Track Smack: Bristol and the COT, top 35 and Juan

1. It's the long-awaited debut of the Car of Tomorrow -- the COT -- but will the action at Bristol be any different than we've ever seen?

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• David
• Joe
• Mark

David Caraviello: Reporters hate to say this, but no one knows. We're talking about pack racing, where most of the COT tests were done in single-car runs.

Joe Menzer: That's what remains to be seen. I think, as most racing insiders have suggested, that everyone will be on the edge of their seats for the first hour or so -- and then realize it's not gonna be all that different.

Mark Aumann: Nah, it'll be just like every other Bristol race. Lots of beating and banging because there's really only one good groove, which means NASCAR probably won't have to make up a "debris caution" at the end.

Joe Menzer: Yeah, what about that deal?

Mark Aumann: This won't be a fuel mileage finish.

Joe Menzer: Neither was Atlanta, as it turned out.

Mark Aumann: Yep, I hollered "Lap 210" when we predicted when NASCAR would throw the flag. I was off by one lap.

David Caraviello: But can certain parts of this car take that beating and banging? The splitter and wing aren't indestructible, you know.

Joe Menzer: They're not? I heard they were. Of course I'm kidding. Not that I haven't heard some versions of that, but nothing is indestructible when you run it into a wall.

David Caraviello: Just ask Clint Bowyer.

Mark Aumann: The problem is still that 43 cars is about seven too many on a half-mile track like Bristol. There's just no way to avoid running into somebody -- or getting run into.

Joe Menzer: You know what, though? That's a big part of what makes it so much fun.

Mark Aumann: Funny how Jimmie Johnson knew where the debris was this time, but not at California, where it cost him the win.

Joe Menzer: OK, Aumann, you now have to let Atlanta go. I know it's hard -- going back to that 13-inch TV.

Mark Aumann: I measured it, Joe. It's 13-inch diagonal. Even Jimmy Spencer looks small on it.

Joe Menzer: Now we can't get you off talking about your darn TV! And Jimmy Spencer doesn't look small anywhere!

Car of Tomorrow

• Cost Management
• Driver Safety
• Improved Competition
• A New Era

David Caraviello: Thing about the COT is, many drivers compare it to the Craftsman Truck. And the trucks produce the best racing in NASCAR. That's a best-case scenario.

Mark Aumann: But there aren't many trucks that survive the Bristol race.

David Caraviello: There aren't many cars that survive the Bristol race either, Mark. But if this thing gives us truck-style racing at Bristol and Martinsville, it's gonna be a big hit in the grandstands.

Joe Menzer: Again, the beating and banging and wrecking because there are so many cars racing so close together in tight quarters is what makes Bristol a blast to watch.

David Caraviello: And that's going to happen, COT or not.

Joe Menzer: And that's what it's all about. I got a kick out of Tony Stewart and so many other guys complaining about Vegas -- and how it was so hard to race there on the reconfigured track.

Mark Aumann: Fifty-three of the 200 laps during last year's truck race at Bristol were under caution. Not sure that's "great racing."

Joe Menzer: Well, guess what? It provided an entertaining show -- and this will, too. That is what these guys get paid to do: put on an entertaining show and deal with whatever circumstances are handed them.

David Caraviello: That's because you have CTS drivers, Mark. The competitive nature of the CTS is clearly the best in NASCAR.

Mark Aumann: Well, the spread from top to bottom in CTS is so much larger. You really never know what might happen at the back of the pack in a truck race.

Joe Menzer: CTS, COT -- man, I'm having trouble keeping all of this straight.

David Caraviello: Get your COT ABCs together ASAP, JM.

2. Who's going to be under more pressure this weekend: Regan Smith -- or Dale Jarrett, Kyle Petty, Jeff Green, Scott Riggs, Kasey Kahne, Ken Schrader, Dave Blaney and anyone else around that top-35 cutoff point?

Joe Menzer: I say the veterans more than Regan Smith. They're trying to secure a top-35 spot; he's just trying to get his feet wet and gain valuable experience.

Mark Aumann: The veteran guys, by far. They can't afford to get caught up in anything. Regan expects to struggle.

Joe Menzer: Yeah, Regan will just be trying to survive and finish the race.

David Caraviello: Scott Riggs. He's walked this tightrope before and fallen off.

Joe Menzer: Of course, that's what everybody does at Bristol.

Mark Aumann: I think the biggest pressure might be on Johnny Sauter and Sterling Marlin. If they make the show, they basically have guaranteed themselves top-35 spots. If they don't, they could get caught, because all of those other guys are at least in the show and know they can make up ground.

Joe Menzer: One of the biggest questions in the garage is: How long can Dale Jarrett just keep riding around, making laps and basically just trying to finish ahead of whoever wrecks?

Mark Aumann: Another one is Paul Menard, who has made every race since Daytona. He's 36th right now and another decent run would lock him in.

David Caraviello: Mark, when you say that about those guys already being in the show: Kasey Kahne is supposed to be a title contender, correct? So what's he doing messing around with the top-35 guys? If he's still 36th on Monday, that's not a good situation.

Joe Menzer: They've had good cars and some bad luck. But now they need a good run, for sure.

David Caraviello: Funny how Evernham Motorsports gets a guy in the Chase every year, but right now is going to have to push it just to make sure guys make races.

Joe Menzer: Well, Elliott Sadler is doing pretty good for Evernham. What is he right now, 11th in points?

David Caraviello: But Kahne and Riggs -- that's supposed to be a big-time team, boys, and they're mixing it up with Brian Vickers and Ken Schrader?

Joe Menzer: I like Sadler. I'm not a hunter, but I like listening to him about how he kills things.

Mark Aumann: Wonder what David Reutimann was thinking when he spun around and looked up: "Hey, it's Kasey Kahne!"

Joe Menzer: Speaking of Reutimann, did I hear correctly that he came on his radio and said something to the effect that "I killed another one" after that wreck?

David Caraviello: Gotta be talking about his racecar. Those Toyota teams are struggling to get their car counts up. They don't need to be bringing one home in a box every week. That might have been his Texas car, too.

Joe Menzer: Those Toyota teams are struggling in every aspect.

David Caraviello: Much as Mark struggles to see his 13-inch TV.

Joe Menzer: Ah, it always comes back to Mark's puny TV.

Mark Aumann: Vickers has to wonder what black cloud he's under. He's out there, minding his own business and gets wrecked.

Joe Menzer: Sort of like you just minding your own business and getting harassed about your TV all the time!

David Caraviello: Really, did anyone expect Toyota to start this slowly? This is bordering on worst-case scenario.

Joe Menzer: I thought they would have at least moderate success -- a small triumph here or there -- by now. But they've had basically nothing -- or nothing good, anyway.

David Caraviello: One top-10. That's it -- and a bunch of wrecks and DNQs.

Mark Aumann: Especially when other non-top-35 teams have had success. If it was everybody, you could at least use that as an excuse. They're just not making any progress. It's possible, if Jarrett has a bad race that no Toyotas will be locked in for Martinsville.

David Caraviello: Right. When Johnny Sauter's team can make races and Toyota can't -- the folks in Japan have to be scratching their heads.

Joe Menzer: Just by looking at what Jarrett is doing, it's pretty obvious their equipment isn't close to being as good as I thought it might be -- or they thought it would be.

David Caraviello: Because you know Johnny Sauter is huge over there.

Mark Aumann: Big in Japan? That's an old Alphaville song.

Joe Menzer: Don't they make some pretty good TVs over there, too?

David Caraviello: They do, Joe. Some bigger than 13 inches.

Joe Menzer: Sauter in big-screen HDTV. It doesn't get much better than that -- unless you go with Sauter in HDTV in a COT ASAP.

3. Other than Mark pining about his TV, will anyone have worse nightmares than Juan Montoya on Sunday night?

Mark Aumann: You think driving on the street course at Monaco is any easier than Bristol?

David Caraviello: Let's see how the guy does before we bury him. I don't think anybody expected the kind of effort we saw out of him at Atlanta. He learns very quickly.

Mark Aumann: Monaco is pretty damned narrow, and you certainly don't want to touch wheels.

Joe Menzer: I think Montoya might surprise some folks on the short tracks, but probably not in his first try.

David Caraviello: And from my vast experience on PlayStation, I would say Monaco is tougher than Bristol.

Mark Aumann: Well, if you're playing it on a 13-inch screen, Talladega is about the same size as Bristol.

Joe Menzer: The thing about Montoya is, he has that bullish tenacity. If he were running up front toward the end, he wouldn't hesitate to knock somebody out of the way at Bristol -- as evidenced by what he did to a teammate in Mexico.

David Caraviello: The next two weeks are going to be big for the guy. If he can get through Bristol and Martinsville relatively unscathed -- dare I say we might be talking about a guy who could contend for a Chase berth?

Joe Menzer: And then look out! He'll really know what he's doing by then.

Mark Aumann: The big thing for him will be patience. If you get rooted out of the bottom groove, you can't panic and try to squeeze yourself back in line. You have to wait for an opening. That's going to be a key.

Joe Menzer: That's where his naturally aggressive driving mentality could work against him.

Mark Aumann: And then there's just sheer dumb luck at missing the wrecks.

David Caraviello: We've seen nothing from the guy thus far that leads us to believe he's going to panic. But Bristol is going to be a totally new experience for him. Of course, so has everything in NASCAR been, thus far.

Joe Menzer: I don't think he'll panic, but there is a difference between not panicking and not having the patience required at a place like this.

Mark Aumann: Plus, he drives every lap like he's short-tracking it, all sideways and stuff, so who knows?

David Caraviello: That's the way they do it in Monaco, my man.

Mark Aumann: Maybe there's a whole Saturday night dirt half-mile series in Colombia that nobody knows about.

Joe Menzer: That's what I'm saying. I don't think we should just assume he's going to stink.

Mark Aumann: Well, if he tries to run the high groove at Bristol, he won't last long.

Joe Menzer: One thing's for sure. It will be fun to see JPM in a COT at BMS.

The opinions expressed are solely of the participants.