Track Smack: Junior, Kyle and ... um, Matt Kenseth?

1. Now that Kyle Busch is a member of Joe Gibbs Racing for 2008, who has the stronger lineup -- the revamped Gibbs team, or Hendrick Motorsports with Dale Earnhardt Jr.?

Dave Rodman: The simplest thing is to base it on hard statistics -- in which case it's Hendrick in somewhat of a landslide. Of course, things are never that easy. The bigger question might be the long-term ramifications for the sport, because these potentially are two super teams.

Joe Menzer: I've still got to go with Hendrick. Jeff Gordon has won championships, Jimmie Johnson is the defending points champion and Junior has won 17 races and will win again. And they've even got Casey Mears!

David Caraviello: The new Gibbs lineup is pretty stout. In terms of results, Busch is a big step up from J.J. Yeley. But it's hard to go against that 1-2 punch of Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.

Joe Menzer: OK, so maybe mentioning Mears, at least at this point in his career, is irrelevant.

Dave Rodman: You go man-to-man off the numbers and Gibbs loses at each turn. But it is NOT that simple and I don't want to get accused of over-simplifying it. The chemistry of those respective third teams will be critical -- not to say that Casey is No. 4, by any stretch.

Joe Menzer: The thing about the Gibbs lineup that should be scary to other teams -- and maybe to themselves when you angle in the maturity factor -- is that KB and Hamlin are so darn young. Their best years definitely are ahead of them.

Dave Rodman: Very true, Joe. And it seems to me I said somewhere, probably in this forum, that Tony Stewart was the one that everyone needed to fear in terms of eclipsing seven Cup titles.

David Caraviello: There are still some unknowns here. Can Gibbs upgrade that 18 team, which has clearly slid since Bobby Labonte's glory days? And can Hendrick help Junior blossom into the title contender everyone thinks he can be?

Joe Menzer: A lot of e-mailers have been asking me: Who challenges for a championship first, Kyle Busch or Dale Jr.? It's a legitimate question, as long as KB gets better equipment than J.J. Yeley seemed to be getting.

David Caraviello: Who are you, Claire B. Lang?

Joe Menzer: Yeah, the e-mailers were from NASCAR.COM Nation.

David Caraviello: We have a nation? Cool.

Joe Menzer: Why not? I think I heard that even Monte Dutton has one. And you know we love Monte!

Dave Rodman: If you scan Inside the Garage this week, seems to me Junior might be angling to have a Jr. and Jr. tandem on that 5 car -- and, just a wild hair idea, if Alan Gustafson slotted into an engineer or even co-crew chief role there, that team could be formidable.

Joe Menzer: That team SHOULD be formidable. That's the whole idea behind their signing him!

Dave Rodman: Well, obviously we've seen chicken salad ingredients turned into dung piles before.

Joe Menzer: If it's not, then signing him, especially to a five-year deal, is going to be disastrous. But having said that, I do think that team is going to be formidable and if I had to answer the e-mailer's question, I go with Junior being a title contender before KB.

David Caraviello: There's no reason why Hendrick and Gibbs shouldn't place three cars each in the Chase next year. That doesn't leave a lot of room for everybody else.

Dave Rodman: Hmm. If you look it based off pure numbers, again -- KB has been a championship contender the past two seasons, and he's ahead 2-0 there. So Junior's got some ground to make up.

David Caraviello: Thing is, Joe, Kyle already is a championship contender. Junior has been, but only in spots. (Continued)