn't it?

	Carl didn't last Long on Sunday

Tim Packman: It's a shame that a sport is so dependant upon sponsorship to exist that some teams, with cars good to go, just sit home because they can't afford to race. Those Goodyears add up to a good year for the tire company, I bet.

Ryan Smithson: Kimmel was out due to "overheating." I guess it got real hot inside his car.

Tim Packman: Long was out because of "brakes." Forgot to put them in, never had them in, couldn't afford to put them in?

Dave Rodman: Overheating. Handling. Vibration. Ignition. All the same -- means "Only here for the money."

Marty Smith: It makes sense though, Dave. Go out, run one lap and go home 40 grand richer.

Ryan Smithson: Rodman, "handling" is my favorite. "My car won't turn!"

Marty Smith: It's a crappy way to race, but money talks.

Dave Rodman: Oh -- absolutely. But you are still losing money -- or virtually so. Losing a lot of face in the bargain, too -- because no real racer wants to play that charade.

Marty Smith: No kidding, man. I bet Kimmel can't hardly bring himself to park it.

Ryan Smithson: I am going to enter a car for Marty at Loudon.

Dave Rodman: What kind of chassis you running?

Tim Packman: Hell, I'm trying to convince Fred Biagi to let me take out one of Mike Wallace's back up cars in a test just to see how I'd do.

Ryan Smithson: The term "Biagi Brothers" reminds me of Nintendo.

Marty Smith: I'd be a terrible race driver. At least that's what the X-Box tells me.

Tim Packman: Hey, I bet I could last longer in a Busch race than some of those guys seem to do.

Ryan Smithson: Let me ask a dumb question -- can Kimmel just use one of his ARCA cars for the Winston Cup race? Make a few adjustments?

Marty Smith: Yeah, they're virtually identical I think.

Ryan Smithson: Then why didn't a guy like Andy Belmont try to make the race?

Tires will eat up your purse money real quick. Credit: Auostock

Marty Smith: Kerry Earnhardt smoked everybody in ARCA because he was driving such superior rides. DEI Cup cars, man.

Tim Packman: Kimmel had to add some electronic technology that NASCAR requires vs. ARCA. The ARCA cars are old Winston Cup cars. The one he raced at Pocono was an old Roush car.

Marty Smith: Kerry? That's interesting.

Ryan Smithson: No, he means Kimmel's car was a Roush car.

Marty Smith: I was gonna say.

Ryan Smithson: I can't imagine an Earnhardt in a Roush car.

Marty Smith: I can't either. That's why it was....interesting.

Tim Packman: Ahh, you never know where someone might end up in this business.

Y'all sick of the DEI rumors yet?

Dave Rodman: Everyone wants to be the first to break a story. In the interest of being first, they never let lacking a shred of truth stop them.

	Steve Park. In the car. Again. Despite all the hearsay. Credit: Auostock

Marty Smith: Gracious sakes alive, yes. They're selling the team. Every driver they got is on the move. I even had a guy email me saying Budweiser wants to dump Dale Jr. I emailed him back and told him he'd best check his source.

Ryan Smithson: It gets weirder and weirder. DEI sold. DEI to hire Greg Sacks. DEI to enter nine cars next year. DEI is supply cars to the IRL. DEI to use Kia engines.

Dave Rodman: I heard it was Hyundai, not Kia. Though I think Mazda has a broader power band.

Ryan Smithson: Budweiser will dump Earnhardt Jr. when Pepsi dumps Britney Spears. Uh, never.

Marty Smith: Junior's a cash cow son. There's no bigger draw in the world. I swear it.

Tim Packman: Why does everyone feel the need to dump on DEI? That's what gets me the most. Steve Park recovering from injuries, and some want to fire him. The team loses is owner, others want to have the team being sold. I mean, c'mon, there's enough other stories to talk about.

Marty Smith: You're right, Pack. Park and Waltrip gotta get tired of hearing something new every day.

	Michael Waltrip. In the car. Again. Despite all the hearsay. Credit: Auostock

Dave Rodman: Whoever is on top -- everyone wants to tear down. Comes with the territory. They're used to it -- but doesn't make it any easier to deal with.

Ryan Smithson: The weird thing is that Waltrip is the best driver they got right now.

Tim Packman: Mikey has been on an upsurge lately. Been holding his own in quals and the races.

Ryan Smithson: Waltrip's been doing so well that I hear an F1 team is interested in him. Heard that one this morning from a drive-trough clerk at McDonald's.

Dave Rodman: Jr. himself stoked that fire up pretty good last weekend, didn't he?

Marty Smith: He sure did, Dave. He broke it down the nitty gritty. He pretty much said "perform or get to packin'."

Tim Packman: Yeah, odd to see a teammate doing that about another. Or, he's just playing with the media to see how it plays out knowing that Mikey is staying on the deal.

Ryan Smithson: Well, he's performing now. And Mikey has some strong tracks coming up.

Marty Smith: You think he might with the 400? He's certainly got the car, there's no doubt about that.

Ryan Smithson: At Daytona, sure.

Tim Packman: Well, if anyone was due restrictor plate race it would be Mikey after the number of second places he's had.

Dave Rodman: It's like any other place -- anyone in Winston Cup can win anywhere -- the percentages are just stacked a little better in different guys' favors depending on where we are on a given week.

Ryan Smithson: Michael's really close to being a top-five driver, but he can lose it with one bad performance. Then it's back to square one.

Tim Packman: Yeah, but he has enough good performances in his defense right now.

Dave Rodman: Except for a few, like Stewart and Gordon -- and Harvick last year -- can win anywhere on any given week.

Ryan Smithson: I don't know. I heard he's getting farmed to the Truck Series if he does not win Sonoma. Heard that one from a fellow commuter while stuck in traffic.

Marty Smith: Dude, people are gonna believe you

Tim Packman: Ryan, do you just go up to people and tell them what you do for a living?

Ryan Smithson: No, I am not like you.

Tim Packman: And, thank goodness. You couldn't stand being that nice to people.

Marty Smith: Thank the good Lord above that he's not like you.

Dave Rodman: I am never happier than to be a pillar of sanity in this maelstrom of unrest.

Predictions for Michigan?

Tim Packman: I have to go with one pissed-off Ricky Rudd for this weekend. He wants to win just so he can tell himself he can finish a damn race without the bad luck gremlins riding along.

Marty Smith: Jimmie Johnson will be strong again, since Michigan and California are so much alike. I'm gonna say Jeff Gordon ends the winless streak this week, boys.

Ryan Smithson: Not Ricky Rudd. Poor man. God bless him.

Dave Rodman: Shoot -- Gordon, Stewart, Rudd, Jarrett, Wallace -- that's a tough call.

Tim Packman: Pick one, Dave. This isn't shotgun selecting.

Ryan Smithson: I am picking Tony Stewart. Actually, scratch that. He drives a Pontiac. Won't run in traffic.

Dave Rodman: I am going to go retro -- my main man Bill Elliott -- used to own MIS and he is looking pretty stout on a weekly basis.

Marty Smith: Ain't it the truth about Rudd. Man that guy couldn't even buy good luck in Ireland on St. Patrick's Day.

Ryan Smithson: My real pick is well, who cares who I pick anyway.

Tim Packman: You do, when you pick correctly.

Marty Smith: That's the best statement you've made all day, bro.

Track Smack appears every Wednesday on NASCAR.com and the opinions expressed here are solely those of the participants, if you can call them that.