Track Smack: Tony, Juan and Bienvenue au Montreal

1. There's never a dull moment with Tony Stewart around. Should he have been penalized by NASCAR for his post-race comments in Indy?

Dave Rodman: I don't care if it was NASCAR's latest cable debut, which has allowed other "slips" to pass. The cable issue never occurred to me when I heard him say it -- but I figured he's on probation, so he needed to get dinged.

Joe Menzer: I chuckled when he made the comment -- but man, some of the e-mails I've received from fans make it sound like the guy robbed a bank at gunpoint. I just think in the overall scheme of things, it's not that big a deal.

David Caraviello: NASCAR had no idea what they created by penalizing Dale Earnhardt Jr. a few years ago, after he said the "S-word" at Talladega. Ninety-nine percent of the e-mails I've received since Indy had nothing to do with the race -- they were all "will Tony get penalized like Dale was?"

Dave Rodman: It's nice that, as our columnist of record, you get all that noise. I have yet to see the first one. Where he's currently at in the Chase standings, it isn't going to hurt him. In pure Tony fashion, he was happier to make a point, if you will, with the statement.

David Caraviello: He shouldn't say it. He didn't need to say it. He probably deserved to get fined for it. But THIS is overshadowing everything else that happened at Indy?

Dave Rodman: That's what we can't let happen. That was a great Brickyard 400. As our e-mailing pal Kevin Walker pointed out -- cautions made it a great race, to some degree -- but it was great.

Joe Menzer: Of course he deserved to be fined. There is a precedent for this. But again, in the bigger picture, it's not that big of a deal. I hate to admit this, but I've let worse swear words slip in front of my own kids. I'm not proud of that, but, hey, it happens when you've been around locker rooms and garages for 25 years!

Dave Rodman: Yikes. Great point. I really don't want to be holier-than-thou but someone has to stand up for clean, God and the American way.

David Caraviello: It's like they've created this subculture of fans who act like the neighborhood watchdog, calling the HOA on you if your garbage can stays out too long. Give me a break.

Joe Menzer: I had one e-mailer who accused me of being anti-military and un-American because I said that Tony swearing wasn't that big of a deal. Not sure I got that one.

Dave Rodman: And Joe, you know left field is exponentially increased when it comes to our e-mailers -- and in the case of cussing being no big deal being anti-military??? I'd say that's three fields to the left of left field.

David Caraviello: I'm just tired of all these nannies sitting out there acting like the morality patrol for everyone else. These must be the same people who call PGA Tour headquarters when they think a golfer has committed a penalty he hasn't called on himself.

Joe Menzer: Rodman just got back from vacation. I wonder if he needed to be monitored like that on his golf rounds.

Dave Rodman: Well, Joe -- you know I always say "I ain't playing for pay ..." but having said that, I am pretty darned close to the rules, at least as well as I know 'em.

David Caraviello: Not trying to defend Stewart, who was likely trying to shoot back at ESPN for hammering him for his Schlitz comments post-Chicago -- but enough, already.

Joe Menzer: Come on. The Chicago Schlitz comments were nothing short of hilarious. That was Good Tony at his humorous best!

David Caraviello: Evidently, Skip Bayless didn't think so on ESPN.com.

Dave Rodman: Now, I will unleash some of the floodgates my way, to take it off my buddy Tony -- hah -- but I thought harpooning him for the Schlitz comments was kinda low rent, myself. That's life, man.

2. Is Juan Montoya helping to fuel a Ganassi rise, and is fans' reaction to him unfair?

Joe Menzer: Well, what he did at Indy was mighty impressive. But let's not forget that young Reed Sorensen had a mighty impressive weekend there himself.

David Caraviello: Not sure if we can say that yet. Montoya, much to the ire of many fans out there, is clearly the real deal. But Sorenson and Stremme don't seem to be quite to that level, although Reed's improvement is obvious.

What's next?

After his runner-up finish at Indianapolis, David Caraviello says Juan Montoya no longer has to prove he belongs.

• Complete story, click here

Dave Rodman: Come on now, give Stremme his due. He has lifted his game -- speaking of exponentially, again -- to that level, even though he might be in a lull, now.

Joe Menzer: I really like Stremme. He seems like a real nice guy. But it seems to me that he's had some good cars this year and he almost always does something to screw up a possible good finish.

Dave Rodman: All three of them just need to find some consistency.

Joe Menzer: And Sorenson did great at Indy, but has been pretty wildly inconsistent, too. Montoya is on the biggest learning curve of the three but has shown the most consistent improvement.

Dave Rodman: Across the board, JPM will be that team's leader, once he soaks up all his teammates have to offer -- and they'd do well to feed off that.

David Caraviello: Stremme's a great guy. And Sorenson has shown great potential since he was a teenager. Reed showed a lot Sunday on a very hard track. But they've been wildly inconsistent.

Dave Rodman: They're young and despite their larger stock-car experience, still relatively inexperienced at the top level -- which leads to inconsistency. But if they have the organization behind 'em, that could be a great trio by mid-2008.

David Caraviello: I think it's the other way, Dave. They're soaking up what JPM has to offer. Montoya is the glue to that team right now, even with his limited time in stock cars.

Joe Menzer: I agree with DC. Juan is the straw that stirs the oil in the Ganassi shop, and will become even more so as time progresses. Everything else feeds off of him.

Dave Rodman: Hmm -- true, David -- remember, I have been on vacation for two weeks and away from the tracks since Daytona. I could say he's soaked it all up already and they are taking in his "worldly demeanor" and overall greater experience, for sure ...

Joe Menzer: And in a stunning development, I also agree with Rodman in that this organization is finally beginning to knock on the door that we thought they were going to bang down a couple years ago.

Dave Rodman: In his case, I think "different" leads to the great unwashed booing. Whoops -- there goes the floodgates, again.

Joe Menzer: They are on the way to becoming another one of the top dogs in Nextel Cup, on par with the other biggies. But they now have to build on their recent successes and get there!

Dave Rodman: Well, they've got a couple good tracks coming -- Pocono, The Glen and Michigan. And then it's on to Bristol for the slam-fest.

Joe Menzer: JPM might win another at The Glen.

David Caraviello: What people outside the garage don't realize is, other drivers look at JPM with a mixture of respect and awe. A lot of fans dismiss what they think is a sissy F1 circuit. But the drivers know what Juan did there, and know how hard it is.

Dave Rodman: Both there and in Indy cars and Champ Car. I think JPM might do a double at The Glen -- but at least he'll be doubly entertaining.

David Caraviello: And the booing is ridiculous. Some people are downright xenophobic. Others say he's "too aggressive" and that he's "making enemies on the track" -- as if Dale Earnhardt never existed. Please.

Dave Rodman: Very true. How soon they forget. Could he be senor Earnhardt in a sombrero? Now, that's priceless.

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!

Pocono Raceway

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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.