The Last Lap: It's a Bow Tie ballgame

CONCORD, N.C. -- Though two of the season's first four Winston Cup Series events have yielded Ford victories, the blue oval boys maintain adamancy that the Chevrolet Monte Carlo -- with its superior front-end downforce -- is far and away the series' most competitive make.

I had every intention of staying out of this one.

My expertise regarding aerodynamics and downforce and wind tunnel numbers is just South of nil, so in my mind I had no right debating the issue.

Then, last weekend at Atlanta, Chevrolet driver Kevin Harvick was asked to offer insight on the situation, including the seemingly limitless bickering that the sanctioning body must endure regarding parity -- or lack thereof. His response was classic Harvick:

"Let me just put my mark on this. We've been getting our butts kicked for I don't know how many years since Ford switched its body style, and the first thing they do is start complaining about downforce this and downforce that.

"Someone ought to go stick their foot in Jack Roush's mouth because he doesn't understand how big of an advantage he's been at, now that it's all equal.

"I've said from the beginning that Chevrolet has got the best race teams and the best drivers and the best owners -- and it's just showing. I don'tthink we've even come close to understanding everything that there is to be understood about our racecar. We should do nothing but get better."

And people wonder why I like the guy. But I digress.

Once Harvick's sentiments were made public, my email was overtaken with heated messages from fans aghast, prompting the most argued Last Lap topic to date:

Do you agree with Kevin Harvick? Does Chevrolet truly have the best cars and drivers in the Winston Cup Series?

Before we get started, hear this: determining driver superiority, to me, is no easy task.

If an individual is among the top 30 drivers in the Winston Cup Series, they rank among the best in the world. End of story.

Sure, some are better than others. But in this case, the debate is certainly more about equipment than sheer talent. As I've said many times before, not even Jeff Gordon could win in an inferior piece.

Now, on with the madness:

JoeB: Kevin's statement could not be more accurate. Take a look at who the drivers are, rather than the make of the car. It's not like you see Derrike Cope on top the leader board.

If you did, than I would say that make of car needs to be checked.

Tony Stewart, Bobby Labonte, Jeff Gordon, and Dale Jr. are either past Winston Cup Champions or will be soon.

It should not be a surprise to anyone that it has a lot to due with the driver of the Chevy, not just the make of a car. Too bad FORD drivers. F.O.R.D. = fix or repair daily!

Wild. I haven't heard that one since, oh, fifth grade or so. Nor have I heard "Found On Road Dead" in the past decade. As I recall, weren't Dale Jarrett and Matt Kenseth "First On Race Day," respectively, at Rockingham and Vegas?

To me, that's the biggest issue here, that Ford has just as many wins as Chevrolet has. Sure, Kenseth's win at Vegas made him the only non-Chevy in the top-five. But who cares?

Regardless your argument -- his pit crew had a 13.4-second stop or whatever else one can conjure up -- a Ford Taurus won that race. Hence, I don't care if 12 of the top-13 finishers were Chevrolets, Ford has no base for argument.

So what about Atlanta, then, where the top three finishers all drove Chevrolets, and Kenseth was once again the lone driver in the-5 not wearing a bowtie? To me, that's the true indicator of how good the Chevrolet is.

The Fatback McSwain's and Chad Knaus' and Tony Eury Jr's of the world are obviously getting a better feel for the proper balance required in their downforce cars, something they obviously hadn't figured out at Rockingham where just one Chevrolet cracked the top-10.

So what have we established thus far? That Ford and Chevy have run well. So what's up with Dodge and Pontiac, who have just two top-fives combined in the season's first four events?

I say bad luck, mainly.

Ryan Newman has been amazing the past two weeks in a Dodge, but has had to overcome adversity in every race thus far this year.

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Newman, Rusty Wallace, Sterling Marlin and Ricky Craven will likely all win before the year is out, but that point seems irrelevant in this debate. From what I saw, this deal was mostly about the Hatfields and McCoys. Ford vs. Chevy. Imagine that.

3Man: NASCAR and GM have always been working closely together. Look back through the years and the rules are usually tilted toward the Chevys.

The damn Daytona 500 trophy is named after a GM stylist. Look at the year 2000. Ford won 2 of the first 3 races, had more top 5's and more laps led.

The media made a huge deal out of it and NASCAR gave Chevy concessions going into Atlanta.

Year 2001 -- Chevy won the first 3 races, had more top 5's, more laps led (by a ton).

The media never mentioned the domination and no rules change was ever made. It's the way it's been for 30 years and it will never change.

Though we appreciate it, you're giving the media entirely too much credit, 3. Your conspiracy theory is quite interesting, too, and you're not the only one who feels that NASCAR is in cahoots with General Motors:

DocRo: Marty, I'll answer Kevin Harvick for ya. Roger Penske was winning Championships when Richard Childress was running in the back at Talladega.

Chip Ganassi is present in more major racing series than RCR can dream of getting into.

There is no IRL or CART team running Chevy engines or chassis.

Tell Harvick that if NASCAR wasn't severely bribed by Chevy that they wouldn't be a contender at all, and from the results at Atlanta -- four Chevys and a Ford in the top 5 -- there may be the innocuous "rules changes" to get some parity that NASCAR must have.

You can also tell him that the showroom versions of an Intrepid are far and away a better looking car than a Monte Carlo.

If Chevy's weren't the cheapest to race he'd be driving a Dodge and bitchin' about Chevy's.

You, or him, can come see me at TMS, and after I bribe you with imbibments, we can enjoy a great race, hopefully without rain this year.

Of course I'll have been feeding the corner workers and have backup.

Thanks for the invite and the history lesson, Doc Holiday. I'll be sure to bring my posse to Tejas, and steer clear of any "imbibments" that cross my path.

	Dale Jarrett has one of Ford's two wins in 2003. Credit: Autostock

Roush6179799: No. If they are why is there a Ford leading the points standings? Matt Kenseth has had the best over all team since early last year.

Six wins in 40 races, the most of any team over all since last year.

Roush Racing has had the best multi-car team the past year, Harvick was nowhere to be seen.

Hard to argue with that one.

Ace: Someone better have Harvick take a look at the RCR boys' track record so far this year.

He (personally) and his teammates have not been anything close to a threat.

As a matter of fact, when is the last time one of them finished on the lead lap?

I am a die-hard Chevy fan and a Harvick fan but he is off here a little bit.

Is he, though? I think Joe Gibbs' decision to move to Chevrolet is a glaring example of the superiority of the make.

Gibbs cited the need for a deeper pool of information to remain competitive, despite having won two of the past three championships with the Pontiac Grand Prix.

Many fans noted that there are more Chevrolets in the field than any other make, but that's simply not true. Of the 47 teams that have started at least one Winston Cup race in 2003, less drive Chevrolets (13) than Dodges (15).

Also, let me might add: Ford is leading the manufacturer standings.

Hmm. Go figure. Once again, I reiterate - I know nothing about aerodynamics.

What I do know is that those in the top-five -- Kenseth, Stewart, Michael Waltrip, Jimmie Johnson and Labonte - have established pit crews, the x-factor in Winston Cup 2003. With today's parity, losing track position on pit road is intolerable.

What I do know is that every Ford driver asked says Chevy makes a ton more front downforce, and subsequently is far better than the Taurus. What I do know is that four of the top-five drivers in the point standings drive Chevrolets.

What I do know is that Matt Kenseth leads the championship points race. In a Ford.

Hmm. Go figure.

Marty Smith's mailbag appears every Tuesday afternoon on NASCAR.com.

The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.