Track Smack: Tony, Juan and Bienvenue au Montreal (cont'd)

3. Are those purported 7 million NASCAR fans in Canada rejoicing now that NASCAR is coming this week?

Dave Rodman: I don't know about that. I hope this is not the ultimate reason why the Busch Series is considered the Bush League by some. Though Patrick Carpentier said he was swamped at his recent media appearances -- by NASCAR fans, not just his supporters.

Joe Menzer: Canada has 7 million people? Just kidding -- so all you Canucks that were about to e-mail can just stop now!

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David Caraviello: Hey, watch the Canucks stuff. That's an offensive term to some in Eastern Canada.

Joe Menzer: Oh, it is. Thanks. Now I'll get even more e-mails. I guess I'm just a sensitive un-American American.

Dave Rodman: I have no idea what's really going to happen and am really looking forward to seeing it -- but I took the addition of those "Cup guys who have no other business being there" as somewhat of a sign of promotional desperation.

Joe Menzer: On a more serious note, I think NASCAR is right to test the waters in places like Mexico City and Canada. Why not? See what the crowds are like not just in Year 1, but down the road a bit.

David Caraviello: I hear they're adding a stanza about NASCAR to Oh, Canada, and they will sing it arm-in-arm from Newfoundland to British Columbia.

Dave Rodman: But it has all the makings of a very interesting show.

Joe Menzer: And if the interest is there, you build on a vast new market. If it's not, you pull out and it's no big loss. At least you tried. Heck, Canada makes a lot more sense than Japan!

Dave Rodman: Well, as we've already seen -- Mexico City started off like gangbusters and has petered out by the year since then.

David Caraviello: They'll get more for a stand-alone Busch race in Mexico or Montreal than they will in most places in the U.S. -- so why not go?

Dave Rodman: The field at Montreal is gonna be neat as hell, including international road racers and a double-handful of Canadian nationals. Everything the provincial crowd could want.

Joe Menzer: That's a good point, DC. (Geez, I hate agreeing with you all the time). But a Busch race not tied to a Cup race is likely to do as well or better in Montreal than it is in Nashville.

David Caraviello: But the petered-out attendance Mexico draws now would still dwarf most stand-alone U.S. Busch crowds.

Dave Rodman: They'd have to take the Cup Series out of the country to really gauge the interest. But please, no further than Mexico or Canada!

Joe Menzer: At least at first. Over the long haul, Nashville might have more consistent crowds.

Dave Rodman: Or Kentucky, for sure.

Joe Menzer: Some parts of Kentucky are like a foreign country anyway.

Dave Rodman: Joe, you must have been speaking to Shana Mayfield.

Joe Menzer: Nope. I have some great friends from Kentucky. And they would probably admit it themselves about their great native state.

David Caraviello: I get e-mails from Canadian fans all the time, so they're up there. Some are really jacked up about this. Some tell me it's in Montreal, which acts like a separate country, though.

Dave Rodman: It does, from what I understand. So we'll make sure to forewarn and forearm brother Aumann before he goes.

David Caraviello: The big question is whether these Busch guys know what they're getting into. That racetrack up there is brutally hard, with concrete walls everywhere and no runoff areas. Even the F1 guys have a devil of a time on it.

Dave Rodman: Thursday will be a telling day. Will be neat to see who makes a side trip on the way to Pocono, which we'll know in short order.

Joe Menzer: Man, Aumann is becoming a world traveler. Does he take his rabbits and his 13-inch TV with him wherever he goes?

David Caraviello: Let's see Mark get through border security with that. And let's hope nobody from NASCAR.COM causes an international incident.

Dave Rodman: The bunnies are too much of a chore to pack up -- though they'd love Ile Notre Dame. They'd probably be at great risk of getting eaten, though, I'm afraid.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the participants.