Track Smack: Kyle's attitide problem; the COT returns

1) How much of a topic will Kyle Busch's, shall we say, fit of pique at Texas be this weekend in Phoenix?

Dave Rodman: I don't think you can read anything into Junior jumping into the car for Kyle -- Junior's a soldier, and a good sport. As disappointed as Kyle was, I think storming off was a bad move.

Joe Menzer: It should be a topic. What a contrast in examples of ways to handle yourself no matter what happens at a race: Kyle storms off without talking to the media or telling his team where he's headed.

David Caraviello: Something tells me he'll be offering an apology to his team when he meets with the media this weekend. You could see the disappointment clearly on crew chief Alan Gustafson's face after the race.

Dave Rodman: Absolutely, that's what I'm thinking. I think Kyle will have his situation with the team rectified, but obviously, the media hounds must be fed, also.

David Caraviello: Must have been a very interesting meeting Tuesday morning over at Hendrick.

Joe Menzer: Junior not only talks calmly with the media, but then jumps in Kyle's car to finish the job Kyle should have finished. Junior was the one who had more of a right to storm off after what had happened!

David Caraviello: You can't blame Junior at all. Shoot, get some first-hand intel on how a Hendrick car handles? No brainer, unless he loses the title to Kyle by three points -- which is quite unlikely to happen.

Dave Rodman: I've said for years how much Junior impresses me in so many arcane ways -- and this was another example. They need something good to happen, and Sunday looked like it was gonna be it.

David Caraviello: You're right, Dave. He's a much deeper guy than he gets credit for.

Joe Menzer: Listen, I know most folks don't care how these guys treat the media. But we are their conduit to the fans, and part of their job is to talk with us. We are, shall we say, part of the vital circle of life of racing.

David Caraviello: Joe has evidently been in Disney World for too long. Now he's spouting Lion King references.

Joe Menzer: Look at how he's played his cards in the DEI situation. Brilliant, in my opinion.

Dave Rodman: After the crash, he said nothing bad about anyone -- not Kyle, his car, his crew or anything else. He was constantly pumping his guys up and when the danged thing blew up HE apologized for doing it.

Joe Menzer: Dale Jr. is like the Simba of NASCAR.

David Caraviello: I'd offer an opinion on that, Joe, if I knew who Simba was.

Dave Rodman: Yeah, I can just see ol' Simmy wrinkling his nose and telling the group of mics, "Are you crazy?!?"

Joe Menzer: Geez, DC, you don't know who Simba is?

David Caraviello: Evidently I need to refresh myself on Disney animation.

Dave Rodman: He drove a few races for James Hylton back in 1994, didn't he?

Junior ends race in Busch's No. 5

Kyle Busch may have ended Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s day, but Junior stepped in for Busch and finished Sunday's Texas race in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 5.

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Joe Menzer: Did you just move out of a cave to that new home of yours, DC?

Dave Rodman: "Veldt Views" sponsorship, I believe.

David Caraviello: Or was he the guy at Hendrick tasked with screwing Kyle Busch's head on straight, and warning him never to abandon his guys again?

Dave Rodman: "Scar" Busch. Brutal.

Joe Menzer: Hahaha. DC no doubt doesn't get that one, either. But all our loyal Smackers will!

David Caraviello: Can you imagine one of us doing that? Man, Joe -- that would be like me writing the first big wreck and taking off, leaving you to handle the rest of the race.

Joe Menzer: Well, sometimes that's just what you do, isn't it?

David Caraviello: But seriously, what was the backlash like this week at Hendrick?

Joe Menzer: I would hope that they gave Kyle a serious tongue-lashing. Listen, that's a class operation and he needs to start maturing and learning how to handle himself with more class.

Dave Rodman: I almost feel like Rick himself would have a serious "come to papa" talk with Kyle.

David Caraviello: That's a professional organization to a T. You just don't do that kind of thing over there. I'm sure sponsors aren't crazy about being associated with a guy who storms off in a huff.

Joe Menzer: It was bad enough when he won the first COT race and wouldn't stop complaining about how bad the car was. This time he let his teammates down. All signs of immaturity.

David Caraviello: Hey, I won't throw the guy under the bus for giving an honest opinion on the COT. But you just don't abandon your guys like that.

Dave Rodman: True, David -- I respected his honest opinion of the COT, which was directed at the concept, not his crew. But at Texas those guys leaped on that car like worker ants when it arrived in the garage. To me, there was no question they were gonna fix it. So it was a very bad move to haul tail.

Joe Menzer: I don't fault Kyle for bashing the COT when asked his opinion. But did he have to go on and on and on and on and on and on and on about it?

David Caraviello: Yes, because reporters kept asking him questions in that same vein.

Joe Menzer: I thought he could have cut himself off at some point and come across as having, well, a little more class.

Dave Rodman: In the large scheme of things, I don't know how big it is, but you don't want it to be the first crack in the dam, where they have a serious shot at being a good Chase contender this season.

Joe Menzer: But he can really drive a racecar and he's got plenty of folks around him who can help with the other stuff, as long as he's willing to listen.

Dave Rodman: Texas was maybe his worst move in more than a year but not a cause to fire him, for sure. You can dis fellow competitors all you want -- but you have to respect your teammates.

Joe Menzer: Oh, geez, no! I don't think anyone is suggesting he be fired over this? That would be ridiculous! He just needs to grow up a little, that's all.

David Caraviello: No. A simple tongue-lashing from Mr. H should suffice.

Dave Rodman: They're all putting their hearts and souls into this -- as Kyle is, evidenced by his reaction.

2) To almost steal a quote from Days of Thunder, Tony Stewart hit almost everything but the lottery Sunday. Are he and Juan Montoya going to be the sport's latest "item," as in rivalry?

Stewart-Montoya tiff leaves wreckage

Two wrecks in the space of 13 laps Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway left four men disappointed, one irate, another confused and, for all intents and purposes, set up Jeff Burton's victory in the Samsung 500.

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David Caraviello: Sure, if you want to believe ESPN, which is using a slow news week to hype this into Frazier-Ali. It was a racing incident, simple as that. Nobody got punted.

Dave Rodman: Sunday proved how good Tony and that Gibbs team are. I think his car was, shall we say, less than perfect for most of the day, and yet it was parked in the top 10 for most of the race.

David Caraviello: Take it for what it is.

Joe Menzer: I think Juan Montoya is great for this sport right now. He's ticking lots of other drivers off, to be sure, but he's driving well enough and aggressively (some would say recklessly) enough to get to Victory Lane sooner rather than later.

David Caraviello: I think other Nextel Cup drivers have underestimated just how aggressive Juan Montoya is; which is funny, because nobody in the media who followed his open-wheel career is surprised.

Dave Rodman: And he is being pretty up-front about it, too. Not that Tony's hiding anything any more than he ever did. But even Tony took responsibility for the wreck that took out Junior and Shrub.

Joe Menzer: Tell me this: Is Montoya really driving all that much differently than Stewart was a couple years ago when everyone was complaining about him being too aggressive, etc. -- and causing wrecks?

Dave Rodman: Probably not.

David Caraviello: Back when Tony was punting a driver a race? No. Stewart was much more aggressive then. Juan's incidents have all occurred while battling tightly for position.

Joe Menzer: NASCAR needs a guy like Montoya right now -- just like it needed a guy like Stewart when he came in.

Dave Rodman: Well, they need Tony, too -- so I'm glad his "retirement" statements were probably the result of great frustration. I don't think there have been many calls for Tony's head in relation to Junior getting knocked out. He'll be fine.

Joe Menzer: Those retirement statements attributed to him were pure frustration -- and quite ridiculous.

David Caraviello: Absolutely, Joe. If he was Johnny Morris from Columbia, S.C., he'd be a folk hero right now. Montoya is such a throwback as a physical, old-school-style driver, it's scary. Too bad so many people can't get past the accent.

Joe Menzer: Careful, DC, lots of folk are accusing us of making JPM a media creation! That is, if you're getting the same e-mails I've been getting.

David Caraviello: Oh, yeah. Former Indy 500 and Champ Car World Series champion who won seven times in F1, trying something that hasn't been done since the days of Andretti and Foyt. Of course, the media's making it all up.

Dave Rodman: No way. The guy can drive, he's got race-winning stuff, so there is no reason he shouldn't take it to the front. And he is. The scary thing is, the "crummy races" Juan himself predicted -- well, have we even seen one?

Joe Menzer: Juan has even looked good at Bristol and Martinsville. He could have finished higher at both places. Of course, he ticked off Tony Raines at Martinsville -- punting him when both were running in the top 10.

Dave Rodman: One of them racin' deals, again.

David Caraviello: Right now, other drivers are racing JPM like he's any other rookie. He's not. They'll learn that soon enough, and give him a little more space.

Joe Menzer: Getting back to Tony's "retirement" statement, by the way, I found it quite humorous that he couched it by saying he would consider it "when he had enough money." His career winnings with Gibbs since coming to NASCAR in 1999 were over $57 million heading into this season!

David Caraviello: Boy, ESPN went crazy with that statement, too. Tony has said this kind of thing before. People really lack perspective. It's not like Stewart will be in a rocker tomorrow.

3) With all the hubbub and hoopla, have we forgotten about the COT's debut this weekend on its first speedway?

David Caraviello: Who can forget about the COT? I live, eat and breathe COT. I even sleep on a cot the night before COT races.

Joe Menzer: How could we forget? Or is it already becoming less a big deal because everyone but Kyle Busch is becoming accustomed to the fact that the COT is here to stay.

Dave Rodman: Rollaway heaven, David. You got "Budweiser 8" bedding on there?

Joe Menzer: So why complain so much about it? Just get in it and figure out how to drive it, because it's the future -- the immediate future.

David Caraviello: No, Lion King sheets.

Joe Menzer: Well, if you did have Lion King sheets you'd know who Simba and Mufasa were.

David Caraviello: Phoenix and Darlington loom as big deals for the COT. Many of the problems we've witnessed thus far, like exhaust overheating and tightness in traffic; could be attributed as short-track issues.

Joe Menzer: Good point. Plus NASCAR said they expected to have the problems with the foam catching on fire fixed pretty quickly. Let's see if they've made progress. Of course this isn't a short track, as you said.

David Caraviello: Racing on bigger tracks will help NASCAR determine whether the issues at Bristol and Martinsville were more car or facility related.

Dave Rodman: Right. That's the thing; this is uncharted territory and is going to be the first real test of these cars' aero tendencies on longer, faster tracks in big traffic.

Joe Menzer: I still say that by another COT race or two, maybe three or four more, it will no longer be considered that big a deal.

David Caraviello: If anything, the shock was seeing the old cars again, at Texas -- especially how low those front bumpers are.

Dave Rodman: I think the issues are going to be there, the critical thing is how NASCAR and the teams are able to tweak them to fix them. I have heard several of the guys talking about aero push at Bristol and Martinsville, of all places. That's a bad sign.

Joe Menzer: The question is, are there any teams specifically poised to take advantage of the COT on the intermediate tracks?

Dave Rodman: We'll find out after this weekend.

David Caraviello: Gibbs and Hendrick have been ahead of the curve since day 1.

Joe Menzer: Well, I'm asking you guys now. Who will it be?

David Caraviello: And as Chad Knaus said at Las Vegas, the team that handles the COT best this year will win the championship. Stay tuned.

Joe Menzer: I thought maybe Penske would be ahead of the curve in the COT, but so far they really haven't been.

Dave Rodman: For better or worse, I'd say it will be a Chevrolet, and more than likely a Hendrick, Gibbs or Childress version. Johnson's done it already this season, but two-in-a-row for Burton might be on the table this weekend.

David Caraviello: I'm picking Simba in the No. 008 Lion King Mercury. Simba really knows how to get around Phoenix.