Track Smack: COT in the books, top 35 and JGR

1. Guys, we've got one COT race in the books, so can we give 'em a break? How will the COT play at Martinsville?

David Caraviello: Probably a lot like it played at Bristol, with crews and drivers trying to figure the thing out. And while this transition process hasn't necessarily made for great racing, things have probably gone better than NASCAR could have hoped to this point.

Mark Aumann: I think we'll see a lot of the same: cars that don't turn very well, drivers having to work the gas and brakes hard to get around the corners and guys trying to keep from damaging the splitters and wings.

Dave Rodman: That's the thing. With the exception of D.J.'s wreck -- which was a car-killer in any era -- I thought the splitters, particularly, did very well in their bouts with the wall.

Mark Aumann: It's obvious the car is safer. Whether it's adjustable I think is still debatable.

Dave Rodman: I was pretty impressed with how durable the cars were. The racing at Bristol was about what I expected -- some were gonna hit it and some weren't. That's the setups, guys -- the setups.

David Caraviello: No rear wings went flying off, as people had feared. Inspection didn't take 500 hours, as many had feared. A lot of those worst-case scenarios have been debunked.

Mark Aumann: Well, not many guys went in headfirst. Maybe Montoya, but that wasn't at full speed. Saw a lot of rear end hits.

Dave Rodman: It was a starting point -- which we had to get to. I think, even though they had to use more brake to help turn the cars, they'll have figured that out some more at Martinsville.

Mark Aumann: Well, they'd better, because there's no banking to help.

David Caraviello: Now it's just a matter of working on the car to make it more raceable. That will come with time, but it was crazy at Bristol, seeing the leaders all strung out and like 16 cars on the lead lap halfway through the race.

Mark Aumann: At least the track should be a little less rough, which means they might not see as much front end bounce.

Dave Rodman: What's funny is I don't know if we would have thought there would be so many "old shoe guys" in the Cup garage. I thought the best display was how much Tony Stewart whined beforehand -- then he just went out and drove everybody into the ground in the race.

Mark Aumann: Well, if you're hungry enough, you'll eat anything. In this case, you race what you got. It doesn't mean you have to like it.

Dave Rodman: Same thing with Jeff Gordon. Nobody likes change, it seems -- but champions, or potential champions, adjust best -- and quickest.

David Caraviello: Funny. Smoke, who hates it, looked awesome. Gordon, who's said he doesn't feel comfortable in it, rallied from way back. Kyle Busch, whose disdain was made obvious, won the race.

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Dave Rodman: Yup. That's why I said "champions" and "potential champions."

David Caraviello: Notice a theme here? Guys who hate the COT seem to do OK in it.

Mark Aumann: Well, I guess it proves that good drivers can adapt.

Dave Rodman: I think I'm most interested in seeing how the 48 responds this weekend -- though for not running the greatest and getting a lap down and smacking the wall -- their finish wasn't putrid. That's championship material, too.

David Caraviello: There's the reverse of what we've been talking about: The 48 team couldn't wait to race this car at Bristol, and they were hardly a factor.

Mark Aumann: The Penske guys didn't have a very good day, either.

Dave Rodman: Which we certainly didn't expect. But for those who expected the COT to elevate some of the second echelon teams -- you had to like the runs of Jeff Green and Mike Bliss.

Mark Aumann: That got Green off the top 35 bubble for now.

David Caraviello: And practice results were wild. Jeremy Mayfield was way up there. So were a lot of other guys you've barely heard from.

Dave Rodman: Balance will be a hard thing to find the next few weeks for everybody -- from Martinsville to Texas to Phoenix and the COTs' first real aero test. Get plenty of sleep.

Mark Aumann: I think the cars will actually be closer when they can air 'em out a little bit.

David Caraviello: I think the consensus is, there's some promise here, but they've got to make it easier to maneuver. That will happen. Give the good teams time, and they can do anything.

2. Now that the top 35 switches to 2007 owner points, who's going to be sitting at Martinsville?

Dave Rodman: Just as we surmised, all seven Toyotas are out of the loop, so I guess it's lucky they had the speed at Bristol. For their sake, I hope it translates to the flat short track.

Mark Aumann: That early wreck Sunday did more than damage Dale Jarrett's car. That really cost them a free pass at Martinsville.

David Caraviello: Jarrett has what, one more provisional left? He may need it. Toyota execs were giddy after qualifying, but now the real work begins.

Dave Rodman: D.J. has two left, and I bet he doesn't have 'em left by the end of April. He painfully needs a good race here, and quickly.

Mark Aumann: Joe Nemechek and Johnny Sauter showed you could miss one of the first five races and still make the top 35.

David Caraviello: You have to wonder if Toyota is regretting the "no cherry picking" approach they took to choosing their teams. I don't think anyone expected them to be 0-for the top 35 at this point.

Mark Aumann: For Paul Menard, missing two was one too many.

David Caraviello: And poor Scott Riggs has got to be banging his head against the wall.

Mark Aumann: Scott Riggs has to feel like the most snake-bitten guy in the garage. Five starts -- and has he even finished a race yet? It's pretty difficult to get five starts and not accumulate enough points to make it, but it's proving to be harder to do than it looks.

David Caraviello: Everything's proving harder than it looks. You have to wonder if Toyota vastly underestimated some factors.

Dave Rodman: This weekend is gonna be a real catfight in terms of who's getting left even further behind. Do you think the points will stay close enough -- and DNQs will spread out enough -- that someone can jump from as bad as 42nd or 43rd back into the top 35?

Mark Aumann: Sure. The point differential is only 80-something points right now. But you're going to have to qualify consistently, sort of like Nemechek and Sauter.

Toyota falling flat in first Cup season

All the concern with Toyota entering Nextel Cup looks like it was for not. As the series heads to Martinsville, not one Toyota is in the top 35 in owner points. What surprises Joe Menzer though, is the lack of concern from the manufacturer.

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David Caraviello: All that "hardest competition in years" talk we heard from drivers in the preseason is becoming reality.

Mark Aumann: There are really only nine other teams in play -- and that's asking a lot of the 49 and 78.

Dave Rodman: A stat was thrown out on "Inside Nextel Cup" Monday night -- at Bristol, I think in Happy Hour -- 20 cars were within, what, one-tenth of a second? Bottom line, competition is brutal.

David Caraviello: It's like what A.J. Allmendinger told me Saturday. The Red Bull guys are missing races in some cases by hundredths of a second. That's tough.

Mark Aumann: Dave, each lap is only 16 seconds. That's pretty easy to stay fairly close.

Dave Rodman: Or just as easy to be watching on Sunday.

3. The Joe Gibbs Racing cars led 443 of 504 laps at Bristol yet averaged 28th-place finishes. So is Tony Stewart, a former Martinsville winner, going to kick butt this weekend?

Dave Rodman: I'd say he won't be any happier -- but he'll be just as competitive.

David Caraviello: Sure, he could kick butt. And he could get punted by David Ragan on lap five and beat the traffic home. That's the great and bedeviling thing about short-track racing.

Dave Rodman: Yup. It will be interesting to see if stopping and turning the cars is as much of an issue at Martinsville? But I think the Gibbs guys went to the head of the class.

Mark Aumann: I'm certain the guys took a look at the fuel pump assembly at the shop and have already made modifications. If anything, Hamlin may be more competitive there -- he just loves that place.

David Caraviello: Man, you guys should have heard him on the radio after that thing went bad. He gave new meaning to the word "furious."

Dave Rodman: Yeah. TV did a pretty good job of editing that, I'm sure. It boiled down to about six words.

Mark Aumann: What's with all the Davids this year? David Ragan, David Gilliland, Dave Blaney, David Green. And why isn't there a Goliath?

Dave Rodman: Before Bristol, you might have confused Jimmie Johnson with him. The COT: A pebble or the great equalizer? I just hope Juan Montoya is as entertaining as he was last week.

Mark Aumann: David Caraviello, Dave Rodman -- I'm outnumbered!

David Caraviello: All I know is I spent the first half of the Bristol race watching JPM try to get by people. He's already got the bump-and-run down pat.

Mark Aumann: Oh yeah, ask Scott Pruett about that, David.

David Caraviello: I still contend Pruett came down on him. Many people have emailed saying they agree with me.

Dave Rodman: Let's not bring up that old argument. JPM was in Victory Lane and that's the bottom line. But after Bristol I wonder how many people will talk to him versus possibly seeking payback.

Mark Aumann: I think the guys who excel on short tracks will continue to do so at Martinsville. And I think guys who struggle there won't be better just because of the COT.

Dave Rodman: And speaking of possible payback, I think it'll be interesting to gather the gist of D.J. and Matt Kenseth's "conversation." Though I think, all things considered, D.J. should have just stayed up a half lane and given up the spot.

Mark Aumann: I really think it's harder to drive Martinsville than Bristol.

David Caraviello: That comes from all the laps you have on both tracks, Mark?

Mark Aumann: Oh, yeah. It's easier to find your way out of the parking lot at Bristol though.

Dave Rodman: Like it's easier to drive Talladega than Dover, right?

David Caraviello: Martinsville is 10 times harder than Bristol on the EA Sports video game. Hey, it's a driver-training tool, right?

Mark Aumann: I've been on the banks at Talladega in a rental car.

Dave Rodman: Yeah, and when are you making your Cup debut, David?

David Caraviello: I am shooting for 2012 in the Turner Interactive Media AMC Gremlin.

Dave Rodman: You should have got you a truck ride for Martinsville this weekend. Looks like every other Late Model Stock Car driver in the country did.