Kyle Petty has only one top-10 with an average finish of 26.0 through 20 races. Credit: Autostock

Last Lap: And we're off ...

Admittedly, my staunch defense of Kyle Petty's overdrawn driving career is a blatant double standard.

It was just a few years ago, after all, that I pondered Darrell Waltrip's decision to cling by a string the very same way some of you now ponder Petty's choice to do so.

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It seems so obvious for those of us on the periphery: Why keep driving when you haven't been competitive in a decade?

Example:

Marty,

I read your column all the time, how about a story on Kyle Petty? I love what he has done off of the track, but what is he still doing on the track? I am a big fan of Kyle and Richard, and I would hate to see Kyle subject himself to what happened to his father, racing way past his prime.

Richard was in eighth position in 1987, five years before he retired. Kyle hasn't been in the top 10 for over 10 years. I really thought this was the year that Petty Enterprises were going to become competitive since they are using Evernham motors and have increased its attention to the aero package.

I saw Kyle finish eighth at Bristol this spring and I was excited, while my friends were shocked. It seems that Kyle is finishing races higher in the standings since he is not pressing the envelope, letting other competitors either wreck or blow up in front of him.

This technique may help one finish a race, but they don't finish first often without being aggressive. What do you see in Kyle's future? Thanks and keep up the good work!

Rich Fowler
Pittsburgh

Rich's question, blunt as it may be, is quite viable and shared by many. Matter of fact, the primary reason you're even reading about it right now is because a fan approached me with it Sunday morning in the Pocono Raceway garage area.

ALSO NASCAR.COM's B. Duane Cross says participating in this year's charity ride will give Kyle Petty a chance to ponder some hard decisions that his team faces.  •   Complete story, click here

All drivers have unique reasons for holding on. Some do it for the fundamental rush of competition. Some do it for money. Some for vanity. Petty's motivation lies on a deeper, more intrinsic plane.

To even begin to quantify Kyle Petty's devotion to the No. 45 Petty Enterprises Dodge, you must penetrate his worst nightmare.

Back in January, I wrote a piece on the Victory Junction Gang Camp for Racing Fan magazine, and spoke with Petty about his sanctuary. His car.

Adam's car.

Deep into our conversation, he said something to me that, in an instant, made it all make sense. Entirely, wholly perfect sense.

"I don't feel closer to him anywhere more than I do when I'm in the racecar," Kyle said of Adam. "I'm just keeping his seat warm."

Man ... that's heavy. And no one can fully understand the true depth of that statement but Kyle Petty. So folks, next time you question Petty's better judgment for hanging onto a driving career well into its twilight, please remember those words.

I know I will.

It's an off-weekend, so before I commence the quest of perfecting the art of doing nothing, I will answer a few e-mails. Keep the questions coming, folks.

Brian France Credit: Autostock

Marty,

Drivers are pushed to the max, between races and sponsors. There are tracks that are already built, such as Kentucky Speedway, that most drivers who have tested there say they like. NASCAR says there aren't any dates for more races. We see all kinds of changes with some tracks losing races all together.

The France family is NASCAR. They make the decisions about races, and race dates. If there aren't any race dates available, why does ISC, or should I say the France family, want to build a track inside of New York?

There aren't any racing dates available, right? What track would lose their race date? Would it be one of ISC's tracks? Yah right.

Darlisa Davis
Madison, Ind.

Great question, Darlisa. You're not the only one confused by the scheduling carousel, so let me attempt to bring some clarity to the situation. Believe it or not, the answer to your question is, in fact, yes.

Were International Speedway Corp. to build tracks in New York City and/or the Northwest and/or anywhere else and award the new tracks Nextel Cup dates, they would be forced to take that date from another ISC track.

In his infamous "Realignment 2004 and Beyond" speech early last year, Brian France stressed the fact that ISC could only redistribute dates within the company. Likewise for Speedway Motorsports.

In other words, NASCAR cannot take a date from Atlanta, an SMI track, and move it to Phoenix, an ISC track. But SMI owner Bruton Smith could propose to NASCAR the possibility of moving a date from Atlanta to its SMI sister, Vegas.

SMI owns and operates Atlanta, Bristol, Las Vegas, Sonoma, Texas and Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte. They also own North Wilkesboro and Rockingham, both of which were purchased from ISC for the sole purpose of shipping their respective events to Texas.

Hopefully that helps, Darlisa. I may have just confused myself ...

Marty,

I am trying to find out the number of fans that attend the Cup races at each of the racetracks. Can you let me know how I can obtain this information?

Thank you,
Cliff Rotunno

According to the 2005 Nextel Cup media guide, here is the number of grandstand seating are each of the 22 tracks on the tour. This doesn't include RV's and infield passes, etc. (And this is assuming they all sell out, which they don't, some not even close, but whatever.)

• Atlanta -- 124,000
• Bristol -- 160,000
• Fontana -- 92,00
• Chicagoland -- 75,000
• Darlington -- 60,000
• Daytona -- 168,000
• Dover -- 140,000
• Homestead -- 65,000
• Indianapolis -- 250,000+
• Infineon -- N/A (Past reports estimate the Sonoma crowd at around 140,000)
• Kansas -- 81,687
• Vegas -- 137,000
• Lowe's -- 171,000
• Martinsville -- 65,000 (Interesting. Martinsville boasted 91,000 seats in the 2004 media guide. But that was before ISC bought it, of course.)
• Michigan -- 137,243
• New Hampshire -- 91,000
• Phoenix -- 76,812
• Pocono -- N/A (I have no clue. Some cat told me they had close to 300,000 Sunday, and considering the hellish gridlock I experienced four hours after the race, I don't care if he's off by 200,000, it is an acceptable number in my estimation.)
• Richmond -- 107,097
• Talladega -- 143,000
• Texas -- 154,861
• Watkins Glen -- N/A (Let's estimate 70,000 total.)

Jeff Gordon Credit: Autostock

Hi Marty,

I am a NASCAR nutcase. I can't get enough of it. I do have one question and one concern. The most coveted prize in Cup racing besides the championship is the Daytona 500 trophy. Why does the trophy have a jetcar on it? Probably a dumb question, but I have wondered for years why not a stockcar on it.

Keep up the great work Marty.

Best regards,
Dan Thompson

Now there's one I've not heard before. Great question, Dan. You stumped me, so in order to get the truth about the trophy, I sought out the expertise of Daytona media relations director David Talley.

Talley informed me that the car atop the Harley J. Earl Trophy is a General Motors Firebird, which ran on the beach in the mid-to-late '50s. Earl was a vice president of design for GM, and the second National Commissioner of NASCAR.

He designed the Firebird which sits on the trophy, and many other GM vehicles, including the Corvette.

sbchevyhp: Ford has announced a new car for 2006. The Fusion will roll out as the flagship car for all the Ford teams for next season. When or for how long will the teams have this car before the '06 season starts? Is it just a repackaged Taurus or is it a "new" car?" I wonder about the aero package. Will they have time to tune and adjust or is the car an advantage right out of the crate?

Here's what Jack Roush said about the new Ford Fusion following Kurt Busch's victory Sunday at Pocono:

"We're gonna have a change in the car for next year and that will be a little bit of an upset, but it looks like the numbers off the car -- from its initial testing -- are about where this car is, more similar to this car than I'm going to call it the '97 model that we changed in 2004. It's more similar to the 2004 car than the 2004 car was to the '97 car."

Loosely translated, I think that means the Fusion is much like the current Taurus. (Click here for a look).

Credit: Autostock

Hey Marty,

Long time reader of your articles and I have a question I hope you can help me with: Why do they only start 36 trucks compared to 43 cars in Busch and the Cup series? I was watching Milwaukee and it just seemed silly that they sent three trucks home that night.

Thanks,
Nick

Yet another great question. According to NASCAR officials, the reason they have 36-truck fields in the Craftsman Truck Series, compared to 43-car fields in the Busch and Cup Series', is experience level. NASCAR deems 36 trucks a viable number considering that experience level of the drivers and teams.

They did tell me, however, that they constantly review that number and open it up to more competitors in the future. But for now, 36 remains the target number.

And my target number is 50. SPF, that is. It's hot where I'm headed ...

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.