MartDawg and his wife hang out on the 'American Idol' set in L.A.

Track Smack: Off week

Most of the final 10 races occur on tracks that are 1.5 miles. None of them involve the road course. Since there has been talk about getting a race to maybe Canada, do you think that in the near future that one of the final 10 races will occur on a road course like Sonoma or Mexico?
-- Daniel Westrick, Ft. Wayne, Ind.

Marty Smith: The way NASCAR is hell-bent on garnering the minority market, absolutely. NASCAR is very focused on solidifying itself in Hispanic markets, so I wouldn't be a bit surprised by such a move. And I agree that a road course needs to be in the Chase, and that road course is Sears Point. I do think, though, that we'll be in Canada sooner than later.

Mark Spoor: I think if the Chase is going to legitimately determine the champ, a road course needs to be in it. No matter where it is. The key though is that road courses present a different challenge, a challenge that a champ should excel at under the pressure.

Ryan Smithson: One of the rumors that actually makes sense to me is NASCAR going to the road course at Gilles Villeneuve. NASCAR didn't create alliances in Mexico and Canada for nothing. It would be very easy to transfer the Glen date to Montreal but they would have to run the race in September.

Lee Montgomery: I wouldn't plan on it just yet. I think they like the schedule the way it is, for the most part, and any track that loses a Chase date would scream bloody murder. The Mexico City Busch race is just an experiment, for now.

Mark Spoor: Montreal is big fun. Ditto Toronto.

Marty Smith: Some folks complain that road course racing is a waste of money. If that's the case, so is plate racing.

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Lee Montgomery: Some folks would argue that, too, Dawg.

Ryan Smithson: Montreal is actually not very far away. Seems like it, but it's not much farther than Loudon.

Ryan Smithson: Spoor has actually been to Montreal. I remember you telling me. Everything I know about Montreal I learned from The Whole Nine Yards.

Mark Spoor: Yeah. Lots of fun there. Of course, you'll need to brush up on your French, but it's worth it.

Marty Smith: Everything I know about Montreal I learned from Delino DeShields, Marquis Grissom, Larry Walker and Pedro Martinez. Can you believe they were all Expos at one time? Wild.

Ryan Smithson: After we saw the Robby Gordon-Tony Stewart-Kevin Harvick battle at Sonoma in 2001, I have been sold on road courses.

Ryan Smithson: Gary Carter was best Expo ever. Don't even argue it.

Lee Montgomery: Andre Dawson.

Mark Spoor: Olympic Stadium is awful. Void of anything resembling baseball.

Ryan Smithson: Parc Jarry.

Marty Smith: I agree with LeeMo. The Hawk was a stud.

Ryan Smithson: No way. He peaked as a Cub. LeeMo should know this. This is not something you can just brush off. This is serious.

"Quit pouting, Matt. I didn't bring enough for both of us." Credit: AP

Lee Montgomery: Yes, of course. MVP.

Mark Spoor: Andre Dawson?

Ryan Smithson: Big right fielder, great arm, Spoor. 1987 MVP.

Lee Montgomery: Yes. For a last-place team.

Marty Smith: Back to racing. I see NASCAR heading to Toronto in short order. They've opened the Canadian office, and the demand for a race up there is gargantuan. We get more feedback from up there than anywhere else.

I have always been a big Bill Elliott fan and was excited when I heard he was going to run a partial schedule, however, after last year I have mixed feelings. Do you think the teams running limited schedules have a legitimate shot at winning or is winning with a part-time team an impossibility?
-- Larry "Chief" Callahan, Ellijay, Ga.

Lee Montgomery: I wouldn't say it is an impossibility, but that's pretty close.

Ryan Smithson: I don't think that Elliott and Labonte will win a race. It's hard enough for Kahne and McMurray.

Marty Smith: It'd be a long shot, but I think Awesome Bill could pull one off.

Mark Spoor: I don't think it is an impossibility because this year's drivers -- Elliott and Terry Labonte -- are former champions driving great equipment. Still, I agree it would be tough.

Ryan Smithson: I'd say it is pretty impossible. It will be hard enough for them to even get a top-10.

Marty Smith: Elliott's usually pretty good, Smithson, until something breaks. That dude could still run for a championship. In the 9.

Lee Montgomery: Part-time teams can do OK on road courses.

"I've got you on my fantasy team today, Jeff, so I need a good run from you today." Credit: CIA Stock Photo

Mark Spoor: Agreed, Dawg. Should have won Homestead '03.

Marty Smith: Yeah, that sucked, Mark. Turn 3 on the last lap. Boom.

Mark Spoor: Exactly. A heartbreaker.

Ryan Smithson: If a part-time guy is going to win, it'll be Boris Said or Ron Fellows. And even that has never happened.

Mark Spoor: You have to love Boris Said. The guy will say anything. Even if it's self-deprecating.

Ryan Smithson: I really hope Said can get the backing for a full schedule.

Marty Smith: He's a quote machine, for sure. I love a guy who'll bust his own tail end.

Lee Montgomery: He's a wheelman, too.

Ryan Smithson: If he shaved his head, he'd look twice as scary. Mean, even.

Will the Charlotte/Concord/Mooresville area be the home for all of the race teams for too much longer? It seems with the westward expansion that this location doesn't seem all that logical. Why wouldn't the NASCAR teams have a gradual relocation to Indianapolis? It's America's home for racing! The trips out west would be much easier to make.
-- Ryan Logue, Indianapolis, Ind.

Lee Montgomery: Where are they going to go? Of course they'll stay here. There is too much of a foundation already in place for there to be mass movement.

MartDawg on 'The Price is Right' set, where he helped celebrate Bob Barker's 102nd birthday.

Mark Spoor: Well, we figured out last year that nine of 36 races were west of the Mississippi, but that's still only a fourth of the schedule.

Ryan Smithson: I don't think the major teams will ever move out of North Carolina. A lot of the teams now are franchises -- for lack of a better word -- and they are rooted. Even if races keep heading west, they are in North Carolina to stay.

Marty Smith: Yes. Penske, Hendrick, DEI? Are you kidding? They've built palatial shops in Charlotte. They aren't going anywhere. They may open smaller, West Coast shops, but up and moving? No way.

Mark Spoor: I could see teams opening second shops out west.

Ryan Smithson: Y'all really think a team will open a second, West Coast-located shop? Is that really necessary?

Mark Spoor: It would make sense, especially with the way the early season schedule is Daytona, to California, then home, then Vegas.

Lee Montgomery: Boy, I don't know about that. Talk about added expense. A building, people, equipment. Whew.

Ryan Smithson: It would be a lot cheaper to simply add expense to your transporter costs than a whole building.

Mark Spoor: Here's something to think about -- what if the western expansion continues?

Marty Smith: I could see it happening, Smithson. Think about it. Fontana twice, Phoenix twice, Vegas, Sonoma. Seattle's coming in the future. We race out west a lot, man.

"Mark, I can't find your cell phone anywhere." Credit: AP

Ryan Smithson: I just don't see anyone building a second shop out there. Sure, but Marty, think of the expense.

Lee Montgomery: I hate to agree with Ryan, but I do.

Mark Spoor: Teams have already shown they're willing to pay the price for any advantage.

Ryan Smithson: Just hire more transporter drivers and buy 1, 2 more transporters. Way cheaper than a building and 15 employees.

Marty Smith: You've stooped to an absurd low, LeeMo.

Ryan Smithson: I can agree that LeeMo has stooped to absurd lows, but it is for different reasons.

Lee Montgomery: Can't help it. We're talking a ridiculous expense.

Marty Smith: It's almost humorous that you guys think the prospect of a West Coast shop is that far out there.

Lee Montgomery: Laugh away, Dawg.

Ryan Smithson: Marty, has anyone even discussed it that you know it?

Marty Smith: Me.

Marty Smith: For the Hendrick's, Penske's and Ganassi's of the world, it's not that big a deal.

Ryan Smithson: Go sell it to the teams -- they will say no.

Marty Smith: No one said it has to be 200,000 square feet, boys.

"Hey Mark, want to play rock-paper-scissors?" Credit: AP

Mark Spoor: Also, look at where the West Coast races are in the schedule. Fontana's fall race is crucial. Ryan, look at the press at Las Vegas and Fontana last month. The West Coast is in play.

Ryan Smithson: I mean, if you have a shop, it'll be 50,000 square feet minimum, and do y'all have any idea how much more land costs out there than in North Carolina?

Lee Montgomery: And you have to staff it.

Mark Spoor: If a team thinks it will give them a leg up, they'll do it. No matter the cost.

Ryan Smithson: It would be $4-5 million up front. Dalton from Road House does not have that kind of money. And he is well-paid.

Marty Smith: I didn't say it wasn't expensive, boys. I said the big players would be willing to spend it.

Mark Spoor: Exactly.

Lee Montgomery: Don't hate the players. Hate the game.

Marty Smith: We'll see how it all shakes out. This new impounding deal could be big in this regard. It definitely gives the crew boys more rest. But that doesn't change the fact that we're still staring at 20 straight weeks later in the year. And one of those is in Fontana. And another is in Phoenix.

Help control the pet population -- have your pet spayed or neutered.

Mexico picks?

Marty Smith: Hell, I have no idea. I'll go with Jamie McMurray.

Lee Montgomery: Rusty Wallace. Or Boris Said.

Ryan Smithson: I'll go with Rusty Wallace.

Mark Spoor: Rusty Wallace.

Lee Montgomery: Twice in one day I agree with Ryan?

Ryan Smithson: Rusty, make us proud, old man.

Lee Montgomery: I need to go to the doctor.

Ryan Smithson: It snowed here today in Georgia. Weird. You hear that Marty? It snowed here, and you're in L.A.

Marty Smith: It's nice out here. My Daddy told me they got 10 inches in Pearisburg. Told him I'm glad I'm in LA.

The opinions here are solely ours. Scary.