"Let's see ... 'The AC Delco Chevrolet ran good today ...' yeah, that sounds good." Credit: Autostock

Track Smack: Daytona

Guys, if you are David Gilliland, how do you capitalize on your sudden success?

Marty Smith: I'd listen to all comers. I mean, when you go from "Who" to "Who's Who" in one race, it has to be overwhelming. He's now the next target. Childress is interested. You hear everyone out, and then do what's best for your extended career.

Ryan Smithson: I'd try to land a top Busch ride with the promise of a limited Cup schedule. It would not do much good to land a ride with an independent Busch team, nor with a struggling Cup team.

David Newton: I'm not sure he can get too picky. If he can land a promising Busch ride he should take it, because success in this sport can be fleeting. We may never hear from him again.

Dave Rodman: The next step might be the most important one he ever makes. Unless it's a really top-level program in any garage, he needs to weigh that against where he is -- and what they might be able to do with the proper backing. Winning a race is a pretty good accomplishment.

Ryan Smithson: Childress is going to need some Busch drivers. Gilliland should drive for him even if it was only for the purse money.

E-MAIL •   Dave Rodman •   Ryan Smithson •   Marty Smith •   David Newton JOIN THE FRAY •   Send us a topic for discussion

Marty Smith: If he has a shot at the AC Delco car, wow. He'd be crazy to say no.

Dave Rodman: That's not really logical Ryan, if you think about it. He has a family, after all, and that would seriously impact his decision.

Ryan Smithson: He wouldn't say no. We know that RCR will eventually have four Cup teams. That would be Gilliland's car, eventually.

David Newton: It's amazing how thin the talent pool is that a person can win one Busch race and all of a sudden be a "rising star."

Dave Rodman: But he has that "ability to win." Virtually every driver at the Cup, Busch and Truck level is a good driver, but it takes that little bit extra to win and have staying power.

	"Haha, somebody else might drive my Busch car? Yeah right ... David who? Oh." Credit: Autostock
	GILLILAND ON THE MOVE? David Gilliland's victory resulted in several phone calls from Cup and Busch teams who are interested in him.  •   Complete story, click here

Ryan Smithson: Gilliland is not normal, though. He is 30, married, kids. His father was an excellent driver.

Dave Rodman: It will be interesting to see how the rest of the Busch races that Clay Andrews' team run this season play out. Kentucky was a quantum leap for them.

Marty Smith: Well, hell, Newt -- when kids that have never won a race in Cup are setting the bar and the trend for who goes where, when and why -- it's not that unexpected.

David Newton: Gilliland sounds sort of like Greg Biffle, only Biffle didn't have the wife and kids.

Ryan Smithson: That's right. When Biffle broke onto the scene, he was Gilliland's age.

Marty Smith: Taking nothing away from Biffle. He's a great driver. But that was a different NASCAR than this is.

David Newton: I'm just saying that owners are so desperate for talent that when somebody does the slightest thing to gain attention they become a hot commodity.

Dave Rodman: Kentucky was Gilliland's crack in the door -- and God bless him for having the boot to kick it in -- and press that right pedal.

Ryan Smithson: I enjoyed talking to David out in Sonoma. He is not politically corrected-out yet. But I will defeat him on the golf course.

	"The guys back at the shop are trying to get that clone ready, Denny." Credit: Autostock
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Dave Rodman: That depends on whether or not he's still got a line open to Tiger, to get some tips.

David Newton: I don't care if he can drive a golf ball. I want to know if he can drive a car good enough to earn all the attention he's getting?

Ryan Smithson: Well, I remember Marty making the comment a few weeks ago, "Everyone wants the next Denny Hamlin." So maybe it's Gilliland.

Marty Smith: Other drivers will tell you he's no spring chicken as far as overall seat time. He's been around various West Coast series for quite a while.

Dave Rodman: But he got his start pretty young. Heck, he was crew chief for his dad, Butch, when David was a teenager.

Ryan Smithson: I was more impressed that he got that No. 72 Dodge into the Cup show at Infineon. Call me crazy.

Marty Smith: Considering the pass he had to make -- three-wide -- to win that Busch show. You're crazy.

David Newton: Good point, Ryan. I was skeptical that would happen.

Dave Rodman: On the one hand, considering how well he knew his way around Infineon, Kentucky was miles and miles further ahead. Then again, one-lap qualifying on a road course is a tall order.

Ryan Smithson: Chuckle. He beat a lot of good guys last Friday, Marty -- although there wasn't much pressure on him to make it.

Marty Smith: He'd never seen Kentucky before. I think he'd raced Sonoma before in the West Series, though I'm not positive about that.

Ryan Smithson: Yes, he'd seen Sonoma before -- many times.

Dave Rodman: He won a Southwest Series Late Model race there quite recently.

David Newton: Hamlin had never seen Pocono before, either. Not sure that's as big as we make it out to be because if you can drive, you can drive anywhere.

Marty Smith: Smithson, how upset was your boy Yeley after Kentucky?

Ryan Smithson: Not sure. He was fine on Friday morning. I know he's having an awful bad run in Cup, at the moment.

Dave Rodman: It seems we've had this conversation before, haven't we? He ain't on the verge of wrist slashing, yet, I hope. His days are coming, and quick.

David Newton: A lot of the rookies have had bad runs lately. Do you think running both series all over the country is taking its toll?

Dave Rodman: To whatever degree they can be pampered in the process, they are -- so I don't know. Let's see how they look on Aug. 1.

Ryan Smithson: Oh, you know it is. It always will.

Dave Rodman: It ain't hurting Harvick much. He is the monster of the duality -- or something like that. Now he just needs to re-establish the luck factor.

Marty Smith: Man, that Sonoma/Milwaukee deal must be hell.

David Newton: Yeah, like going from wine to beer.

Off the top of your head, is there a top driver you feel won't make the Chase, and one that will rally to make the Chase?

David Newton: Looking over the top 10, Harvick has to be the most nervous with Carl Edwards breathing down his neck.

Ryan Smithson: Kevin Harvick worries me. He has been prone to slumps, and man, he had awful luck this weekend.

David Newton: We should quit now, Ryan. We've agreed on two things.

Dave Rodman: I'd be more apt to look at the way he ran, and he ran superbly at Milwaukee and got booted when that's exactly what he did not do to Paul Menard.

Marty Smith: Very difficult question. Personally, with Greg Biffle in, and how well Gordon ran at Michigan, it could be set.

Ryan Smithson: I don't see how Kurt Busch won't rally to make the Chase. He is coming around fast.

David Newton: But for Busch to make it, some awfully good drivers are going to have to fall out.

Dave Rodman: We've gone through this to a sickening degree the past two years. Sickening, because to not make it is just that -- and to be "in" and fall out just makes you wanna puke. But to my mind, experience rules -- and Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and even Carl Edwards are gonna be ill come Richmond.

David Newton: I just can't see Edwards not making it with the momentum he's built over the past month.

Dave Rodman: I agree, but I had to go out on a limb with someone -- and I hate to say Carl might be the Jamie McMurray of 2006.

	"At least you're not on any magazine covers, Jamie." Credit: Autostock
	NASCAR MinuteCarl Edwards is bouncing back after early struggles Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

Ryan Smithson: Jeff Burton has as many top-10s as Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne. I'll have to eat some crow on that. I wrote him off.

Marty Smith: I chose him to make the 2005 Chase -- and he didn't. This year I figured he'd struggle along again -- and I was wrong again.

Dave Rodman: I think we could forgive you for that because their turnaround has been the most dramatic story in the sport, probably, this season.

David Newton: What about your boy Mears, Marty? Can he rally to make the Chase?

Marty Smith: Two hundred points is an awful lot to make up in 10 races. That's what, roughly seven positions better than Harvick every race -- something like that?

Ryan Smithson: Especially as a lame-duck driver.

David Newton: I only brought it up because I took so much grief from the Mears Nation for saying he wouldn't make the Chase after you predicted he would.

Marty Smith: Somebody's got to have some guts and go out on a limb, here.

Dave Rodman: How thin a limb you want? Kurt Busch just made up 70 points in four races -- that extrapolates out pretty close to what you're talking about over 10.

Marty Smith: Extrapolates? Worm, were you on the john reading your thesaurus?

	"Extrapolates ... E-X-T-R-A ..." Credit: Autostock
	KURT BUSCH •   10 Questions

David Newton: That is Rodman's word of the day.

Dave Rodman: To make up that many points takes a lot of circumstances to fall your way, though. And by no means am I saying Kevin will fall out. If I had to pick two guys that kind of calamity might strike -- naw, I won't say Junior or Tony.

Ryan Smithson: I don't think Michael Waltrip is going to rally to make the Chase. No way.

Dave Rodman: What! He is trying to get back into the top 35, so take one step at a time, son.

Ryan Smithson: I was kidding.

Dave Rodman: But I'll tell you what, he has shown some signs of accomplishing that, and I am impressed.

David Newton: Waltrip? We were talking about guts, not lunacy.

Dave Rodman: If you remember, a few weeks ago I had written off his season. I had him racing for wins, not points. I stand corrected.

Marty Smith: I only bust Dave's butt about big words because this one dude always e-mails me about it. Every column. Every week.

Dave Rodman: Dang -- send him my e-mail address -- I'll send him a link to thesaurians-is-us.com.

David Newton: That's just Dave operating under an assumed name.

Predictions for Daytona?

Ryan Smithson: Newton saw the Gordon win coming.

David Newton: I'm picking Gordon again. Nobody's been better on plate tracks over the past few years. And I like a driver with momentum.

	"What you want to do for this celebration, Jimmie, is slide through the infield right across the Pepsi sign, so everybody sees it." Credit: Autostock
	Daytona Predictions Smacker Pick Newt Jeff Gordon Ryan Jeff Gordon Marty Jimmie Johnson Rodman Jimmie Johnson Fantasy ReportMarty Smith and Danielle Frye make their Daytona predictions Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

Dave Rodman: How about the unprecedented Jimmie Johnson Daytona double?

Marty Smith: Johnson. Two-for-two so far this year in plate races. No finish worse than sixth at the past five Daytona races.

Dave Rodman: How about a J.J. season sweep on plate races? I still say he's the one to fear for the 2006 title -- especially with the mini-slump Tony's been in.

Ryan Smithson: Marty, last week, you said McMurray was a good road racer -- then he goes out and has a heck of a qualifying lap. Then he spins twice on Lap 1. So you were right and wrong.

Dave Rodman: Ryan, what was your point?

David Newton: I got dizzy watching McMurray the first half of the race.

Marty Smith: I still think McMurray is a good road racer. He got screwed!

Ryan Smithson: Well, he screwed up and admitted it.

Marty Smith: Yeah, I know.

Dave Rodman: He might've screwed up once -- but I stand behind the Dawg on that one -- look at how he came back. He could have given up. Gotten outta the car at Turn 7 and drank wine the rest of the day.

Ryan Smithson: He has some funny quotes sometimes.

Dave Rodman: Like after P.J. launched two tubes at him? "Been a loooong day already, boys." That was like PT-109, man -- torpedoes away!

Marty Smith: Lainie loves his interviews. He's actually talking to the interviewer, not answering in robotic fashion.

Ryan Smithson: I like the 24 back-to-back this weekend. He is getting married. He is a better driver when he has an official woman.

Marty Smith: And what do you think about Vickers, boys? He had the best car at Talladega, finished seventh in the Daytona 500.

David Newton: I was about to give him a "gut check'' vote, Marty.

Marty Smith: Well, there's no more pressure. He's out at HMS, in at Red Bull.

David Newton: Right -- now that his future is set with Red Bull.

Dave Rodman: I did a Shop Talk with Lance McGrew because I thought B.V. was a threat to win at Daytona, too -- and that was AFTER he opted out at HMS. I stand by that one.

The opinions expressed are solely of the participants.