Track Smack: Road down, oval to go for Montoya

1) How soon before Juan Montoya wins a NASCAR oval race -- either Busch Series or Nextel Cup?

Dave Rodman: Obviously, there is no way it's going to be as seemingly easy as the one in Mexico was. But the guy proved how much sheer talent he has -- though his stock car racing judgment just as obviously needs work.

David Caraviello: Mexico seemed like the right place at the right time. You just had this feeling he was going to break through there. As for ovals, I still think his best chance might be on a plate track, where he's been able to hold his own a little.

Joe Menzer: None of 'em are easy. But I have a sneaking suspicion that he's going to win his first at an oval sooner rather than later. Maybe he'll bump somebody out of the way at one of the short tracks -- although I think he'll struggle at first, at Bristol.

David Caraviello: I think he'll get overwhelmed at Bristol. He's never seen anything like that.

Dave Rodman: On ovals, the margin for error is virtually nil, and the capacity for making enemies is limitless. He did not make a friend of Scottie Sunday.

Joe Menzer: And that's one of his teammates! The whole problem with that, of course, is that he had the best car and would have won anyway. He could have done it cleanly if he had just been a little more patient.

Dave Rodman: Precisely.

David Caraviello: Uh, Dave, he won't have to worry about seeing Scott Pruett at the front in an oval race.

Dave Rodman: Exactly. That, of course, was in the back of my mind. Juan reportedly takes no prisoners and in this case, it's too bad one ill-advised move wiped out a lot of good memories of a fantastic day.

Joe Menzer: He won't have to worry about seeing Pruett at the front on an oval -- but he will have to worry about seeing him back at the Ganassi shop!

Dave Rodman: They issued statements and I'd say the hatchet is officially buried. It's another one of those "heat of the moment" deals.

David Caraviello: Am I the only one who thought Pruett caused the wreck? To me, Montoya clearly had the inside position, and Pruett came in on him.

Joe Menzer: Even Montoya doesn't think Pruett caused the wreck!

Dave Rodman: If Montoya were beyond his rear wheel David, that argument would have more merit. But Montoya speared him in the back corner of the right rear quarter panel -- and barely damaged it.

David Caraviello: But seriously, watch the replay -- readily available on NASCAR.com -- again. Montoya has the inside position. His nose is inside Pruett's back bumper. Scott pinches him into the corner.

Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Juan Montoya

Remorseful Montoya breaks team rule

Coming off his win at Mexico City, Juan Montoya created a stir in the Chip Ganassi garage due to the way he earned his first NASCAR win, by spinning teammate Scott Pruett out of the lead.

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Joe Menzer: He just needed to exercise more patience, and couldn't. That's why he'll have troubles at Bristol, at least until he learns that.

Dave Rodman: As Denny Hamlin said, clearly "overzealous." He was caught up in the moment -- and you could argue he should have been. I don't think I've seen anyone drive by a competitive car in the middle of Turns 7 and 8 on the inside in three years.

Joe Menzer: You know what, though? They hired him to win races and he has done it in other leagues precisely because of his aggressive, take-no-prisoners style. You can't easily tell or teach a guy to hold back on that.

Dave Rodman: Good point, Joe.

Joe Menzer: It's such a part of what makes him so good.

David Caraviello: Sorry, but the way I've always seen it is, you get inside the guy at the corner, the position is yours. I'm still wondering what the fuss was.

Dave Rodman: I hated to see Brad Parrott so torn up. That kid puts his heart and soul into his deal -- and that was the most heart-rending, honest assessment of pain I've seen from a victor -- maybe ever. It looked like he and Pruett's guys were almost gonna come to blows before the broadcast ended -- and they DO have to race together -- every week!

Joe Menzer: If they hadn't been teammates, there probably wouldn't have been that much of a fuss over it. There might have been some squawking, sure -- but not as much as there has been.

Dave Rodman: Probably would have been a fistfight.

Joe Menzer: It all makes for great NASCAR theater, though.

David Caraviello: Everybody makes it seem like he deliberately punted the guy. "Lowdown, dirty driving," or whatever Pruett called it, it was not. And of course, more fodder for the conspiracy theorists.

Dave Rodman: David, we could spend the rest of Smack arguing that point -- five percent past someone does not constitute a pass, to me. Harpoon job, maybe.

Joe Menzer: Are you two going to fistfight?

David Caraviello: Inside position is inside position. You have it or you don't.

Dave Rodman: And he didn't.

Joe Menzer: Break it up, you two!

Dave Rodman: Nor is giving up five percent a reason to give up the corner. If you look at when Montoya passed Biffle in the same place a few laps earlier, he was inside him sooner, and further. Biff wisely gave it up.

Joe Menzer: I'm sensing this is going to be Gerald Henderson-Tyler Hansbrough all over again!

Dave Rodman: If Pruett came down on him with his door or wheel -- point made. It was his bumper, for God's sake.

Joe Menzer: I think you two need to go to decaf!

David Caraviello: I don't care how much it was. He got there first. What is this, baseball with all these ridiculous unwritten rules?

Dave Rodman: This is NASCAR. He got to Victory Lane -- end of story.

2. International Speedway Corporation appears to be getting hammered out in the Pacific Northwest. Is Representative Seaquist's assessment a fair one?

Joe Menzer: First of all, which assessment are you talking about? The one where he backpedaled and made some good points about ISC trying to rip everybody off out there? Or the one where he said NASCAR types are "not the kind of people you would want living next door to you?

Autostock

Kasey Kahne

Head2Head: Footing the bill in Wash.

This week's hot-button debate focuses on the state of Washington. There has been name-calling on both sides, but the question remains: Should the taxpayers in Washington state help pay for a new racetrack in Bremerton? Read both sides of the argument and then weigh in with your take.

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David Caraviello: Yeah. Mr. Seaquist wants it both ways. "Oh, I was talking about ISC when I said people who follow NASCAR have junk cars in their front yard." Right.

Dave Rodman: I might be being too easy, but his explanation on Sirius Monday morning, I think, was the most eloquent explanation of the "Robber Baron" phenomenon I think I've ever seen.

Joe Menzer: He should not escape the wrath of the NASCAR public by now trying to downplay those earlier and utterly ridiculous comments.

David Caraviello: Lord knows what other stereotypes the guy holds.

Dave Rodman: I guess I understand that general stereotypes are heinous on any level -- but for better or worse they usually have at least a shred of factual basis.

Joe Menzer: That kind of narrow-minded thinking is dangerous -- on any level, about any subject.

David Caraviello: Are we talking about Rodman on the Montoya-Pruett incident again?

Joe Menzer: Ooh. Another solid body shot from DC! Are you going to take that, Rodman?

Dave Rodman: Watch the video DC -- he was six inches from hitting him squarely in the back bumper!

Joe Menzer: Here we go again. I think I'm going to suggest a cage match between you two -- and for a prelim, Larry Seaquist can go at it with Jimmy Spencer.

Dave Rodman: If he truly meant the initial comments were about ISC and NOT NASCAR fans, I'm surprised he's intelligent and composed enough to carry out a successful Congressional campaign.

David Caraviello: Hey, if the guy wants to say ISC is sticking it unfairly to taxpayers, fine. Nobody is going to argue that. But broad swipes at race fans are something else entirely.

Dave Rodman: I'll tell you this -- I did not see the entire context of the first remarks, so I can't comprehensively defend him. But when he puts it in the context of a billion dollar corporation wanting a municipality to undertake virtually the full financial responsibility to build something, maintain it and then let a large majority of the definitive profit be siphoned off -- he's about spot-on.

David Caraviello: Unfortunately, Seaquist is not alone. A columnist up in N.Y. recently called the Daytona 500 "Freaknik for rednecks" or something similar.

Joe Menzer: Heck, think of the pay-per-view numbers if Seaquist could get in there with just a couple of regular NASCAR fans. Of course, he doesn't realize some of them, and those who write about it, are more educated than he is and maybe more civilized. I don't pretend to know Larry Seaquist personally -- any more than he should pretend to know NASCAR folks.

David Caraviello: He's covering his butt, Rodman. His first comments were clearly aimed at race fans, not ISC brass.

Dave Rodman: After reading his Sirius interview, I'd be amazed if ISC could build a track anywhere in the world under the same terms they tried to pull off in Washington.

Joe Menzer: How is ISC putting "virtually the full financial responsibility" of building something on the community when it said it was going to pay half and all cost overruns?

Dave Rodman: A billion dollar company can build whatever it wants -- on its own. Do you know how much money several billion dollars is?

Joe Menzer: But what you said is still inaccurate.

Dave Rodman: Whoops -- that might be. But the fact is, under the circumstances it's out of whack. Maybe the original proposal was worse.

Joe Menzer: And do you realize how billion dollar companies get to be billion dollar companies? By cutting deals where they can put other folks' money to use!

Dave Rodman: Well, no kidding.

Joe Menzer: In this case, I believe Washington state also would benefit from the influx of tax dollars that visiting race fans would bring.

David Caraviello: That's how Menzer's ancestors made big money in the timber industry.

Joe Menzer: DC, you've got me mixed up with Curtis Turner!

Dave Rodman: Do we know if his assessment of the Seahawks' deal is accurate? I can't believe he'd make that big of a mistake twice!

David Caraviello: Damn the Seahawks. They just took Patrick Kearney away from the Falcons.

Joe Menzer: Ah, my NFL days are behind me. There's no question that many cities cut deals that are favorable to sports ventures -- but they do so because they look at the big picture. This guy does not.

Dave Rodman: We need to get back to racing.

Joe Menzer: By the big picture, I mean that you have to look at these venues as economic engines that drive the local economy in ways that sometimes are hard to quantify.

Dave Rodman: Yeah -- like Rockingham, N.C.?

Joe Menzer: Come on, Rodman, Seattle is NOT Rockingham, N.C. That is a ridiculous comparison!

3) What's the over-under on crashes in practice this weekend at LVMS -- BEFORE the races are held?

Joe Menzer: Well, I wasn't out there for testing at LVMS -- but if A.J. Allmendinger is involved, there's likely to be more than a few.

Dave Rodman: I can see the spirit of Ryan Smithson will never die. And that's a good thing. But not when it comes to bashing poor A.J.

Joe Menzer: Speaking of bashing, how's his latest car doing?

Dave Rodman: He didn't crash at Bristol, did he?

Joe Menzer: Nope. A couple guys scraped the wall and Montoya spun out, but I think the only guy who really mashed his car up was Clint Bowyer.

Dave Rodman: Ward Burton. We ought to track how long it takes those two teams to get those cars back into circulation -- assuming that the front clip of Ward's car was warped.

David Caraviello: Rodman, you were at the Vegas test. Refresh our memories as to what the big problem was out there. I believe I was in Cancun at the time.

Dave Rodman: A washboard racetrack that invites high speed. A harder tire compound was in use at the test and the temperatures were pretty cool.

David Caraviello: I honestly have no idea of what to expect at Vegas. I don't think the drivers do, either. You might see guys taking record numbers of laps in practice.

Joe Menzer: I know what to expect in Vegas: Blackjack, maybe a little poker -- but definitely a couple of late nights. I'm really looking forward to it.

Dave Rodman: Focus Joe, focus. You'll need the same skill at the tables, so all in good time.

Joe Menzer: I mean I'm looking forward to the Blackjack, a little poker, etc. -- not the washboard whatever and the harder tire compound.

David Caraviello: It should be warmer this weekend. Will that help?

LVMS

Construction at LVMS

'New' Las Vegas track ready for debut

From alterations to the track to upgrades for the fans, Las Vegas Motor Speedway isn't the same racetrack it was a year ago. With the construction in the finishing stages, LVMS is ready to show off its new look.

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Dave Rodman: Warmer temps will help a little bit -- and there's a new tire combination in play. So will that increase or decrease the liability -- and likelihood of accidents?

David Caraviello: New racetracks and new tire compounds usually don't mix very well.

Dave Rodman: Along with the "ingeniousness" of these mechanics. I'd say there would be at least three crashes in pre-qualifying practice at Vegas and two more if there were two practices on Saturday. Busch Series, all bets are off but there will be at least three before quals as well.

Joe Menzer: All bets are off? But this is Vegas, man!

Dave Rodman: Yeah -- thanks for bringing me back to reality, pal.

David Caraviello: So, we're not going to see the 2005 Coca-Cola 600 all over again, are we?

Dave Rodman: Well, the race might be something again. And the struggle is -- at the test teams were testing limits, testing suspension combinations that in two cases cut tires and caused wrecks -- so hard to say.

David Caraviello: That's true. In testing, you're usually pushing the equipment much further than you would in a race.

Dave Rodman: I'd like to think Goodyear has the compound needs scoped out, and that it will take into account the warmer temps.

Joe Menzer: Is that why AJ wrecked so much?

Dave Rodman: I think on one of his he was caught out by cold tires, which unfortunately is dopey. The other, I think was a suspension setting, though I'm not positive.

Joe Menzer: Forget that. I'm ready to go scope out the casinos.

David Caraviello: Not to pile on the guy, but does A.J. go 0-for-3? When does he make his first race?

Joe Menzer: Why would anyone think he's going to make the field there, after what happened in testing?

Dave Rodman: Atlanta. He qualified great there in a truck -- but wrecked early in the race, and there's the rub. Did I say last week he should be racing a Toyota in Busch -- and his spotter should be racing his Cup car -- at least for a while?

Joe Menzer: Yes, you did. It's one of the few things I remember that you said.

Dave Rodman: Speaking of billionaires -- Red Bull could run both, A.J. in Busch and David Green in Cup for a while and create some valuable insight into that 84 car.

David Caraviello: At least he'll have the solace of knowing what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

The opinions expressed are solely of the participants.