Track Smack: Offseason

What team will come out strong right out of the box in 2003?

Ryan Smithson: I think Dale Earnhardt Jr. will really be tough to beat early next year. Obviously, Daytona is one of his better tracks, and the new Monte Carlo will help. He's really good at Daytona, Atlanta, Darlington, etc., and I think he will be leading the points in March.

Tim Packman: I seriously have to say it will be the Chevrolet teams. From all that I talked to that have tested already, it sounds like they were real happy with the new Monte Carlos.

Dave Rodman: I'll go right out to Limbsville and say it will be a dead heat between Tony Stewart's team and Jeff Gordon's. Veteran squads so the new car will not throw them too much of a curve. Got something to prove, too.

Marty Smith: Hendrick Motorsports. Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson will be awesome from the outset. The '03 Monte Carlo is reportedly a laser beam, and with all the work they did in designing it, they'll be ahead of the game.

Marty Smith: Ryan, did you say Darlington? Junior good at Darlington? Dude, go check his career stats there.

Send us hate mail MartDawg Ryan Tim Dave

Ryan Smithson: Marty, he's not bad there. And I will check.

Tim Packman: I'll go with Smithsonian and say that DEI is going to be strong, but Darlington is kind of a stretch, man.

Ryan Smithson: Fourth in the spring, 16th in the fall.

Tim Packman: Yep, real domination there.

Marty Smith: I had about 100 people cuss me out because I said Johnson had more poles than Newman a couple weeks back, even though Rodzilla corrected on the very next line.

	Mike Skinner was the only driver in the Winston Cup Series to go clean-shaven (above), wear a mustache (below) and sport a goatee (below) in 2002. Credits: Autostock

Tim Packman: It's amazing how folks will read what they want and the shoot from the hip in response.

Dave Rodman: I seem to remember that getting muddied up a bit -- oh well.

Ryan Smithson: Well, it goes like this. You can't count out Dale Jr. for having bad career runs. He is still learning.

Marty Smith: Nice retraction, Smithson.

Ryan Smithson: It was not a retraction, Marty. It was a clarification. Dale Jr.'s list of good tracks -- tracks that he is confident going to -- grew a lot in 2002.

Marty Smith: Look, I don't disagree for one second that Junior will be tough. He was getting really consistent at the end of this year -- once his head got better -- and I'm sure he'll be hell on wheels next year.

Dave Rodman: On Junior gets it figured out, he will be bad -- consistently -- but we are talking about coming out of the box as a title contender and they haven't proven it to me, yet, on a consistent basis.

Tim Packman: It should with any driver after three years, I think.

Ryan Smithson: I can retract my clarification if you want.

Marty Smith: Just let it go. You sound like an idiot.

Tim Packman: No, you should clarify your retraction then send it for verification and pontification.

Ryan Smithson: I guess you boys think Roush Racing will come back to earth.

Marty Smith: I think Matt and the DeWalt boys will be awesome. So will Busch and the Rubbermaid guys.

Ryan Smithson: Roush won't win 10 races again though.

Tim Packman: I think they will be consistent to what they accomplished this year. Busch and Kenseth will be ready to roll next year and Martin will keep up with consistency. For Burton, he has some pedaling to do in '03 to get up with his mates.

Dave Rodman: I think the entire championship battle is looking pretty awesome. I think Roush could win 10 races, minimum.

Marty Smith: It'd be tough, for certain. It really is amazing that Busch won three of the final five races. Even if he did win in the rain.

Dave Rodman: It's pretty easy to see Busch and Kenseth winning three apiece.

Ryan Smithson: Roush will definitely lead the circuit in victories again, but only because he is fielding 36 of the 43 cars.

Dave Rodman: Right -- so are you calling for NASCAR to make it illegal to have more than two teams, or three teams? They have smoke and mirrors rules like that already -- and Jack still owns five teams.

Marty Smith: I saw Biffle in the ESPN The Magazine last night...they call him a generation next superstar.

Dave Rodman: And that means Mark and Jeff only have to win two each to get to 10. And I think giving the other guys three is a bit conservative.

Tim Packman: I'd rather have two great teams than five good ones. Resources, issues and keeping all competitive can strain a team.

Ryan Smithson: Five cars is too many. That is too much of an advantage. At least give the single-car teams some extra test dates. Five cars? You'll have data on every track!

Marty Smith: That would be the reason for having so many, stat boy.

	Quality rides are really tough to find this winter. Credit: AP

Tim Packman: Which is part of the attraction of having those five teams, especially if you have five-paying sponsors to field them right.

Ryan Smithson: Yeah, but the more cars you have, the less expensive it gets to field an additional one.

Tim Packman: Ryan, how do you figure that with what it costs for driver, crew chief, labor, parts and team to pit the car and take care of that?

Ryan Smithson: Tim, if Viagra pays $17 million for the 6 car, you think DeWalt has to match it for the 17? No. Share resources, save money.

Tim Packman: No, but when Peter is paying Paul to get things taken care of, how does that keep things affective?

Marty Smith: Boys, this is going nowhere.

Ryan Smithson: I don't think they rob Paul. A team like Roush still makes a profit at the end of the year.

Marty Smith: I need some Raisin Bran. Y'all bicker, I'll be right back.

Ryan Smithson: It don't matter Marty. We're done. You just keep eating.

Track Smack appears every Wednesday on NASCAR.com, even in the offseason.

The opinions listed here are solely those of the participants.