Last Lap: Mail Bonding

Fundamentally, NASCAR competition is a form of entertainment. Some even say it's more entertainment than sport these days.

Regardless one's particular stance in the entertainment vs. competition debate, many would agree that something must be done about Pocono Raceway, because the Pocono 500 was neither especially entertaining nor especially competitive.

	MARTY SMITH •   E-mail Marty •   Opinion Archive •   Store: 'I Agree With Marty' tee

And ye Pennsylvanians don't go getting all huffy-puffy just yet. I'm not singling out your racetrack as the sole reason Sunday's show was like watching a PBS documentary on the Dewey Decimal system.

It wasn't just the track. It was a combination of things: numerous drawn-out cautions brought on by blown tires, lack of shifting, race-length not unlike the maiden voyage of the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria.

That's the kicker: race length. Five hundred miles at Pocono is overkill. Like Dover in 1997, Pocono would benefit tremendously from a reduction in length. Lop a hondo off that puppy and make it the Pocono 400.

Pocono Raceway is important, if not vital, in the grand scheme of Brian France's plan to take over the world. It is the track in the greater New York market, the premiere media market in country. It is quaint.

(Some prefer to say it's in the middle of nowhere. But I'm from the country. I know what the middle-of-nowhere looks like. Pocono is quaint.)

There's not much to do on the periphery, but there's something to be said for that. But because there's not much to do, the racing must stand out. It used to stand out due to shifting characteristics. That is no longer the case.

As it stands it's less entertainment than commitment. And if there's one thing the viewing public doesn't want, it's commitment. We want quick-hit. We want instant gratification.

I think that's a major reason interest in the Truck Series is growing. The Craftsman Truck Series is get to the front now. No hanging back waiting for later. No settling in for the first 400 miles in anticipation of go-time in the final hundred.

Get there. Right now.

Granted, the Cup boys should be challenged. Select 500-mile -- and in the case of Lowe's Motor Speedway even 600-mile -- events are warranted. Television, however, warrants a three- to three-and-a-half hour broadcast window.

And at this stage in NASCAR's meteoric evolution, television is arguably the most influential partner in the sanctioning body's vast arsenal. To its credit, NASCAR has reciprocated that level of influence. NASCAR has solidified itself as a valuable property for television networks.

To stay that way, it may be time to look at shortening some traditionally marathonish events -- starting in Pocono, Penn.

Now then, off the soapbox and on to questions from the "Ask Marty" message board. Bear with me. I'll do my best.

Martin Truex Jr.

lovinlittleE: As silly season gets under way, where do you expect Martin Truex Jr. to go next year? Do you think DEI will move him into a third car ("1" car maybe) or do you think he will be picked up by some other team? And, if you were Truex, do you think you would be looking elsewhere?

Also, as frustration continues to mount at DEI, do you think Dale Earnhardt Jr. will move over to RCR at some point or is his future sealed with DEI?

Jon Wood expressed in an interview over the weekend that he was a possible driver of Mark Martin's 6 car. If he gets the job, wouldn't it kind of be strange if Viagra stays on as sponsor?

Recurring theme I quickly noticed on the message board: one question rapidly evolves into four. Fear not, Sheryl Crow, I'll attack them one at a time.

First up, Truex. I'm quite certain he'll re-sign at Dale Earnhardt, Inc. -- possibly within the week. I've been in contact with DEI representatives for months, and am assured he has no plan to change addresses.

Did Truex look elsewhere? He'd have been remiss had he not done so. He's one of the hottest commodities on the market. Interest from other teams drives up his value. Big offers are thrown at such talents. But in the end, loyalty will prevail.

DEI gave Truex a shot at the big time, and he will repay that commitment.

On to Junior: His current contract with DEI runs through the conclusion of the 2007 season, so I'd be surprised if he went anywhere anytime soon.

As for Jon Wood, he currently is under contract with Roush Racing, so yes, he is a possibility in the No. 6 car. But you needn't worry about Viagra. Roush Racing president Geoff Smith told me some time ago that Pfizer has elected not to continue its sponsorship of the No. 6 car in the post-Mark Martin era.

mags1117: Hey Marty, you are the best, love reading your columns , and your insight from the columns to NASCAR Nation is great. My question for you is something that my husband and I noticed Sunday -- we've been fans for years now but never really noticed until Sunday -- why is it that a majority of the cars when changing two tires opt to change the right sides vs. the left sides? If you're always going "left" wouldn't the left sides wear out faster? I noticed a lot of right sides being replaced Sunday.

Like my granddaddy often told me, Maggie Mae, it's a matter of physics. The cars carry a significant amount of speed down those long straightaways and dive hard into the corners.

As they enter the corner, a majority of the car's weight and g-force load shifts to the right-front tire. That's why you'll often see drivers lose right-front tires, and why most teams change right sides if they elect to make a two-tire stop.

Sunday's left-front tire issue remains a mystery. Many teams, including Earnhardt's and Kasey Kahne's, placed blame on themselves, saying their respective camber and air pressure choices resulted in a rash of blown left-front tires. Ricky Rudd, who blew five left-front tires by himself, wasn't so sure.

"I don't have a clue. I've been coming here a long time and I haven't ever seen anything like that," Rudd said. "At one time they came on the radio and said 'Don't hit the curbs.'

"That was sort of a lame excuse, really. I don't know -- we just had a major problem [Sunday]. Some tires looked perfect and other tires, even after a short run, when they came off they looked like they were ready for the junkyard."

	Inside the Numbers Jerry Nadeau's career Cup stats Year Races Win T5 T10 2003 10 0 1 1 2002 28 0 0 1 2001 36 0 4 10 2000 34 1 3 5 1999 34 0 1 2 1998 30 0 0 0 1997 5 0 0 0 Totals 177 1 9 19

12mike15: Marty, will Jerry Nadeau ever race again? What's he been up to lately?

Quite honestly, it doesn't look as though Nadeau will ever return to the Cup Series ranks. I spoke with him Wednesday and he said the doctors continue to urge him not to return to racing.

"Right now they can't sign me off to go back racing, but I'm not giving up on it," Nadeau said. "If something comes up that attracts me that I could do something else, I'll do it. But right now I'm just trying to stay fit. I'd love to find something to do, just don't know what to do. My whole life has been racing and that was taken away from."

Nadeau asked me to send a message to his fans.

"I want to tell my fans, it's an unfortunate accident, and it's hard to come back from a coma right into racing. It's a more serious injury than I thought. I figured it'd heal the first year. But it's more than a year process. It's a long term injury."

20Stewart02: My question is: With the two super teams of Hendrick and Roush, would it be prudent for maybe Gibbs and DEI to join forces and try and put an engine/car program together to make those two teams better? Once upon a time, JGR was considered one of the cream of the crop teams, and now they are just mediocre.

Stewart is the only one with any "success" this year, and that's without a win. Bobby (Labonte) and Jason (Leffler) both have had awful luck, if any, and it just seems as if DEI can't put together consistency with Jr., and Mikey (Waltrip) is showing some improvement, but not the performance that one would expect from DEI.

Should these two teams merge to form another "super team" to counter the Hendrick and Roush organizations and dominance for the past couple of years?

I'm uncertain that would work, Smoke. It's all about information gathering and an open notebook. Yes, resources are crucial, and the Yates/Roush engine program is standing proof that pooling resources among manufacturers is a viable option.

But all the resources in the world are useless without the proper information to activate them.

Think about Elliott Sadler and Dale Jarrett for a moment. They have the very same engines that Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards have, but they aren't reeling off victories. (Which also prompts me to wonder what's up with the No. 17 team? Matt Kenseth's last top-five finish came last September at New Hampshire, a span of 23 races. Wow.)

Back to Yates. They don't have the ability to test a car at every single venue on the circuit. Roush does. Each team is allotted five tests, and rookies get even more.

So while Yates has just 10 tests at their disposal, Roush has more than 25. There are 22 total tracks on the Nextel Cup circuit. And Roush is willing to share the information gathered company-wide. That doesn't seem fair. That's why there is a sense of urgency at Yates to add a third Cup team.

That's why Gibbs added a third Cup team. Gibbs and DEI would have to be willing to open an almost sacred line of communication. They'd have to allow engineers from rival organizations to pore over their machines and data.

That's like opening your financial records to your neighbor.

	If it weren't for bad luck ... Boby Labonte in 2005 Track Finish Result Pocono 26 crash Dover 38 engine Charlotte 2 running Richmond 8 running Darlington 17 running Talladega 23 engine Phoenix 6 running Fort Worth 38 running Martinsville 33 engine Bristol 22 running Atlanta 37 crash Las Vegas 41 crash Fontana 13 running Daytona 43 engine

RCR293107: Alright Marty. I might have a few. Since you have an opinion column on the site, what are your predictions for silly season? You are closer to it than the rest of us.

Which driver do you think has had the worst luck this year? Who's going to sponsor the 6 car next year? Is the impound rule here to stay? Any word on possible rule changes for next year? Any word on possible changes as to which tracks make up the chase?

Jeez. I feel like Secretary Heller's kid on 24. That was an interrogation.

First, hear this: The following predictions for Silly Season (as if Silly Season is even remotely predictable) are -- this is very important -- purely my opinion, formulated from a life spent on the telephone chasing down information on such matters.

I swear I'm on the phone more than a 15-year old girl.

Anyway, here goes. Truex will re-sign at DEI and run the No. 1 Chevy for the next three years. Brian Vickers will re-sign at Hendrick Motorsports. (He has silenced all critics in recent weeks.)

Sterling Marlin won't return to Chip Ganassi Racing. It has been speculated that Marlin is moving to Richard Childress Racing, but more than one source close to Roush Racing told me Marlin's name is floating around for the No. 6.

No clue what company will sponsor the No. 6 Ford, but Roush Racing president Geoff Smith told me several weeks ago that Roush has myriad sponsors interested in the company.

Tide could be an option. Driver Bobby Hamilton, Jr. said last weekend that he's heard "strong rumors" that Tide might leave PPI. Valvoline is severing ties with MBV Motorsports, and, of course, there is quite a history there.

David Stremme will drive the No. 40 in 2006. Chip Ganassi has the option to pick up the final year on Jamie McMurray and Casey Mears' contracts. Ganassi will retain McMurray. Mears is TBD. Sources at Ganassi feel Reed Sorenson will be in the No. 41 Nextel Cup Series machine next year after just one year in the Busch Series.

So where does Mears go? I wouldn't be surprised if Ganassi went to four cars. But if he does let Mears go, Mears will be scooped up in a hurry. He's a hot commodity.

Kevin Harvick will not drive the No. 2. Anybody with a pulse saw Harvick's rebuttal to that speculation last weekend. Who will replace Rusty Wallace? No clue.

Bad luck Bobby: Labonte wins the bad luck award for the first half of 2005. His performance is far better than the results indicate. Blown engines and accidents have not been kind, to say the least. Some proof:

At Daytona he blew an engine on lap 14 after running well in the Budweiser Shootout and his Duel. Two weeks later at Las Vegas he was caught up in the Earnhardt/Vickers exchange. Then came Atlanta, his favorite track and the place he was supposed to stop the bleeding.

He was wrecked before he ever got started when Mears spun on the first lap.

Adding to the Atlanta debacle, Labonte returned to the track on Lap 48, only be struck on the hand by a piece of debris from Kurt Busch's car 110 laps later when he signaled the cars behind him to slow down for the caution.

Nearing the race's conclusion, Labonte was running 37th with enough laps remaining to pass Kyle Petty for 36th-place. But that was foiled when the drivetrain broke.

In Bristol, Labonte had a top-10 for much of the race and was running seventh on Lap 332 when he was caught up in a 13-car accident. Then there was Martinsville. He had a car good enough to contend for the win but blew and engine with 101 laps to go. In his home state of Texas, Labonte woke up race morning with the stomach flu.

At Talladega he was involved in the Big One, but returned to contend late before he blew an engine on la9 174. He took the blame for that one, saying he missed a shift. After finishing eighth at Richmond and second in the Coca-Cola 600, he blew and engine on lap-51 at Dover before crashing on the final lap last Sunday.

All said, he has completed just 77.1 percent of the total laps this season. Just once in his career has he failed to finish 90 percent of the total laps in a season (1994, 84.5 percent while with Bill Davis Racing.)

Impound rule: I am perplexed by this rule. It seems its purpose is to save teams money. And, while it could potentially save teams five, maybe even low-six figures in tires throughout the season, it produces a considerable amount of idle time for crews.

The value of time lost can't be quantified.

There is no more valuable luxury to Nextel Cup race teams than time.

Chase tracks: Presently, NASCAR is quite pleased with its lineup of Chase tracks. I see no alteration to that lineup for 2006. I will continue to lobby, however, that Infineon Raceway should be on the Chase docket.

If you're going to stage a 10-race playoff, all forms of tracks should be represented to get a true champion.

Enough already. Once again, the aforementioned answers were my personal hypotheses.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go change the sparkplug in my Deere. See y'all in Brooklyn.

The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.