Track Smack: Bristol

We've got a crowded field in Track Smack this week. We've got Laura Eddy, a Jimmie Johnson fan (how convenient) from South Carolina, as our guest this week. Our guest driver is Jeremy Mayfield, who was funnier than the rest of us combined.

What should NASCAR do about slower cars that get lapped early in the race? Is this a serious problem, as Jeff Gordon said?

Laura Eddy: NASCAR definitely needs to do something about slower cars. They did say that Hillenburg wasn't that much slower than the leaders at the time of the accident. If they are doing the minimum speed allowed by NASCAR, they aren't doing anything wrong. I just think Gordon was miffed that he wrecked with a car that isn't a full-timer.

Jeremy Mayfield: I don't know if it's a problem. It's something we've dealt with for years. Your car may not be as good as it started the race and I feel like we are all professionals and need to adjust and deal with the situations.

Lee Montgomery: I'm curious as to Jeremy's answer, but I think raising the minimum speed again is a step in the right direction. Let's face it; we're not always going to have 40 cars that run the same speed. And remember, it's called racing for a reason. This is a tough sport, and it should be difficult to pass, or else anyone can do it. These guys are professionals.

Dave Rodman: I think not enough was made of Tony Stewart running Andy over. Whether he was simply impatient or making a preemptive strike before he got bit, again by a lapped car at Darlington as he did with Buckshot a couple years ago, there was no call to simply shove someone out of the way in the worst possible place -- the middle of a corner.

Ryan Smithson: Not really. There have always been slow cars in NASCAR. Stewart could have been a tad more patient. Like we saw, plenty of damaged cars managed to stay out of the way.

Marty Smith: Yes, it's a serious problem. And as I said in Last Lap, it's gone from silly to absurd to downright dangerous. Jeff's wreck was scary, boys. This must be addressed. And to me, it's more about speed than numbers.

Laura Eddy: I agree with Dave ... Stewart's incident with Hillenburg -- that was totally uncalled for. There was no need for Tony to punt Andy like that, none whatsoever.

Laura Eddy: Hillenburg, as NASCAR said, was traveling at the speed NASCAR says you have to travel in order not to be black flagged so there's no need for anyone to blame Hillenburg for something that he didn't cause.

Send us some love MartDawg Ryan Lee Dave

Lee Montgomery: Andy said he got loose, and Stewart probably wasn't expecting that. That's what happened. Stewart didn't hit Hillenburg on purpose.

Ryan Smithson: This has been a problem that has been brewing, though. As Jeremy would probably tell you, it's 10 times easier to get out of the way at Atlanta as opposed to Darlington. And Bristol might be worse.

Dave Rodman: Well, as usual, Tony had nothing to say about anything, so who knows what he was responsible for.

Send a mean letter Marty Ryan Dave Lee

Lee Montgomery: I wonder though. Has passing slower cars a new issue? Why is this such a big deal now?

Ryan Smithson: Lee, because Gordon got taken out. That is why.

Lee Montgomery: That's not a good enough reason.

Ryan Smithson: I didn't say it was. Lapped traffic is part of racing.

Laura Eddy: Lee, I think it's because there are so many more part-time cars coming in to compete.

	NASCAR.com's Brant Allen (above) does his best Kurt Busch impression.

Marty Smith: If a guy is within a legitimate minimum speed, he has every right to be out there. Whether it's 36 or 40 or 43 cars is irrelevant. It's about being competitive. And right now, there are only about 35 legitimately competitive full-time cars, and about five competitive part time efforts.

Jeremy Mayfield: I don't think it is a big deal now; it's just that Darlington is narrow and we just saw different situations. I only saw the racetrack as being a new situation -- not the slower cars on it.

Lee Montgomery: So if Hillenburg was above the minimum speed, why are we talking about this?

Jeremy Mayfield: That's what I'm wondering

Dave Rodman: It has always been the same situation -- there are always real fast cars, real slow cars and every range in between. It should not take a high-profile guy getting taken out to make it an issue.

Marty Smith: The minimum speed wasn't high enough, Lee, that's why.

Laura Eddy: Marty, NASCAR said he was above the minimum speed...

Lee Montgomery: That's the point. Raise the minimum speed. Or shut up.

Dave Rodman: You don't think this same conversation would be as big a deal if Stewart spun out Hillenburg, and Morgan Shepherd t-boned him?

Marty Smith: Laura, you're completely missing the point. The point is that the minimum speed needs to be raised.

Lee Montgomery: Then let's do it.

Laura Eddy: I'm not disagreeing with you, at all.

Lee Montgomery: Or shorten the fields, but I'm not sure that's the answer, either. There will always be slower cars for the faster cars to deal with.

	Elliott Sadler before qualifying.......

Jeremy Mayfield: Time-wise it (the minimum speed at Darlington) was 34 seconds or something like that. Our race pace slowed to 32 something, so if they took that gap out anymore, the whole field would have to come in.

Lee Montgomery: That's a great point, Jeremy. Jeremy, are slower cars more difficult to deal with this year than past years?

Jeremy Mayfield: Like I said, the only time I noticed it was because the track was narrower at Darlington. There are so many of us that run each week that know each others style of driving, the part-time racers don't know our style and maybe have a harder time adjusting where they should pass us.

Ryan Smithson: But you can't make them qualify/race (meaning, you got to qualify within 107 percent of the pole-sitter's speed) via F1 rules either. That wouldn't be fair.

	After qualifying 10th....

Marty Smith: Smithson, it's more about Happy Hour speeds. Qualifying times don't give a true indication of the potency of a car.

Ryan Smithson: Marty, a lot of them don't even run Happy Hour! You gonna buy them tires?

Lee Montgomery: Marty's a TV star now. He can afford it.

Marty Smith: It's all about money.

Ryan Smithson: I think even Marty would balk at paying $1,560.76 for four Goodyears.

Dave Rodman: Price of doing business, guys. You need to establish that you can maintain a reasonably competitive rate of speed -- not in one qualifying lap -- but in a race situation.

	And after finishing 5th!

Marty Smith: Come on, Lee. Happy Hour is a way better indicator than qualifying.

Dave Rodman: It would be nice if you could establish that -- or fail in the effort -- before the race started.

Lee Montgomery: Do you think it would be a good idea of bringing back rookie-type meetings at some places? So the veterans can explain to rookies/inexperienced drivers what should be done?

Jeremy Mayfield: I don't think anyone is out there to fail or cause wrecks, they all want to do well and it isn't fair to tell someone they can't race. If they are good enough to prepare a car to make the race, they have the right to compete.

Marty Smith: Exactly, Jeremy. If you can make the speed, you deserve the chance.

TV ratings are slightly down this year for NASCAR races -- why is that?

Marty Smith: Because they're parades.

Laura Eddy: Can we blame it on March Madness? Nah. From what I've seen on driver message boards, a lot of fans are livid about the point system change after race 26 and they just don't care anymore.

	Our only photo of Andy Ponstein

Lee Montgomery: Maybe all the folks who were ticked off about the Chase for the Championship stood by what they said.

Laura Eddy: I know I'd hate it if my favorite driver were in 1st place, leading by 300 points and then him lose 295 of them. It's simply not fair ... I'm sure Jeremy can attest to that one. If he were leading by "X" amount over someone ...

Ryan Smithson: I don't think it's a big deal. Golf ratings come and go; they fluctuate a lot more than NASCAR's do. It is just business.

Lee Montgomery: Maybe they really aren't watching anymore.

Ryan Smithson: The more NASCAR's TV ratings go up, the harder it is to improve.

Lee Montgomery: You know what the best race of the year was? The Atlanta truck race. It isn't tires. It's aero. We've got to dirty up the cars a lot more than they are. The answer isn't tires.

Laura Eddy: Atlanta. Poor Hank.

	Our only photo of Jason White

Jeremy Mayfield: It could be rules changes -- maybe the equality between teams doesn't make it the best to watch on TV, but it's still good racing. It could be a number of things. March madness, Spring vacations, aero-packages. NASCAR has the cars so close and now they have that and it takes some of the excitement away that the fans were expecting each week.

Marty Smith: Most fans seem to really only care about the final 10 races, right now. I think that Richmond night race in September will have huge ratings, but right now it's rather mundane. Vegas and Atlanta were straight lines. Matt Kenseth sought me out in the garage Saturday to plead his case why the Vegas race was great. He says drivers can pass the leader without the awful aero push. That's fair. I respect Matt. But as far as entertainment goes, I ain't paying 150 bucks to see it.

Ryan Smithson: It could be something small, like the weather -- when the weather is cold in the Eastern United States, people will watch TV more.

Dave Rodman: Good for them, then. Personally, I think the same kind of drama is still there. But if the perception is that the racing is not as good, ratings suffer.

	Man, they said they'd meet me by the stack of tires at 4 p.m.

Lee Montgomery: Darlington, I thought, was a decent race.

Dave Rodman: Live attendance is down, too.

Ryan Smithson: Actually, Rodman, attendance is up.

Laura Eddy: Jeremy, the racing is still exciting. I still love it as much as I did before the rules change ... but the playoff thing is bringing the fans down.

Lee Montgomery: Dirty cars and worn-out pavement = better racing.

Marty Smith: Dirty Lee Montgomery. Hey dirty...

Ryan Smithson: Las Vegas had neither of that, Lee.

Jeremy Mayfield: I can understand from a fan's point of view, but we still have to try and win each week and race harder no matter what the system is.

Marty Smith: Y'all know Chingy? Never mind.

	OK Terry. Turn to the right! No, my left, your right!

Laura Eddy: Give Vegas a night race in the summer and you'll have it, Ryan.

Ryan Smithson: You don't race Vegas in the summer regardless. Fans would die from heat exhaustion.

Laura Eddy: This is true. Charlotte is horrible in May, I can imagine Vegas in the summer.

Jeremy Mayfield: I say we make them all Saturday night races.

Ryan Smithson: Jeremy, the TV networks won't want that, because Saturday night is dead night for ratings. Bristol night race never gets bang-up ratings.

Jeremy Mayfield: All right, then Sunday night. Monday night.

Laura Eddy: Yeah, I'm not a big fan of Saturday night races.

Marty Smith: If you make them all Saturday night races, you can kiss the Weekly Racing Series goodbye.

Ryan Smithson: Sunday night would be great. Little interference with football.

Lee Montgomery: Live attendance would be worse.

Ryan Smithson: On Sunday night, Lee?

Lee Montgomery: Too many folks have to go to work the next day.

Dave Rodman: I think Sunday night would massacre live attendance, at least consistently. Some people would still be able to plan to attend some events, but across the board I bet live attendance would suffer.

Jeremy Mayfield: Well, then it looks like Sunday afternoon is all we've got to work with

Lee Montgomery: Sunday afternoon it is.

Jeremy Mayfield: Dodge Dealers! Mt. Dew! UAW!

Lee Montgomery: Good plug, dude.

Jeremy Mayfield: I had to Dew it.

Lee Montgomery: Oh, lord.

Jeremy Mayfield: I had to do it. I've got a camera crew following me.

Marty Smith: Jeremy, that 97 octane you're wearing? I'm sure someone else has already said that.

Laura Eddy: I wanted to say that, Marty!

Predictions for Bristol?

Laura Eddy: I'm going to go with Rusty Wallace. He's way overdue, that and my brother will finally shut up about his losing streak.

Marty Smith: I'm going with Kurt Busch. He's won three of the past four and I'll go with four of five.

Ryan Smithson: Kurt's due. Bad.

Laura Eddy: Wonder if he'll get booed again.

Lee Montgomery: Jimmy Spencer. Oh, wait.

Ryan Smithson: People tend to win Bristol in spurts, eh, Marty?

Jeremy Mayfield: I going with Curtis for Bristol -- he's definitely overdue.

Lee Montgomery: Curtis Mayfield!

	I give it a big thumbs-down, Casey!

Jeremy Mayfield: Curtis Mayfield and the super flies.

Ryan Smithson: Jeremy Busch.

Marty Smith: Curtis Turner.

Dave Rodman: I am going to throw my hat in Kurt's ring as well -- hope I can plug him into my fantasy team. He's due and has certainly run well enough to win. Besides, I couldn't stand another weekend of listening to him whine!

Jeremy Mayfield: I agree with whoever wrote about Kurt whining.

Laura Eddy: What'd Kurt whine about this time?

	Yes, the fish weighed seven pounds. No, we can't eat it. I threw it back.

Lee Montgomery: Ouch. Lay the smack down, Jeremy.

Marty Smith: I still can't believe y'all don't think slow cars are a problem.

Laura Eddy: Oh man, back to that.

Ryan Smithson: Been around 100 years, Marty. Always will be a problem.

Jeremy Mayfield: We can talk about it and think about it, but what am I going to do about it? I can't control it.

Dave Rodman: Rusty is certainly the sentimental favorite to win, but after listening to him and Larry Carter lay out their pit crew blues, it's hard to see a win coming any time soon.

Laura Eddy: Kurt was whining about Johnson winning on Sunday ... "he sped down pit road."

Jeremy Mayfield: I don't think the 48 was speeding. Kurt just got beat.

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Ryan Smithson: Jeremy, this may be off base, but let me ask you this. Was wondering this on Sunday. How in the world do you maintain a proper pit road speed when speeding just a tad will win you the race? I mean, does NASCAR bust you if you're clocked going 47 mph on pit road?

Jeremy Mayfield: I guess you speed at times and hope you don't get caught. You know the deal and how and when to play the game.

Ryan Smithson: On video games, it's really hard to keep it pegged at 4500, second gear.

Jeremy Mayfield: I just got caught at Rockingham a few weeks ago -- twice.

Laura Eddy: NASCAR patrols pit road speeds good, eh?

Ryan Smithson: Who yells at you? David Hoots? "Bring the 19 back to pit road, sir."

Jeremy Mayfield: You've got to have good pedal control.

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Marty Smith: Throttle control is everything with this new aero package, man.

Laura Eddy: Hey can someone explain that penalty on Kenseth for me?

Ryan Smithson: Lee will be happy to, Laura.

Lee Montgomery: He passed under caution.

Ryan Smithson: There ya go!

Jeremy Mayfield: 19 19 19 19 19!

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

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