Track Smack: Martinsville

Wow. Lately, Smack topics have been easy.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s win -- illegal pass or not?

Lee Montgomery: I wonder if Junior is reading this -- he said he'd be watching. Anyway, yes, it was an illegal pass. It was very close, looking at the replay a few times, but based on NASCAR's decision to penalize Brian Vickers because he was in the "act of passing," Earnhardt Jr. was definitely in the act of passing.

Ryan Smithson: Unfortunately, it was a judgment call, so not much you can do about it. I think NASCAR has only taken away a victory one time in the modern era -- Sonoma in 1991, I think -- and you knew it wouldn't happen Sunday. But no, to me, it looked like Kenseth moved down a tad. So go ahead, vilify me. But it didn't look that bad.

Marty Smith: Depends who you ask, but Smithson's right (for once). With it being a judgment call, you may as well just accept it and move forward. Worrying about it now won't get you anything but an ulcer. Junior did what he had to do to win the race. But you have to wonder, like Sterling Marlin said yesterday, if NASCAR was worried about a riot if they were to throw the black flag, it's a legitimate concern.

Dave Rodman: It looks like he definitely finished the pass under the yellow line, but as much as I hate to admit it, it's a judgment call and whatever you think of NASCAR's judgment, you can't go back and question it.

Lee Montgomery: Ryan, Kenseth did move down. But he left enough room as it turned out.

Lee Montgomery: Now, if NASCAR said Junior moved below the yellow line because Kenseth moved down, that would be different. But they said he was already past Kenseth. And that argument doesn't fly.

Marty Smith: No one got penalized, Lee. That's what's so confusing.

Send Hate Mail Marty Ryan Dave Lee

Ryan Smithson: If he was already past Kenseth, Lee, what's the problem? The leader can go below the yellow all he wants.

Lee Montgomery: But he wasn't past him. He was still in the "act of passing," to use their phrase. Which is bull....well, you know.

Ryan Smithson: He looked pretty clear of him to me.

Marty Smith: I'm like Rodman. The replay has escaped me. Isn't it funny that we were the ones actually AT the race and we've yet to see a replay?

Send Nice Mail Marty Ryan Dave Lee

Dave Rodman: I'll tell you this. I saw the photo we had on the front of NASCAR.com and I thought NASCAR's decision was bull. But then watching the clip last night it was amazing that he actually started past him legally -- but it was where he finished that might have been in question. And since I could not do a frame-by-frame analysis, I have to say it's judgment," and go on down the road.

Marty Smith: At the time, I thought it was bull. But like Smithson said, if a guy goes below the line and isn't trying to advance position, he can hang out down there all day. Like I said in Last Lap. NASCAR tells the drivers to consider the line a concrete wall...so odd...

Lee Montgomery: But let's go a little deeper. What if it had been Kenseth passing Junior. Would the call had been the same? In other words, Worm, he was in the "act of passing."

Ryan Smithson: Lee, I really do think it was -- for this reason - we have not seen this call made this deep in the race. Stewart was called for it in 2001, but he was not racing for the lead at the time. So no, I don't think Kenseth would have been nailed, either.

	He's going for the sleeper hold! Credit: Autostock

Marty Smith: That question was asked me by a fan, Lee. I'd like to think it would have been the same ruling, but like Gil Martin said, "If it were Harvick, he's done." Jimmie Johnson said a similar statement, but broadened it to include every other driver but Junior. Who knows, but I'd hope everyone was treated the same.

Dave Rodman: If he did it, he darn sure should have gotten a black flag! What did they do to Tony Stewart at Daytona in the first or second race under the "out of bounds" era?

Lee Montgomery: I guess we'll never know, but people have suggested Junior got favoritism. I got to believe it would be very difficult to black-flag any leader at that point, but they've done it before.

Ryan Smithson: What's next? Sensors that warn a driver when his left front hits the yellow line?

Marty Smith: Maybe they'll put one of those invisible fence dog shockers on the steering wheel, Smithson.

Lee Montgomery: Let's hope NASCAR didn't play favorites, anyway. Yeah, get rid of the yellow line. Or make the rule a lot clearer.

	Did you see that, Harvick? No flag! Credit: Autostock

Ryan Smithson: Of course people are going to suggest Junior got favoritism. Bunch of conspiracy theorists. And yes, they sold a lot of T-shirts on Sunday.

Dave Rodman: Of course, the question was raised that if it had been Kevin leading, would he have gotten the flag? Makes you go "hmmmm?"

Lee Montgomery: Does make you think. What's so bad about not having a yellow-line rule?

Ryan Smithson: Who the heck knows. Remember Marlin's pass in the grass in the Twin 125s at Daytona in 2001? It's good racing.

Marty Smith: Come on, boys. You sound like idiots. The yellow line concept is valid. Does it need tweaking? Sure. But NASCAR's intent on disallowing guys from flying past each other on the apron, only to fly back up into the racing groove out of control and cause a huge wreck, is cool.

Dave Rodman: One of the more hilarious snippets occurred after NASCAR reviewed the tape on the spot, as the race was running; then after the race at length, after the 29 team asked for a review.

A fan's perspective  I am anticipating a good discussion this week on Juniors pass legal or not.  What I hope doesn't get lost in the discussion, is Jimmie Johnson's whining about getting beat.  In car audio on National TV has Jimmie saying "We need to doing everything we can to keep that 8 car back". Seconds later Jimmie is moving up the hill to block Dale, Dale cuts left and passes him, crinkling Jimmie's fender.  Let's look at the yellow line pass. Jimmie is at the top, Matt is in the middle and Dale is on the bottom. Jimmie claims he made an illegal pass,but Matt who was closer didn't see the whole thing. Kind of like the fan behind home plate who claims to see balls and strikes better than the home plate umpire.  Okay. The pass occurs, and Jimmie gets moved up the hill on the end of the pass and no one chooses to follow him, how is this Dale's fault that no one follows Jimmie, seconds earlier the whole Hendrick stable was putting the block on Dale, and at the same time pushing Jimmie to the front.  It seems to me if Jimmie paid more attention to the 48 car instead of the 8 car he might of won. But driving looking out your side window or your rear view mirror or driving to keep someone else from winning isn't going to get you a win. The only thing the 8 car was worried about was winning. Look what happened.   -- Chad F.

Lee Montgomery: Drivers are going to block anyway. They're obviously not worried about causing The Big Wreck, so why not get rid of it. If someone wants to run the apron to pass and cause a wreck, go for it.

Marty Smith: Superspeedway races are already dangerous enough without that kind of attitude, bro.

Ryan Smithson: Some of the best racing moves we've seen on a plate track have come below the yellow. It's a place where the brave tread. Bring it back.

Dave Rodman: Then, poor Jim Hunter had to tell the media, which requested an opportunity to review it, that it would be available "at some point in the future."

Marty Smith: That was funny, Dave. Poor Hunter got grilled by the boys up in the press box. It's understandable, though. They wanted clarity.

Ryan Smithson: It was available on the front of NASCAR.com within 15 minutes on Sunday. Anyone could have reviewed it there.

Lee Montgomery: I think NASCAR probably feels like they are protecting the drivers from themselves with the yellow-line rule. But that's ludicrous.

Dave Rodman: The out of bounds rule was brought in for a very good reason -- and it needs to stay for the very same reason. NASCAR needs to figure out how to administer it.

Marty Smith: My point, exactly, Worm.

Ryan Smithson: This isn't golf!

Lee Montgomery: But they can't, it appears. Out of bounds. Ridiculous. Might as well build a wall there. Arena Racing League.

Ryan Smithson: Kurt Warner, meet Kurt Busch.

Marty Smith: They could do a tandem deal on NBC. AFL and NASCAR, NBC Sports' bread and butter.

Lee Montgomery: Exactly. "He Hate Me." Wait, wrong league.

Dave Rodman: Well, making it out of bounds would make it easy. Period. You cross the line, you are black flagged -- no exceptions.

Lee Montgomery: Perhaps. But what if somebody decides to turn left on you. Then it's not your fault. This isn't roller derby.

Ryan Smithson: That is the most stupid thing I've ever heard. Out of bounds on a racetrack. They have a word for out of bounds -- it's called wall.

Lee Montgomery: Get rid of the line. If you can make a pass on the apron and get away with it...isn't that what they call "racing"?

Marty Smith: No, that's what they call driving on the apron.

Ryan Smithson: From the looks at some the cars that actually finished at Talladega, you'd think it was roller derby.

Marty Smith: Roller Derby is awesome. Imagine Jimmy Spencer with one of those unitards on, flying around on skates throwing elbows at everything he sees. Seems like a perfect fit. Well, minus the unitard.

Dave Rodman: That would put NASCAR in the position of having to make more judgment calls and you're right, that could be a scarier thought than the alleged "big one."

Dave Rodman: This gets better by the minute. Sure, do away with it. And then if someone loses their mind and goes down on the flat and wrecks half the field they can sit out for three races. Have a racers' tribunal.

Rumor has it NASCAR might go to 16-gallon fuel cells to place a bigger emphasis on crews -- you in favor or not?

Lee Montgomery: Drivers having a voice? NASCAR would never stand for it.

Dave Rodman: let's not waste our time on speculation. Not appropriate for Martinsville -- Let's do a different question.

Ryan Smithson: We don't need more pit stops. We need some green-flag passing.

	A U.S. tank goes out for qualifying. Credit: AP

Lee Montgomery: I'm not in favor of it. The less time on pit road, the better.

Marty Smith: Agreed, boys. It ain't broke now, no need to fix it. Heck, half the races are already decided on pit road, anyway.

Ryan Smithson: Great, more stops for guys to get run over. And it was great of NASCAR to experiment with the 13-gallon cell at plate tracks, but guess what -- it didn't work Sunday. But I am willing to bet that a 100-gallon fuel cell would spread out the field. "Boys, we can make this race, on well, NO STOPS!"

Marty Smith: That may well be the stupidest thing you've ever said, Ryan.

Lee Montgomery: And would you get in a car with that much fuel?

Ryan Smithson: I was kidding. Geez.

Lee Montgomery: The back ends would have to be built like tanks.

Ryan Smithson: Racing tanks at Bristol would be pretty cool actually. We have tanks that can hit 70 mph. If a tank flipped over, would they have to throw a red flag?

Lee Montgomery: My money would be on Spencer in that case.

Predictions for Martinsville?

Marty Smith: Ricky Craven becomes the first repeat winner of 2003. And, boys, for the record I was dead-on last week. Junior swept the weekend, became the eighth different winner. Pay up, fools.

Dave Rodman: Make or break for Rusty Wallace.

Lee Montgomery: My money's on Richard Petty.

Ryan Smithson: Stewart makes it nine winners in nine races, Kenseth retains points lead.

Lee Montgomery: Sorry, I was dreaming.

Ryan Smithson: Hey, 15 wins for The King, who can argue?

	Our only Jimmy Hensley photo Credit: ASP

Lee Montgomery: Let's see......Martinsville....Time for Jeff Gordon to win, I believe.

Ryan Smithson: One of my top five favorite races was in 1999, when Andretti ran down Jeff Burton. Talk about a shocker.

Lee Montgomery: Or how about when Craven and Jarrett battled two years ago. Now that was a great race.

Ryan Smithson: Craven sure does have to work hard for his wins. Sheesh.

Marty Smith: Like I said, he'll get another this weekend. That Cal Wells bunch pretty well dispells the "single-car team can't compete" theory. They're great everywhere.

Lee Montgomery: Or the time with Terry Labonte and Dale Earnhardt knocked each other out of the way, and Darrell Waltrip won.

Dave Rodman: For Martinsville faves you could hardly beat Jimmy Hensley winning there in a truck.

Lee Montgomery: Martinsville is probably my favorite race track.

Ryan Smithson: Mr. Campbell, please add lights. Soon.

Lee Montgomery: No, never.

Marty Smith: No way, dude. I love Martinsville. It's home for me, and one of my favorite places to see a race. It's real racing.

Ryan Smithson: This isn't Wrigley Field, Lee.

Lee Montgomery: I almost got lost leaving that place late one night after a race. Too many hills. No lights, baby.

Ryan Smithson: Well, that is not a bad reason.

Marty Smith: Any reason is a bad reason. Martinsville is awesome as-is. See ya there...

Track Smack appears every Wednesday on NASCAR.com at 11 a.m. ET sharp!

The opinions listed here are solely those of the participants.