Smack: Agony, alignment and angst on the prairie

1. Guys, the 2008 Nextel Cup schedule has been released: No changes of consequence. What does that say about the general scheme of things?

Dave Rodman: I think it says extreme rutsville -- and in no way can that be construed as a good thing. At some point, the schedule has to be radically, radically redone. I hope it happens in my lifetime.

Joe Menzer: Geez, now you're really putting some pressure on them, Dave. Do they have any idea how old you are?

David Caraviello: First, a moment of silence as we mourn a Saturday night out in Chicago, brought on by Chicagoland's Saturday night date in 2008.

Dave Rodman: NASCAR needs to establish a minimum standard for a facility, using its least amenable facility in any number of categories for a measuring stick. Then give every facility that qualifies a single race date.

Joe Menzer: Well, there are a couple areas that obviously need to be addressed with the schedule -- and instead they were obviously ignored. Again.

Dave Rodman: Determine a limited number of deserving facilities that will get two dates annually. And with whatever's left, assign rotating "second dates" to the other facilities.

Joe Menzer: Hmmmm, at first I wasn't sure what language Rodman was even speaking ... but in the end, an idea that might have some merit. I must say I'm surprised. I don't know how you determine all the mumbo-jumbo "deserving facilities" criteria, and that would be the sticking point ... but the rotating second dates sounds like a decent idea.

Dave Rodman: Criteria would include number of seats, high enough posted awards, suitable physical amenities. It would be real simple, actually.

David Caraviello: Of course you'd have to overcome the whole conflict-of-interest issue between NASCAR and ISC, which owns the bulk of the tracks. They're not going to part with dates easily -- or willingly.

Dave Rodman: Kentucky, Nashville and Iowa would all be in. Throw in a third road course and then rotate the three dates through all the acceptable facilities. Read those: Road America, Laguna Seca and Mid-Ohio.

David Caraviello: Iowa?

Joe Menzer: Man, I love Mid-Ohio. That's a cool track. I actually did a ride-along there back in the day.

David Caraviello: Hey, nothing against the Hawkeye State. But K.C. isn't that far away. I think the first step should be juggling what they have to get the best 10 events in the Chase.

Joe Menzer: And that's another topic probably for another day, but I'd like to see a total of four road courses -- including one among the 10 Chase races.

Dave Rodman: You can't argue against another short track. I think they fit the criteria: Enough seats, adequate access and a decent infrastructure.

David Caraviello: Not exactly the market NASCAR is looking for, Dave. That's strike 1.

Joe Menzer: If you can't get to Wrigley Field from there, that's Strike 2.

Dave Rodman: You could -- rent a chopper!

Joe Menzer: Of course we couldn't get to Wrigley before the eighth inning from Chicagoland!

Dave Rodman: You shoulda had the Blue Brothers' ride for that. But the proximity of Iowa and K.C. means they would never have more than three events between the two in a season. But aren't K.C. and Chicagoland kinda close, too?

Joe Menzer: The bottom line with the schedule is that they needed to tweak it and refused to. I mean, the Labor Day race in California makes no sense. Having no second date in Vegas makes no sense.

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.

David Caraviello: Dave comes back with more plates than the inspection line at Talladega. Yet he keeps his svelte figure intact.

Joe Menzer: Well, if we're going to talk about food, make sure you hit Arthur Bryant's in K.C. for some great 'cue.

Dave Rodman: Tums optional? But to get back on topic, there are plenty of guys, after that debacle at Dover, that need to rebound in Kansas. And for those last three guys in the Chase rundown -- well, everyone keeps saying "Remember Jimmie Johnson, no one's out, yet."

Joe Menzer: With only 75 points separating the top eight at the moment, I don't think any of those guys can be declared out of it.

Dave Rodman: I think everyone's forgetting what Johnson did is the stuff legends are made of. I don't see anyone short of Tony Stewart or Jeff Gordon -- or Johnson himself -- knocking off that kind of stretch run.

David Caraviello: Jimmie finished what, no worse than second in four consecutive races? That's stout. You won't see that every year. And not every driver is Jimmie Johnson.

Dave Rodman: In the Chase, momentum is pretty critical. And after Dover, there are a number of guys who need to get it back.

Joe Menzer has an idea: make some sense.

Joe Menzer: And the thing is, I said this at the start of the Chase and I'll say it again, for anyone to get past the top three of Gordon, Stewart and Johnson, they will need those guys to screw up. And that's not gonna happen. Not with all three of 'em, anyways.

Dave Rodman: Denny Hamlin, even before he ran over Kyle, was looking kinda erratic. Mike Ford tried to talk him down a little bit -- but I don't think anyone could have seen the mistake Denny made coming.

Joe Menzer: Denny, Bowyer, maybe even Kyle Busch -- they lack the experience and maturity to be patient enough and not do anything rash and stupid when they get the chance to run up front.

Dave Rodman: The good thing is, I think the kid can bounce back. But he needs to. And I think this will also be a good place for Jeff Burton to have the kind of race that team is capable of. They dodged a major bullet at Dover -- actually two or three of 'em.

Joe Menzer: I'm talking about having that patience and maturity lap after lap, week after week.

Dave Rodman: Aah, Joe San, I think you err on the Shrub. I think you speak of his prior career. I see him challenging to the end, this time.

Joe Menzer: That's why I put the "maybe" in front of his name. He has slowly won me over this year, too.

David Caraviello: As long as he's not overcome by angst on the prairie.

3. Carl Edwards has been penalized post-Dover thanks to a celebratory love tap from his teammate, Greg Biffle. Fair or foul?

Joe Menzer: I think this one is totally unfair, and for a number of reasons. 1) Docking a Chase driver 25 points during the Chase is far more damaging than docking a non-Chaser the same; 2) a lower rear wouldn't have helped him win at Dover anyway.

David Caraviello: Boy, you'd hate to see someone lose the championship because of something like that. But given how narrow the margins are right now in the points, that's very possible.

Dave Rodman: You have to boil away all the fat from this one, all the innuendo and poor Geoff Smith's statistics on the relevance of a regular season vs. Chase as a percentage of total points available. The car was outside the rules after the race and a precedent had been set for penalizing that. Unfortunately, that makes it simple.

Joe Menzer: Nothing is simple in NASCAR, Dave. Even when it should be!

David Caraviello: Unfortunately, there's no precedent anywhere for separating the Chasers from the rest of the field -- when it comes to points or penalties.

Dave Rodman: That would probably be a single-Smack, Joe -- 10,000 words worth.

Joe Menzer: Well, that's a serious flaw in the system that needs to be addressed, then, don't you guys think?

Dave Rodman: I don't think so, just like I don't think doing anything to separate the non-top 35 cars from everyone else for qualifying is valid, either. Everyone's competing for the same pole award, so everyone needs to be on the same field.

David Caraviello: Joe, the system is riddled with that kind of stuff. You can lose the points lead because a non-Chase teammate taps you in congratulations after the race.

Dave Rodman: And the way this cockeyed deal is set up, everyone is competing for race wins, and oh yeah, there just happens to be a Chase championship in play, also.

David Caraviello: You can lose a title because A.J. Allmendinger goes sideways in front of you at the wrong time.

Joe Menzer: If you truly are going to have what you want to advertise as a playoff, then it needs to be addressed. You can't go halfway and say it's fair.

Dave Rodman: In the case of the Chase, only 12 guys are competing for the championship, but they don't have a separate rulebook -- or points table -- so they need to be extra careful not to fall outside the rules. And that means anywhere.

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.