Track Smack: Budweiser Shootout

What do y'all think of the new Budweiser Shootout format?

Ryan Smithson: I like it a lot and I think it will make the race a lot better. Obviously, NASCAR is moving toward night racing as a whole, and this certainly fits the pattern. Hopefully, this won't be a fuel mileage deal.

Dave Rodman: I hate to go too Old School on you -- but I have been around this deal too long. That is just an old format regurgitated with the Green-White-Checkered finish thrown in for good measure. If that is the first step toward getting it in Cup -- more power to them!

Lee Montgomery: Remember when the Shootout used to be a pretty big deal? When it was pretty much the only all-star race? I guess over time The Winston has made the Shootout somewhat of a second-class citizen, but maybe this format will put some life in the old girl. I know I still look forward to seeing who's got what.

Marty Smith: I think it'll be way cooler under the lights. It's racing's roots, man. It's where all these guys started -- 50-lap shootouts under a starry Saturday night sky. It's going to be a killer show.

Dave Rodman: The race was split-format through most of the 90s -- it left the first 20 laps as a chess match but with the small fuel cells, this final 50 will be real serious chess.

Marty Smith: I was just talking to one driver who put The Winston and The Brickyard in the same breath as the 500. That shows you how huge The Winston has gotten.

Fake Story of the Week  Lugnut plucked off ground sells for $569 on eBay  DOVER, Del. – Jeff Smith, a NASCAR fan from Chevy Chase, Md., expressed joy at the sale of a lugnut that sold for $569.45 on eBay.  Smith, attending the 2002 MBNA 400 at Dover Downs, found the lugnut in Dave Blaney’s pit. The lugnut is rumored to actually have been touched by a Jasper Motorsports team member.  Smith put the lugnut for sale on Ebay using his cousin’s computer, and a bidding war ensued. It was sold to Dinty Montgomery Jr. of Tupelo, Miss., who sold his 1987 Chevy Caprice to pay for the lugnut.  Montgomery put the 12-ounce lugnut in display in his bathroom, where it is joined by an actual press pass from the 1984 Tyson Holly Farms 400 at North Wilkesboro, purchased for $236 off eBay in 2001.

Ryan Smithson: Call me new-school, but I still like the Twin 125s a lot better.

Lee Montgomery: It's an interesting concept, Shootout, Twins, 500. The buildup is a good thing.

Dave Rodman: You can't deny the sink-or-swim aspect of the 125s -- you know going in, basically, who has to finish top-14 or top-15 and who is gonna go home if something drastic doesn't happen. Makes for a lot of excitement and a lot of heartbreak.

Marty Smith: I agree, Dave. I think that last 50-lap segment will be a major chess-match. When to pit, short pit. The crews will play a big role. It'll be sweet, man. I can't believe it's here. It's only a few days away.

Ryan Smithson: Can they run 50 laps on a tank of gas? No way, right? But someone will try.

Lee Montgomery: 50 laps? Let's break out the calculator.

Ryan Smithson: Actually, that is an idiot statement. 125 miles. No way.

Marty Smith: I'm surprised Smithson doesn't have it down to the lap already.

Lee Montgomery: 125 miles at 4.5 mpg.

Dave Rodman: No way. They are talking 35-40 laps, max, of a pit window.

	Lebron James gets set for Daytona 500 qualifying. Credit: AP

Lee Montgomery: That's 27 gallons. Not even close.

Ryan Smithson: 4.5 mpg. These are not Hummers. Lebron James gets better gas mileage than Jeff Gordon.

Marty Smith: LeBron James gets more press than Jeff Gordon, too.

Lee Montgomery: Yeah, but Gordon has the better mullet.

Dave Rodman: Shootout always is a good indicator of who's got a good ride to pull up in -- in the draft. Will be interesting to see what these new rules are gonna mean for the racing.

Lee Montgomery: Doesn't everyone use a different car for the Shootout? So what does that really tell us?

Ryan Smithson: Tells us that they save the best for Sunday, Lee.

Send us some love MartDawg Ryan Lee Dave

Marty Smith: It'll be the first real indication of what effect the new body location rules will have.

Ryan Smithson: Everyone wants the pole.

Lee Montgomery: Except Geoffrey Bodine.

Ryan Smithson: Geoffrey Bodine doesn't want the pole? Sure he does. He is running different cars.

Lee Montgomery: No, Geoffrey Bodine doesn't save his best for Sunday. Think he'll finish last in the Shootout?

Marty Smith: Who'd have thought he'd run third last year in the 500, Lee. Then again, he was in a Phoenix car. Finch builds a helluva superspeedway ride.

Ryan Smithson: Yeah, those wrecks didn't hurt him either.

Marty Smith: Sterling's little fabrication lesson certainly assisted him.

	Loy Allen. Boy, had to dig to find this picture.

Dave Rodman: Depends on whether or not little brother gives him a green light to run or if he's only there for start money. If he's there to race -- he won't finish last.

Lee Montgomery: With Finch, Mike Wallace is in hog's heaven. I wouldn't be surprised to see Mike win the 500 pole.

Ryan Smithson: Actually, I wouldn't either, Lee. Loy Allen won it once.

Dave Rodman: No doubt. They are a definite threat.

Lee Montgomery: Whatever happened to my boy Loy?

Lee Montgomery: Garner, N.C.'s finest.

Marty Smith: Finch. That makes me think of American Pie 2. That movie's hysterical.

Ryan Smithson: American Pie 2 was as funny as American Pie 1. I can taste the bubbles.

	Ell-e-lot Credit: Autostock

Marty Smith: Next time you see Elliott Sadler, ask him if Stiffler's the man. His response is classic.

Ryan Smithson: What does he say?

Marty Smith: "You day-yum riite Stiflah's tha ma-yun."

Ryan Smithson: Staf-lah! Fee-inch.

Dave Rodman: You done a good approximation phonetically there, MartDawg.

Kind of sucks to be Mike McLaughlin, eh?

Lee Montgomery: Yeah, you want a used driver's uniform? Try Ebay.

Ryan Smithson: Mike McLaughlin wins Daytona with donated money, goes on 20/20 with Diane Sawyer.

Marty Smith: Dude, this sucks bad. I've never heard of anything like this. I reckon wiredflyer must be a dot-bomb.

Lee Montgomery: How did the owners fool Mike and Harold Holly that bad?

	Don't worry, Mike. The car was ugly anyway. Credit: Autostock

Dave Rodman: Yes and no. Check the second paragraph of the story I filed Tuesday. True -- you usually have to die to find out how much people care about you -- for all the good it does you. I think Mike will land OK. Good people usually do.

Lee Montgomery: You think Angela and Big Daddy are the same people?

Ryan Smithson: They do not look the same, I know that.

Marty Smith: Mike will be like Ron Hornaday was last year. Someone will suck, get canned, and be replaced by Mike, who will resurrect the team and live happily ever after. NOTE: I'm hoping Hank Parker Jr., gets a similar opportunity.

	Daryn Kagan Credit: CNN.com

Ryan Smithson: Marty thought Angela was hot.

Marty Smith: She was hot.

Ryan Smithson: Sure, a hot check.

Dave Rodman: I think the owners are the bad people in this one. The wiredflyer guy appears to be extremely ignorant of motorsports sponsorship. He's tried to do the right thing, but he doesn't have a lot of money -- from what I understand he thought the owners would fund the takeoff and he would pay them as his business accrued the rewards of sponsorship.

Lee Montgomery: Whose the first Cup driver to get canned? And does Larry Foyt count?

Marty Smith: A.J.'s a tough ol' cat, Lee, but I don't reckon he's that ruthless.

Ryan Smithson: In the minor leagues in the 1930s, the owner of the team ordered the manager to let his son pitch. The manager of the team left the kid in for nine innings. Kid gave up 30 runs.

	Rudi Bakhtiar Credit: CNN.com

Marty Smith: What in the world? Smithson, what relevancy does that have? Then again, what relevancy do attractive ladies have? That girl Daryn that works on CNN is hot.

Lee Montgomery: Rudi Bakhtiar on Headline News is hot, too.

Ryan Smithson: Attractive ladies always have relevancy. Rudi Bakhtiar is the absolute bomb.

Lee Montgomery: This conversation has really gown downhill.

Marty Smith: Rodman likes Diane Sawyer.

Ryan Smithson: No, he likes Barbara Walters.

Marty Smith: She was hot when he was 25.

Dave Rodman: At least you guys are being homers and pumping up the company ladies.

	Gordon's hair in 2000 Credit: ASP

Marty Smith: Speaking of homers, what's the chance McLaughlin can win the Koolerz 300?

Ryan Smithson: Some Busch owner will fire his young driver in March and hire Mike. It'll work out.

Lee Montgomery: I'd say slim and none, but it's not that good.

Marty Smith: I'd say slim to none, given his predicament.

Lee Montgomery: Fella named Dale Jr. will win that.

Ryan Smithson: I think Waltrip will win it. Dale Jr., Waltrip, same thing.

Marty Smith: Jinx. Remember that stupid game. It used to infuriate me. Thing was, I'd adhere by that stupid silence rule.

	Gordon's hair in 2001 Credit: Autostock

Dave Rodman: Tough, tough, tough. So much can happen. He needs a crew chief -- though with the connections he has for his race day calls I bet you could pick a bunch of 'em -- heck, Zippy gave him $10,000 for the "Dreams" fund.

Ryan Smithson: McLaughlin's got a good engine, good car. Lot of pressure though. He better have a good qualifying lap.

Dave Rodman: So much can happen. But if he gets into the show -- and that is a big if since they are a new team with no protection -- he has a shot. And that's all he's asking for.

Lee Montgomery: I'd bet he'd have an all-star pit crew if he made the race.

Marty Smith: Remember Talladega last year? Hell, about 30 cars wrecked outta that one.

Ryan Smithson: Yep, 27. Guy who finished sixth was two laps down.

	Gordon's hair in 2002 Credit: AP

Dave Rodman: Part of his budget is earmarked for renting a Cup crew for the race -- if they'll take his money. One of his former guys said he would quit his job to come and work for Mike at Speedweeks. Guys, that is commitment.

Lee Montgomery: I'd bet they wouldn't take his money.

Marty Smith: Every northerner in Winston Cup will help him out. They roll like that -- stick together.

Ryan Smithson: I'll take his money. I'll catch-can.

Lee Montgomery: Why don't we volunteer? I'm the gasman.

Ryan Smithson: You're big enough, Lee.

Lee Montgomery: I'll be sure to eat my pork n' beans.

Marty Smith: We'd be the worst pit crew in history.

Marty Smith: Rodman looks like the Cable Guy when he hoops.

Dave Rodman: Practice, practice, practice. We could get down to 24 seconds, I'm sure.

Lee Montgomery: Have you guys ever done that? That is a 1,000 times harder than it looks.

Marty Smith: Smithson would just break stuff for no apparent reason.

Ryan Smithson: I can hear Dick Berggren now: HERE COMES MCCLAUGHLIN GAS AND TIRES HE IS GOING TO TAKE FOUR LITTLE TROUBLE ON THE RIGHT REAR AND TROUBLE ON THE LEFT FRONT GAS AND GO WELL WE HAVE GOT A PROBLEM WITH THE JACK 38.8 SECONDS HE IS GONE MATT BACK TO YOU.

Marty Smith: Benny wouldn't award us a damn thing.

Lee Montgomery: I'd be willing to be there would be a team out there take us on, just for publicity.

Marty Smith: I'd be willing to be you're wrong.

Ryan Smithson: Uh, I doubt they would.

Track Smack appears every Wednesday on NASCAR.com.

The opinions listed here are solely those of the participants.