Dale Earnhardt Jr. will do anything to gain confidence these days.

Track Smack: Daytona

Does Jeff Gordon need to be worrying about making the Chase?

Elliott Gordon: Yes and no. Fact of the matter is Jeff is really good at the upcoming tracks -- Daytona, Watkins Glen, Indianapolis -- but Greg Biffle isn't going to let up. Going to be hard to make up a lot of points in the next 10 races the way Biffle has been running.

Ryan Smithson: No. You have got to figure he will have an exceptional August with Indy, The Glen and Michigan. His situation is totally opposite of Earnhardt's. Gordon has run well all year. His luck will turn around.

Mark Spoor: I really don't think so, guys. Look at the upcoming schedule. Daytona this week -- where he's won the last two races, Bristol later on, another road course. Not time to panic yet. If he struggles this week, maybe.

Marty Smith: It's a viable concern, but no. He's only 14 points out of the 400 range. Plus, hell, look at Mark Martin this time last year. He was 586 points behind Jimmie Johnson, and still entered the last race of the year with a shot at the championship.

Elliott Gordon: It isn't about running well guys -- it is about those above you not running well during those same races.

Mark Spoor: It's not like there are only two or three races before Richmond. Lot of time left.

EMAIL Elliott Spoor Ryan (StatBoy) Marty (MartDawg)

Elliott Gordon: Still, he better hope his equipment holds up down the stretch. Roush is going to unload the A++ equipment for No. 16 every week now.

Ryan Smithson: It's already A-plus, Elliott. Are you kidding?

Marty Smith: Consistency will prevail, boys. JG is the consummate example. Dude has three wins. Five drivers in the top-10 right now haven't won yet.

Got a Track Smack topic? Send us topics for discussion. As you can see, we actually use them!

Mark Spoor: Have we ever known the Hendrick bunch to be unprepared. No.

Elliott Gordon: Yeah, someone get ESad in Victory Lane!!

Mark Spoor: Get your boy Ward on the track!

Ryan Smithson: Sadler is worried about top-fiving them to death. And doing good at it.

Elliott Gordon: "I wuuud lyke to thank M&Ms, Fohrd Racing and Rohburt Yates."

Mark Spoor: He was funny with McMurray on 360.

Ryan Smithson: Gordon's Wrigley Field jinx continues.

Girl, if only you knew how to repair transmissions, you could have met Jeff Gordon last weekend. Credit: AP

Elliott Gordon: The only track Ward is on now is the deer track out on his 1,000 acres.

Marty Smith: You guys need to remember something. It's not like the 24 has sucked. Jeff got dumped at Dover and broke at Sears Point. Stewart said himself that he was lucky Gordon broke Sunday.

Ryan Smithson: Stewart says he was lucky that Robby broke, too.

Elliott Gordon: Stewart is lucky Boris got that pit penalty, too.

Mark Spoor: Good point. However, this is the most adversity we've seen JG face in a while. It'll be interesting to see how he reacts.

Ryan Smithson: I got some emails this week that said that Tony disrespected Rudd's ability. That is not true. Tony said that Rudd blocked him, but said he would have done it in the same situation.

Still faster than Dale Jr.'s go-kart

Marty Smith: Regardless, it's cool to see JGR get a win. Their luck this year has been awful. Man, that 21 Air Force paint scheme is awesome.

Mark Spoor: You've got that right. Nice to see 20 get win no. 20.

Marty Smith: I love that Air Force deal.

Ryan Smithson: Bobby Labonte did a hell of a job in that backup on Sunday. But no one noticed.

Elliott Gordon: 20 wins No. 20 ... Dale Jr. gets his 200th start at Daytona ... odds gods!

Ryan Smithson: Well, it won't be his 200th win, that is for sure. If Dale Jr. wins this weekend, the conspiracy theorists will have a freaking field day.

Why don't you talk about NASCAR toning everyone down? Everyone is so scared about what they say! -- Shelley Rudnicki, Fairfield, Maine

Marty Smith: I'm sure NASCAR would listen to us.

Ryan Smithson: Obviously, y'all have never heard Greg Biffle's candor.

Elliott Gordon: I don't NASCAR is toning everyone done. Drivers just need to mention 25 sponsors when they talk.

Sterling Marlin's replacement Credit: AP

Elliott Gordon: Man, that was some bad English. Dale Jr. did call Jimmie an idiot this year. I guess that is something.

Marty Smith: Bad English was hairband.com.

Mark Spoor: This is a topic I get a lot in my Viewer's Guide e-mail. NASCAR is a corporate sport, like it or not. The sponsors have to be happy, particularly now when it's so tough to get a sponsor.

Marty Smith: How can they say that, by the way? Smoke called Johnson, Newman and Gordon crybabies and Gordon said he'd gladly dump the 20. Doesn't get much better than that.

Elliott Gordon: I mean does anyone really believe Kevin Harvick is toned down after swinging at Joe Nemechek?

Mark Spoor: Exactly. I think we've heard and seen a lot of emotion. It started in the 150s, for crying out loud.

Marty Smith: And how about Johnson called for Harvick to get fired after their wreck at Daytona?

Mark Spoor: Exactly.

Ryan Smithson: I think it's been a pretty good year for quotes myself.

Elliott Gordon: I would like to have heard what Jeff Burton said to Boris after Sonoma. "It was ME in the No. 31 Cingular car -- not Robby!"

Ryan Smithson: Jeff could probably take Frankie Stoddard head-to-head, but Boris? No. I'd like to see Jeff-Frankie vs. Boris in a handicap match.

Mark Spoor: Nah -- I think Boris has been in a scuffle or two.

Elliott Gordon: Boris is scrappy, but those Virginia boys know how to put up a fight.

Marty Smith: One of the most striking ones, to me, what last week at Michigan when Felix Sabates told me marketing was the reason Stremme got Marlin's job. I was like, whoa. Bring it.

Mark Spoor: Plus, I think that's a trend in all sports, not just NASCAR. Heck, political correctness is a fact of life these days.

Predictions for Daytona?

Elliott Gordon: Is Jeff driving a Pepsi car?

Last Week's Picks Smacker Pick Finish B. Duane Stewart 1st MartDawg J. Gordon 33rd Rodman Dale Jr. Yeah right StatBoy Stewart 1st This Week's Picks Smacker Daytona Winner? MartDawg Stewart Elliott Harvick Spoor J. Gordon StatBoy Stewart

Mark Spoor: I think the 24 gets back to Victory Lane. Three for three.

Marty Smith: Stewart wins second-straight.

Ryan Smithson: Pretty easy pick. Stewart wins his second in a row. Benny Parsons screams when The Big One happens.

Elliott Gordon: He will surely win if he is. If not, I am going out on a limb and saying Harvick wins it.

Ryan Smithson: That is not a limb, Elliott.

Elliott Gordon: Well anyone not picking the 24 or 8 or 15 is a limb.

Ryan Smithson: Boys, I saw that Joe Nemechek is 45-1 and Scott Riggs is 50-1, we need to put $5 each on those boys.

Marty Smith: Elliott could literally go out on a limb. He weighs 110 lbs.

Credit: AP

Mark Spoor: Meanwhile, I'd come crashing to the ground.

Marty Smith: I'm going to call the Venetian right now and throw down 50 bucks on the 01.

Elliott Gordon: My son is already 18lbs. He will be heavier than me before too long.

Ryan Smithson: They have Stewart at 12-1 and Johnson, of all people, at 11-1.

Elliott Gordon: Riggs needs a good run -- finished 4th in the 500 -- so it could happen. All about staying out of trouble, I guess.

Ryan Smithson: Y'all can make some cash this weekend, boys.

Marty Smith: Dude are you a bookie on the side or what?

Mark Spoor: Longshots. Nothing but longshots.

Ryan Smithson: Spoor is quoting Brewster's Millions, one of the top five funniest movies ever. Y'all ever seen that?

Mark Spoor: Fantastic film!

Marty Smith: Pryor. Genius.

Ryan Smithson: Also, in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, the British bookie is watching a NASCAR race at Charlotte. But that is another conversation.

Elliott Gordon: Conversation: Ryan Smithson. Marty, schedule it in please.

Mark Spoor: Best scene in Brewster's -- 10 million, 10 million, 10 million dollars.

Ryan Smithson: I was just thinking this morning that we need to schedule a 10 Questions with MartDawg Smith.

Mark Spoor: I volunteer to do 10 Questions: Leeann Tweeden.

Marty's truck, "The Pink Panther."

Marty Smith: Boys, I have terrible news. The Pink Panther is dead.

Mark Spoor: NO!

Marty Smith: Could just be a battery. But she doesn't sound too good.

Elliott Gordon: eBay the parts.

Mark Spoor: Heck -- eBay the truck. If someone will buy a lime green hatchback...

Ryan Smithson: Marty, buy a new car. Please. You've hung onto that thing for too long.

I'll have to dig up the picture of it. If you got one, please email it to me.

Elliott Gordon: Let's enter it into the Busch race. I am sure it will get destroyed like 30 of those cars will.

Marty Smith: Only trouble I've ever had is when the radio fell out of my dashboard on the way home from Martinsville.

The opinions listed here are solely those of the participants.