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

Joe Menzer: Guys, I can't believe you don't see this as ridiculous as I do. I mean, the guy gets a congratulatory bump in the rear from his teammate -- and that might cost him the championship!

David Caraviello: It's unfortunate, but Dave is right. NASCAR does not separate these guys. It's like the Patriots and Cowboys playing in the Super Bowl, with the Raiders and Lions still on the field.

Dave Rodman: Man, that would be like a 50-car field in the Chase.

David Caraviello: That's part of the deal, and they all know it going in.

Joe Menzer: If that happens and no one cries foul on the whole system, then I say NASCAR will have some serious egg on its face at the end of this.

Head2Head

Was the penalty assessed to Carl Edwards after Dover unfair? Mark Aumann and Joe Menzer debate the topic.

• Complete story, click here
• What's your take?

David Caraviello: I'll tell you what, after this situation, I'm not going to Victory Lane. If I'm a Chaser and I win the race, there's no burnout, cool-down lap, anything -- straight to a padlocked garage.

Dave Rodman: That's not a bad call, David. Don't slow down, haul ass straight to Victory Lane -- or back to the start/finish line. Stop the car, get out. Let NASCAR officials push it to Victory Lane.

David Caraviello: Twenty-five points are that valuable.

Joe Menzer: Common sense could have prevailed. They could have fined him the $25,000 or even more -- and lessened the points penalty because he is a Chase driver. They might have thought of this ahead of time, by the way.

Dave Rodman: Foresight is in short supply around here, sometimes.

Joe Menzer: You don't always have to tweak the rules after a fact. Sometimes you need to have the foresight to look ahead and determine all the possibilities -- or at least the obvious ones -- and this was an obvious one that they should have seen coming when they first went to the Chase format.

Dave Rodman: The COT has created all kinds of dilemmas they never saw coming.

David Caraviello: Like the guy with a 300-point lead starting in second?

Joe Menzer: And don't forget Smith's contention that a lower rear end only helps in restrictor-plate races anyway. In that case, the rule is stupid and makes no sense anyway.

Dave Rodman: Well, they didn't have to come up with any Chase-specific tweaks, because the Chase operates under the same point system as the rest of the season. Although this was a ridiculous infraction, there was a chance they could have been penalized 50 points, given NASCAR's habit of ratcheting up the ante.

Joe Menzer: Oh, that would have been great. Not only do they not admit they make a mistake in the first place, but they double their stupidity!

Dave Rodman: But NASCAR is not going to admit a mistake -- or even think they made one, in this case. And they didn't. I hate to say it seems Biff made the mistake of hitting his teammate on the cool-off lap.

David Caraviello: In a Chase where the top five are separated by 18 points, this is like a 50-point penalty.

Joe Menzer: This is very simply a great example of why many fans of other sports, who might be NASCAR fans if they could understand the sport better, just shake their heads and turn their televisions back to football.

David Caraviello: Man, I haven't seen Menzer this worked up since I dunked on him in that media basketball game at Michigan.

Joe Menzer: Yeah, I was off Smack for a couple of weeks. Guess I have some pent-up energy to release!

Dave Rodman: Withdrawal symptoms rear their ugly head.

Joe Menzer: And BTW, Caraviello dunking on ANYONE in a pickup basketball game is a fantasy akin to Smith thinking he will win his appeal from NASCAR.

David Caraviello: Cruel, Joe. Very cruel.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the participants.