Smack: Agony, alignment and angst on the prairie (cont'd)

David Caraviello: It's like the schedule is the big elephant in the room. Nobody wants to notice it, but it has to be dealt with sometime. Some tracks that have second dates don't deserve them. Some tracks that have one date deserve two. Kentucky, which could draw 60,000 people for technical inspection, probably should be in the mix. Joe, you ever driven from Chicago to K.C.?

Joe Menzer: I have never made the drive of which you speak. But I agree with you that Kentucky deserves a race -- more than Mid-Ohio neat little road course does, I'm afraid.

Dave Rodman: I haven't put pen to paper on this one, but I dare say you could come up with a schedule that would be balanced in terms of geography, acceptable demographics and ease of travel for the race teams.

David Caraviello: And the Chase is in dire need of a revision. I like Dave's rotation idea for that -- have a rotation for the final 10 races of the year, like golf does with the courses that host majors.

Dave Rodman: Now you're talking.

David Caraviello: Weather is a much bigger headache than people realize. Certain places are only viable at certain times of the year. But it's certainly possible to revamp the whole thing.

Joe Menzer: You know, rotating the way the races are set up for the Chase makes perfect sense. That's why it'll probably never happen!

Dave Rodman: It would mean going radical, but hey -- it's gonna be 2009 before it happens, now. Yikes! Get a road course in there, two short tracks and completely shuffle up the dates. I really wonder how much "traditional dates" mean any more.

Joe Menzer: Traditional dates went out the window when they left Darlington on Labor Day; though Darlington seems to be doing fine now with the night before Mother's Day, BTW.

2. From radical to old standards -- as in "standard cars." What does this weekend's return to the "old cars" mean for the Chase?

David Caraviello: Car of Tomorrow, Car of Yesterday, Car of the Future, whatever. These guys are pros. They're the best at what they do for a reason. They'll handle it.

Dave Rodman: As Tony Stewart has been so fond of saying lately, the teams and drivers in the Chase are there for a reason: They have pretty much been masters of each discipline presented to them this season.

Joe Menzer: It means less complaining from the drivers, to be sure. What it means from a competition standpoint, I'm not so sure. Hendrick, Gibbs and the Childress cars have been good both in COT races and the other ones much of the season.

Dave Rodman: Carl Edwards could certainly come back with a vengeance here. I seriously think this will resemble NHIS at the end -- a crowd of Chasers at the top of the sheet.

David Caraviello: It means the final breather before the one race everyone is worried about. Drivers seem uncomfortable about going to Talladega next week in the COT, with so little seat time in that car at that track.

Dave Rodman: Man, I think we should get outta Kansas before we worry about that.

David Caraviello: On that subject, there will be plenty of angst on the prairie.

Joe Menzer: Angst on the prairie?

David Caraviello: Angst on the Prairie -- isn't that one of your books, Joe?

Joe Menzer: I dare you to go ask Denny Hamlin this weekend if he's feeling "angst on the prairie!"

Dave Rodman: Just don't slap him in the helmet.

Joe Menzer: He and Kyle Petty were feeling some serious angst in the garage last Sunday!

Dave Rodman: I don't think there will be undue concern to grab points, but because the standings are so darned close right now, everyone will be on pins and needles not to screw up. Everyone will be keeping their teammates at arm's length.

David Caraviello: Sorry, been watching too many video clips lately of unhinged Oklahoma State football coaches.

Joe Menzer: Yeah, be careful what you write these days. What really rankled my chain was on Good Morning America, when they played the clip, and the idiot commented that "those were sportswriters clapping as he left the room. Interesting."

Dave Rodman: I bet it was someone clapping because they knew Biff was gonna play the role of spoiler, not only this weekend, but maybe right down to the wire at Homestead. He's overdue, and Dover was a great weekend for him.

Joe Menzer: I guarantee you those weren't sportswriters clapping as that coach left that room. But I digress.

Dave Rodman: Definitely. I missed that entire episode, it seems, unfortunately. But I sure saw Biffle coming on in Busch and Cup.

David Caraviello: Sports writers can't clap. They're too busy loading up on free doughnuts at the media buffet.

Dave Rodman: When did Ken Willis join the Smack panel?

Joe Menzer: There you go, feeding another stereotype -- even if that one happens to be, well, sort of true. You ever watch Rodman pile it on at a race?

Dave Rodman: Got to keep the energy up. Chasing these Chase storylines is energy depleting.