Track Smack: Offseason

What did y'all think of all the Truck title mess?

Dave Rodman: When you have three or four guys that would be worthy champions, you are going to have two or three extremely disappointed individuals when it is all over.

Marty Smith: I think Brendan Gaughan had every right to be ticked off. If he doesn't wreck, he's a champion. Unsponsored truck based on the West Coast. Who'd-a-thunk-it? That out of the way, NASCAR made the only call they could with the Ted Musgrave deal. He passed to the left, and after NASCAR's screw up at Texas set the precedent, they had no choice but to black-flag him and hand the title to Kvapil.

Ryan Smithson: That was high comedy. And I am not talking about Gaughan. You guys should have seen the broadcast. Jim Smith looked like he was happier than he'd ever been. Little did he know that he didn't win the title. It was painful to watch.

Lee Montgomery: Mess is a kind way to put it. I hate that the title had to be decided on one call, but that's the way it goes. That "act of passing" rule is stupid, but it is the rule, and I guess NASCAR called it the only way it could.

Marty Smith: Everyone seemed upset that Kvapil was toying with the throttle on the restart, which made Setzer check up, and in turn, Musgrave was forced to veer left.

Dave Rodman: Well, like I said, bottom line is any one of the four would have been worthy champions for different reasons, so the race came out the way it did, and Travis is a darned good choice for champ.

Send a nice letter Marty Ryan Dave Lee

Ryan Smithson: The scary thing is, we nearly had a champion with zero victories. Kvapil's win at Bristol came after Harvick crashed on the final lap.

Marty Smith: Why did you have to bring that up, Smithson? I'm a lap away from my first trip to Victory Lane and the right front blows up. That so sucked.

Ryan Smithson: Because it's interesting. Gaughan had six wins.

Marty Smith: Same deal as Winston Cup, Smithson. Everybody's raising cain because Newman had eight wins and Matt only one. It's the way the point system works. Get over it.

Ryan Smithson: It's also interesting that Kvapil technically got released, and he goes and gives his team the first pit box for all of 2004.

Lee Montgomery: We could argue about the points system (Gaughan six wins vs. Kvapil one), but Kvapil completed all but one lap all year. Absolutely stunning.

Send a mean letter Marty Ryan Dave Lee

Ryan Smithson: The thing is, Kvapil should have completed all of them. He got turned at some short track, and that was it. Now that would have been a stat!

Marty Smith: Statboy, where have you been?

Lee Montgomery: We're going to have a Wisconsin driver in a Japanese truck next year. Think some fans will hate that?

Marty Smith: Wisconsinese!

Dave Rodman: Bottom line on the weekend is the racetrack provided some pretty big-time drama in all three divisions, even in Winston Cup, where the championship wasn't part of the equation.

Ryan Smithson: Man, the attrition factor was brutal at Homestead last weekend. It was like an F1 race.

	Instead of banking Miami, they should have turned it into a road course.

Marty Smith: Homestead is to be commended. I had some fan write me and tell me I was an idiot because I predicted single-file racing on the bottom. Hey buddy, here's a hint: Every driver asked assumed the same thing. Now go eat another Twinkie.

Ryan Smithson: Next up: Banking for Loudon. I wish.

Marty Smith: I guess the renovations cost ISC $10 million. That's money well spent, right there.

Ryan Smithson: Better than $10 million worth of whining over bad racing.

Lee Montgomery: Whoever paved Homestead should become the Official Asphalt Supplier of NASCAR.

Dave Rodman: Depends on how Bob Bahre feels about his heirs. I think he cares not about what it takes financially. If he and Gary were watching last weekend, I would not be surprised if they redid NHIS one bit.

Marty Smith: Amazing, ain't it? Finally, we have a good race at New Hampshire where the track stayed together and it seemed decent, and we still want it changed.

Lee Montgomery: Yeah, I was going to say most drivers liked it this year. NHIS won't change any time soon.

Ryan Smithson: He just re-did the surface, so he won't be banking it, Dave.

Dave Rodman: Marty, you're right -- that was not a very well thought out comment I made. The way NHIS is configured, I don't think they could do anything like Homestead.

	Brian, you should have consulted Carl Edwards first.

Ryan Smithson: I hate to gush, but it's a shame we have to wait another year to see another race at Homestead.

Dave Rodman: It's the banking. Let's slap 30 degrees at Martinsville!

Ryan Smithson: Martinsville's fine the way it is. Has been for 500 years.

Marty Smith: That was a great race Sunday, for sure. I was shocked they were gunning four-wide in the Truck race.

Ryan Smithson: They were five-wide on the backstretch in the Winston Cup race at one point.

Dave Rodman: It's too bad L.A. is L.A. I would vote to go to South Florida twice in a heartbeat. And I don't particularly care for South Florida.

What do you guys think about Goodyear's decision to go with softer tires for next year?

Lee Montgomery: If it works, great. If it doesn't, bad news for fabricators.

Ryan Smithson: Not sure. But it will be interesting to see if it helps the veterans gain back some feel. I don't think the younger drivers will see as big a difference.

Dave Rodman: It's like just about every other rule change you could ever imagine or come up with. It's going to be a challenge for everyone -- some are going to get it, and some are going to get bit.

Marty Smith: I think it's a great call, but I'm not sure that unveiling them at Homestead -- a track with new, hot, pavement -- was the best idea.

Lee Montgomery: In theory, it's a great idea.

Marty Smith: So many guys were critical of them -- even ones that didn't hit the wall at 175 mph.

	Dale Jr. is drinking a Sun Drop! Earlier in the year, we spotted Kerry Earnhardt drinking a Cheerwine (below). You can tell they are brothers -- they have the obscure soft drink market cornered.

Lee Montgomery: But these teams will find more down force somewhere. I guarantee. And then what?

Marty Smith: Boom.

Lee Montgomery: Exactly. Back to square one. If it ain't broke....

Ryan Smithson: The racing can get better, Lee. It wasn't that great this year.

Lee Montgomery: Sure, but is this the answer? I'm not so sure.

Marty Smith: Thing is, so many guys think it is broke, Lee. The hard tires is why so many races are decided by fuel strategy.

Ryan Smithson: Me neither. I just don't like seeing no-tire changes.

Lee Montgomery: The best way is to dirty up the cars, to take away downforce.

Dave Rodman: That's right, Ryan. It's worth a try.

Lee Montgomery: Of course, even if Goodyears start popping left and right, it won't be Goodyear's fault.

Marty Smith: Either way, it was a helluva year. And I still have to dye my hair blue.

Dave Rodman: NASCAR ought to build a "house car" with which it can tinker and tool around and then put drivers in it to test real world variables.

Ryan Smithson: They don't "explode," Lee. They "cut down."

Dave Rodman: That might get them going in the right direction.

Lee Montgomery: That's what the R&D center is doing.

Dave Rodman: And if I had to put a percentage on it, I would say the greater percentage of "deflations" would not rest in Goodyear's tent.

Archive  Read past issues of Track Smack! Only $0.00!

Ryan Smithson: I am glad I am not a tire specialist for these teams. That just seems like a lose-lose job. If it works, well, it's supposed to. If not, well, it's not even your fault anyway and you have zero control over it.

Dave Rodman: I knew they were doing a lot of concepts and simulations -- but have they put anyone in a real car to test this stuff so we don't have another "5 and 5" fiasco?

Ryan Smithson: If it works, well, it's supposed to. If not, well, it's not even your fault anyway and you have zero control over it.

Track Smack appears every Wednesday on NASCAR.com at 11 a.m. ET sharp. Even in the offseason.

The opinions -- if you can call them that -- are solely those of the participants.