Smack: Busch-whacked (cont'd)

Mark Aumann: Bottom line: How important is the No. 8 to Teresa? If that was Ralph's number, what connection does she feel toward it?

Joe Menzer: At the news conference Wednesday, Rick indicated he would be willing to discuss a swap of the 5 and the 8.

Dave Rodman: See that, Joe -- possession is nine-tenths of the law, and you were a step ahead of me.

On the market

Kyle Busch replaces Dale Earnhardt Jr. as the most coveted free agent in NASCAR.

• Complete story, click here

Mark Aumann: Well, with the 1, 5 and 15, Teresa could save money on numbers. All she'd need then is the 51.

Joe Menzer: The 8 is Junior's number now. I don't think anybody would argue that -- or at least not argue it in a court of law and win.

Mark Aumann: Here's a wacky thought: What if Teresa could trade the 8 for rights to the 3?

Dave Rodman: That is wacky. Why would RC get involved in this mess?

Joe Menzer: Trading the 8 for rights to the 3 made sense if Junior had ended up at Childress. Don't see it happening now, although with the joint RCR-DEI engine venture and other stuff on the horizon, who knows?

Dave Rodman: And I think she probably has all the rights to that that she needs -- or enough cooperation with Childress to keep things cool, there.

Joe Menzer: Richard might trade for the 8 and then trade it to Rick. But geez, this is getting kind of silly, isn't it? Bottom line is that Junior should end up in the 8 if he wants it. And he does -- he's made that perfectly clear.

Dave Rodman: But no matter how popular he is, he can't expect traditions to end on his whim.

Mark Aumann: Childress hunting in New Zealand: Why does that conjure up images of Elmer Fudd and "Shhhhhhhh! I'm hunting wabbits!"

Joe Menzer: Thirty-pound wabbits, no less, from what I hear!

Dave Rodman: I could see DEI making a swap with the 8 for the owner points of the 5 -- and letting Rick keep the number. Don't know, now, if NASCAR would let that fly.

Joe Menzer: That ain't gonna happen, and you know it. Thirty-pound wabbits will fly before that happens.

2. How did the losers in the great "Junior Sweepstakes" lose?

Mark Aumann: I was certainly surprised that it ended up being Hendrick. A month ago, Hendrick said he had no room for Junior. It sure seemed like Childress was the obvious choice.

Dave Rodman: I think when Rick said there was no room at the inn, he believed it. But somewhere between there and when his extension negotiations with Kyle broke down, something -- or things -- happened.

Joe Menzer: Well, all along I mistakenly thought Childress was the frontrunner. And when Hendrick said there was no room at the inn, I actually believed him.

Dave Rodman: With what Junior himself said, I did not think RCR was the leading choice. From a competition standpoint, very close. But Junior's discomfort at being there kinda nixed it, in my mind.

Mark Aumann: Yeah, but did you know that before he spoke Wednesday, Dave? I don't know that we ever got that feeling in advance of the announcement.

Joe Menzer: You know, I've got to give Darrell Waltrip credit. The day Junior said he was leaving DEI, he said that Junior might be uncomfortable in his daddy's shadow at RCR.

Dave Rodman: I thought the interview that DW did with Junior right after the conference at JR Motorsports in May -- which played during the race the following weekend -- was possibly the best work Darrell has ever done in the media. That was where Junior expressed his reservations about working with RCR -- and that ended that, in my mind. (Continued)