Track Smack: Daytona

Looks like Britney Spears is going to show up in Track Smack again. Get used to it. She's going to make a new NASCAR movie, you know.

Who's in the bigger slump: Ward or Dale Jr.?

Tim Packman: I would have to say that it's Ward. He goes from winning the Daytona 500 to 25th in points so far this year. Junior has faltered some, but his finishes and victories get more attention than others. From the past few seasons, it looks like winning the Daytona 500 is kind of a curse in Winston Cup points battles.

Ryan Smithson: Certainly Dale Jr. A lot of Ward's troubles are mechanical. They just can't catch a break. They won a pole a few weeks ago but things are breaking for him every Sunday.

Marty Smith: Well, I guess I'd have to say Dale Jr., simply because the expectations of his performance were so high heading into the year. Everyone tabbed him as a title contender, and at present he's not in a position to vie for a championship. Ward's victory in the 500 was unexpected. Had Junior won the Daytona 500, it wouldn't have been a shock by any means.

Dave Rodman: That's a tough one -- since they have both been kinda on a rollercoaster. Luck is not a hot commodity for them, but y'all are right -- Jr.'s performance has probably been the most erratic while Ward's curse has been mechanical.

Ryan Smithson: Ward should have won the Daytona 500 in 2001 but didn't, and shouldn't have won it this year. I'd say if Ward does not right the ship by Darlington, there's definitely cause for concern. He's a better driver than that.

Marty Smith: If you'd have told me in January that Junior would be outside the top-10 right now, I'd have bet the house you were wrong. And, I may even have paid up to anyone but Smithson.

	What is wrong with Ward Burton? Credit: Autostock

Ryan Smithson: I am not too sure Dale Jr. is going to get back into the top-10, Marty.

Marty Smith: I disagree, Ryan. I think Junior will win Saturday night, and end up with three or four wins this year. He'll win Talladega next fall, too.

Ryan Smithson: Marty, I am gonna be really nice today. But let me give you some figures. He's about 200 points out of 10th. That's a mountain to climb. And he can't be getting into no wrecks or blowing motors.

Marty Smith: Good point, Ryan. That's a helluva stiff test.

Ryan Smithson: Marty, I'd buy your top-10 argument, but who is he going to pass? Craven, Busch maybe. But Jarrett, Jeff Burton? That's asking a lot.

Tim Packman: Ward has finished 30th or worse in the last six races. You're going to tell me that slump is not worse than Jr.'s? And, he has tumbled 24 positions since the Daytona 500. Not a good year, to date. That Bill Davis Racing team is much better than what shows on paper.

Marty Smith: Think about it, Tim. Did anyone think Ward would be a threat to win it all heading in? Not many, if any at all. Now, think about Junior, man. The world thought he'd be better than he is presently.

Tim Packman: We are talking about slumps here, not who was a pre-season favorite. Sometimes, Marty, the world is wrong.

Marty Smith: Uh, Tim. Both of those guys have been in a season-long slump.

Dave Rodman: Marty -- I would side more with you -- in terms of expectations, Dale Jr. has certainly been the bigger disappointment this season. Though there's no question after the promise his Daytona 500 win delivered, Ward has been in a dive.

Ward tries to hold off Dale Jr. at Richmond. Credit: Autostock

Tim Packman: That's the bad part about racing. It's you against the same 42 teams each week vying for one winner and one champion. There's no playoff like other sports where a team can catch a break in one, single game and knock the other team out of contention.

Dave Rodman: Consistency and not taking too many bullets dictates who is gonna win a championship -- right now, Ward and Jr. are full of too many holes to have much hope except counting wins.

Marty Smith: It's amazing that we're not yet halfway through the year and there aren't but a handful of guys who still have a shot to win it all. So goes the NASCAR point system.

Ryan Smithson: I don't think Ward Burton is a championship-style driver. He's always had the ability to go out and win a ton of races -- but NASCAR's point system was not built for guys like Ward, who mash the gas.

Tim Packman: The top-five drivers are seperated by 88 points, the top-10 by 226. I like that for where we are at this point in the season and it should, at least I hope, keep it interesting all the way to Homestead.

Ryan Smithson: You just said "interesting" and "Homestead" in the same sentence.

Marty Smith: There's a restaurant near where I grew up called "The Homestead." It's an old, white, Victorian mansion. Best dadgum mashed taters in the world. I like mashed taters.

Tim Packman: My mom's mashed potatoes could whip theirs, I bet.

Marty Smith: Whip. I get it.

Who's the hotter Pepsi 400 Grand Marshal: Britney Spears or Jessica Simpson?

Marty Smith: Jessica Simpson, hands down. She's wayyyyyy hotter than Spears.

One of the benefits of NASCAR: Cool wind tunnels! Credit: AP

Ryan Smithson: If Jessica Simpson is Jeff Gordon, then Britney Spears is Loy Allen.

Tim Packman: Who gives a rat's butt?! I'd like to some former winners of the race be the Grand Marshal. This "kissing young butt" stuff is getting old with me. They had nothing to do with where the sport is today.

Ryan Smithson: Well! Who lit a Bic under your ass?

Marty Smith: Whoaaaaa, Packman. You mean you'd rather look at some old dude wave the flag than a hot chick? Dude, I'm beginning to wonder about you.

Dave Rodman: Isn't Jessica Simpson a cartoon character? Like, Bart's sister, man?

Marty Smith: I'll let NASCAR kiss young butt all day long if they show me some Jessica Simpson.

Ryan Smithson: Jessica Simpson vs. Harry Gant. Let me see.

Tim Packman: I bet Harry Gant gets more applause.

Ryan Smithson: She gets to start some engines.

Credit: ASP

Tim Packman: Seriously, I almost get embarrassed by a Britney and a Jessica out there. Where is the connection to the sport, outside of a few more Pepsis being sold?

Marty Smith: And you're telling me Carrot Top is any different?

Dave Rodman: Hear, hear, Packy. It's all in the show, buddy. As far as Carrot Top, that red-headed fool is so ubiquitous that he just might draw more applause -- though not more slobbers, than Simpson.

Ryan Smithson: Rodman, you're missing "Little House on the Prairie" on TBS.

Tim Packman: Besides, Carrot Top makes his own props and does his own jokes. No fake sound track or lipsync going on with him.

Marty Smith: At least Simpson has her name on some of the guy's fire suits.

That's one thing Spears can't say. Then again, Britney's about to have a movie.

Ryan Smithson: That is why they got her, Marty. Already has her name on it. No added expense.

Dave Rodman: She's got her name on a truck. That's bad-ass.

Marty Smith: Some of the fools that write me about my column say I have "boy band hair." Well, Simpson digs guys in boy bands. Wonder if I got a shot?

Ryan Smithson: No, cause you aren't covering it. Unless you are going as a spectator.

Pick one driver (other than Dale Jr.) to win Saturday night.

Tim Packman: I am going to say it is the time for Micheal Waltrip to put that No. 15 into Victory Lane, bask in the glory of victory at Daytona and not finish second again.

"And I thought my losing streak was bad!" Credit: Autostock

Ryan Smithson: I am going to pick Jeff Gordon until he wins a race. Gotta be soon. Nice headline this weekend: Gordon wins, grabs points lead.

Marty Smith: Kevin Harvick. He had a bad fast car in the 500 before he and Gordon had a little love tap party. Plus, he's in a RAD program Chevrolet.

Tim Packman: That RAD stuff is smoking hot on the restrictor plates.

Marty Smith: They've won every plate race forever besides Ward's Daytona win in February.

Tim Packman: Watch Kenny Wallace, in a DEI-built car, head down there and bust a win out.

Dave Rodman: How about Dale Jarrett? Had a mighty mean Taurus in the 500 -- even though to hear him tell it, it was a piece of snot.

	Tony Stewart: First points win at Daytona? Credit: Autostock

Marty Smith: What about Stewart? Will Pontiac be any better this time around with the new rules?

Ryan Smithson: No. No chance in hell.

Tim Packman: So Ryan, how do you really feel about Stewart's chances?

Marty Smith: Remember, Smithson. Stewart won the Bud Shootout.

Ryan Smithson: Marty, that was 50 laps, not 160.

Marty Smith: He was out front the whole time, fool. Once you're out front, it's your race to lose these days.

Tim Packman: Jarrett's won the 400 before, knows how to get the job done. But, I still think it's going to be one of the RAD cars. The other contender might be a Mark Martin or Kurt Busch from the Roush stable.

Dave Rodman: If Kenny Wallace can stay above the lines he really does have a shot at it -- and of course I have to tag my man Geoffrey Bodine as the darkhorse pick.

Ryan Smithson: Rodman just picked Geoffery Bodine to win the Pepsi 400. Next week: Stricklin at Chicagoland.

Tim Packman: I hear you on that, Dave. GB at Daytona is always something to watch. With the way the race goes, you just never know who's going to lead, blow or win.

Ryan Smithson: Ed Berrier dodges 40-car pileup, shocks world with victory, makes cover of USA Today.

Marty Smith: Derrike Cope anyone?