Track Smack: Talla-whata?

1. Dario Franchitti was announced as the new driver for Chip Ganassi's No. 40 car on Wednesday (read more). Is the Indy 500 champ ready for the leap?

David Caraviello: You'd have to think so, given the oval prowess the guy has shown over the course of his open-wheel career. If Juan Montoya -- mainly a road-course guy -- can make the switch relatively successfully, then Franchitti can, too.

Joe Menzer: Well, it's hard to say. Like most of America, I haven't paid much attention to that series he's been running in lately. But it's pretty obvious from that other guy working for Chip that the crossover can be made, and relatively quickly.

Dave Rodman: He's not ready for the leap today, but today Dario is probably looking at the exact same path Juan took to get to Cup. I'd bet Dario would be in Chip's No. 39 car at Phoenix, instead of making his debut at Homestead -- plus he might do the Toledo ARCA race and some Busch gigs.

David Caraviello: Thing about Franchitti is, Ganassi wasn't the only owner interested in him. Richard Childress also explored the idea. And Childress knows talent. That tells you something.

Dave Rodman: Exactly. As we recall, Juan was in a stock car more than he was out of one at the beginning -- for the first three weeks, in fact. If Dario does the same thing with racing and testing it will be very interesting to compare the two paths.

Joe Menzer: Yeah, I'm kidding a bit. Obviously the guy is very talented. He also has a reputation for being ruthlessly aggressive on the track, does he not? I seem to remember Sam Hornish hinting at that recently.

Dave Rodman: Then he'll fit right in with this Sprint Cup crowd -- next season. And considering he's a furriner he'll instantly be a target for equal-opportunity hating from the provincials.

David Caraviello: Kind of like Montoya was ruthlessly aggressive? That's quite a double-barrel there. This open-wheel stuff is a bit more physical than people think.

Joe Menzer: You have to be aggressive in Cup racing, too. Just ask Hornish, who wasn't in qualifying at Loudon and had to pack up and go home. That wasn't what he or car owner Roger Penske had in mind for his Cup debut.

Dave Rodman: His Cup debut may have to wait until Charlotte.

David Caraviello: Oh, very true. But they do a lot more blocking in Indy-style cars, simply because they can't lean on each other. Montoya's made some enemies on the track that way. Franchitti will surely experience the same thing.

Joe Menzer: Getting back to the names for a minute, I think Caraviello would be a good name for an open-wheel driver. You ever think of giving it a shot?

David Caraviello: Dude, I dominate EA Sports' Formula One Career Challenge. You do not want to mess with me at Imola. Kid you not.

Joe Menzer: You never know. That might be enough to get you a job in NASCAR these days!

David Caraviello: I wondered what that phone message from Red Bull was about.

Joe Menzer: You have about as much experience driving a Car of Tomorrow at Talladega as Jacques Villeneuve does! And that's a fact.

Dave Rodman: Hey Rip Van Winkle -- were you in a coma during the two days of COT testing at 'Dega? JV was in full effect.

David Caraviello: Thing about Franchitti is, is he ready for this grind? In IRL he's used to what, 17-18 events a year? Now he's jumping into 38? That's quite a contrast.

Dave Rodman: I'm sure his wife -- if not even Dario himself -- was all over the safety aspect of it, considering he'd been on a top he doesn't have in that Indy car a couple times, recently. Racers live to race and the guy's a racer, no question -- so she'll get over it.

David Caraviello: No doubt the guy can drive ovals. We'll see how he handles the heavier car. But you have to wonder how he'll handle all those race weekends.

Dave Rodman: You watch -- they'll just love the driver/owner motorhome lot.

Joe Menzer: Hornish talked about that, too. Thing is, when these guys decide to make the jump -- they ramp up their schedules anyway with testing, etc.

David Caraviello: Joe, you're quite the name-dropper.

Joe Menzer: And by the time they get to the Cup side, they know what it's like. Plus the money is good and their careers last longer. It's the place to be now in American racing, without question.

Dave Rodman: The toughest aspect of this is the total number of seats, I don't believe, is going to expand very much. So just who does this squeeze out of the sport -- particularly when you got vets like Marlin, Nemechek and Mayfield looking and even a young up-and-comer like Stephen Leicht who's rideless.

Joe Menzer: Check that. The money is great. And they can add about 10 years to what would have been the end of their careers in open-wheel, which tend to end earlier.

Dave Rodman: If they wanted to hang around that long.

David Caraviello: Sure. But about this time of year, you have to wonder if Montoya is thinking, boy I could really use a few weeks at my Mediterranean villa? I know I could, and I'm just writing about it.

Dave Rodman: Nice of you to hold out on all of us about your real estate acquisitions, pal.

Joe Menzer: Hey, we could all use a few weeks at Montoya's villa on the Mediterranean.

Dave Rodman: Except Thanksgiving is right after Homestead and the banquets are right after that. Ah, the sacrifices we hard working journos make.

'Dega unknowns

Now that the Chase has turned to the circled date, the 12 drivers fighting for the title are being a little cautious.

• Complete story, click here
• By the Numbers, click here

2. It's time for the Chase race that everyone's been dreading -- Talladega. Will it be as bad as everyone fears?

Dave Rodman: It depends what the greatest professional racers in the world do with it. If it's a cluster, it will be because some of the drivers didn't react well to the soup they were put into.

Joe Menzer: Hey, I haven't been dreading it. I've been looking forward to it, just because I can't figure out what's going to happen. But then, I don't have to drive in it. I just have to watch it and write about it.

David Caraviello: In all honesty, how can it be worse than the last two weeks? We had what, 10 Chasers taken out at each of Dover and Kansas?

Joe Menzer: But having said that, I thought those were entertaining races. I know all my Smack fans out there will now proceed to flood my e-mail inbox, accusing me of lovin' wreckin' and not racin'.

David Caraviello: You do love you some wreckin', Joe Menzer.

Dave Rodman: You gotta have cautions to inject some interest into any race -- it's just that with a caution, someone's either wrecked their stuff, had a piece fall off it -- which is never good -- or blown a hole out the bottom, which is even worse.

Joe Menzer: Lovin' wreckin' is not the case. I just like the element where you never know what's going to happen next. It's the suspense that something MIGHT happen at any moment.

Dave Rodman: What they need is some instant "create a caution" -- no rain to dry out or oil to clean up -- but it creates a tight field and more suspense. Uh, whoops -- there are a lot of people who would argue NASCAR already has that, eh?

Joe Menzer: Well, in reality, to have that suspense, you do have to have some bangin' out there. It's what this stock-car series was built on!

David Caraviello: Well, dude, you'll have suspense out the yazoo at Talladega. I watch the whole thing with a ball in the pit of my stomach. Seen too many cars go airborne there. I know people love it. I know it's dramatic and suspenseful. But I just don't get it.

Joe Menzer: I won't apologize for my stance on this issue. And I know I'm not alone. Of course at Talladega, it can get over-the-top ugly -- and no one in their right mind ever wants to see anyone get hurt.

Dave Rodman: So you're telling me the Dover backstretch was pretty? Or Kansas' Turn 2 on Lap 156? But you're right Joe -- give us the intrigue factor any time.

Joe Menzer: Throw in the COT factor this time, and there is a sense of the unknown that we haven't seen anywhere else since maybe the first COT race was run last spring at Bristol.

Dave Rodman: Probably more like the first down-sized car Daytona 500 -- but NONE of us was around for that. And no wisecracks, you young whippersnappers!

David Caraviello: Ah, Talladega. It's the smell of wood smoke covering everything and the massive fires in the big campground off I-20. It's like Deadwood out there, Joe. You'll love it.

Joe Menzer: Well, I will love it. From the comfort of my own living room. I'm not assigned to go to this race.

David Caraviello: Oh, don't worry. You can smell the smoke through the TV.

Joe Menzer: I could burn the first fire of the season in my fireplace to enhance the atmosphere, too.

Dave Rodman: But you'd have to pee in your fireplace to give it that Talladega twang.

Joe Menzer: But getting back to you not getting it, David -- are you telling me you'd rather see 200 laps of no one EVER touching anyone?

Dave Rodman: Uh-oh, Joe -- are you telling me you're one of those Neanderthals who didn't like the most recent Bristol because they were able to race instead of knocking the crap out of each other?

David Caraviello: I just don't like Talladega's history. From the minute it was built, NASCAR has struggled to manage it. Drivers swallow hard and just try to get through it. Not my kind of racetrack.

Joe Menzer: Well, it is a fact that the drivers, led by Richard Petty, refused to run there when it was first opened. That should have told us something. But I'm fascinated by the races there, and candidly admit that I enjoy watching them.

Dave Rodman: Read your history books boys. They didn't have a problem going there, but once they went and found out the equipment couldn't handle it, they wanted to leave. That's when the trouble started. That would have been a good time for a three- or four-day tropical depression to set in.

David Caraviello: Thing about this week is, after the beating the Chase guys have taken the last two races, you wonder if they'll all just play it conservative and try to get through in one piece.

Dave Rodman: There is no conservative in the Chase and definitely not at Talladega. You've got to hang in the draft and if you're in the draft you're in whatever the draft creates.

David Caraviello: You have to think the three guys at the top think that way. Everybody else, though, has to make up ground.

Joe Menzer: And let's not forget that the main goal of the COT was to improve driver safety. So even though we don't know what is going to happen there this weekend, it should in theory be much LESS dangerous for the drivers than before.

David Caraviello: Let's hope so, Joe. I'm tired of seeing cars go airborne there.

Finding an identity

With new title sponsor Nationwide, NASCAR's No. 2 series is in a Catch-22 on securing an identity for the future, writes David Caraviello.

• Complete story, click here
• Nationwide to replace Busch
• 2008 Nationwide schedule

3. With Nationwide Insurance on board as the title sponsor for the current Busch Series, beginning in 2008, will they get what they pay for? With the COT a reality, will all those Cup guys continue to double-dip?

Dave Rodman: I think you'll find racers is racers is racers. As long as they've got sponsors to underwrite their programs, they're going to race the series. What's much more critical is we might have a dearth of Nationwide-only owners. Look at the top 20 in the current Busch standings and what do you see? There are barely half a dozen Busch-only programs, which is not good.

Joe Menzer: I think the dynamic of this whole Busch Series negotiation was very interesting. NASCAR has to be disappointed that they basically are going to get the same amount annually from Nationwide over the next seven years that they previously were getting from Busch.

Dave Rodman: That may be, but they ought to be more concerned about re-establishing the longevity and consistency they had with Anheuser-Busch.

Joe Menzer: You almost get the sense that they just are relieved to get a deal -- any deal -- done.

David Caraviello: It did drag on a while, leading you to believe NASCAR was holding out for better offers. The fact that it appears they'll get a little bit more than Busch was paying should be a relief.

Dave Rodman: The only way any of that will matter one damned bit is if it trickles back to the Nationwide-only race teams, through purse payouts and bonus programs -- but it remains to be seen if that will happen.

Joe Menzer: The stuff I've heard is that they aren't getting much more than Busch was paying. It sounds like it's almost the same -- and certainly nowhere near what NASCAR thought it was going to get heading into this deal. The reports I've seen say roughly $10 million per year for the next seven years. Not chump change, to be sure, but not what NASCAR was looking for.

Dave Rodman: Again, this speculation ain't pretty. I want to see what gets back into the hands of the race teams, because without race teams you have no sport, and NASCAR ought to be that smart.

David Caraviello: That is true, Joe. But what will Nationwide get? The Cup guys have been the draw here. Will they continue to moonlight even though the two series will use two completely different types of cars?

Dave Rodman: Go back to the "racers" comment. They will because they love to race, they already have the equipment and they're at the racetrack. They're not going to sit in the motorhome lot and play pinochle.

Joe Menzer: The quick answer there is no -- except for when sponsors demand it.

David Caraviello: Correct. Yes, Cup drivers sometimes use the Busch races to get more seat time or experience on different tracks. But I think the big push here is from sponsors. For what they're paying, they want a big name.

Dave Rodman: Talk about a vicious cycle. If a sponsor doesn't want to spend Cup money but wants to be affiliated with a Cup driver, welcome to the Nationwide Series.

David Caraviello: I can't see that changing. So you might end up with fewer younger guys looking for extra seat time, and more older names because the sponsors want them there.

Joe Menzer: Well, there is the crux of the issue. Will Busch/Nationwide sponsors continue to pay what they are paying now? And if they scale back, will that affect the leverage they have to say who sits in the drivers' seats?

Dave Rodman: If they don't sign the check without driver X in the seat, I'd say they do.

Joe Menzer: It could be that the Busch/Nationwide Series becomes more of a developmental series like it used to be, and maybe like it should be. But going to another level with that, will that mean smaller crowds on their races? And smaller TV ratings, which would mean Nationwide might not get the bang for their bucks that it desires?

Dave Rodman: It isn't like their TV ratings are out the roof now. Even Cup is down, event-by-event, across the board.

David Caraviello: I'll be honest, I think the sport will benefit if this becomes more of the series that it used to be, with less Buschwhackers -- do we have to call them Nationwidewhackers now -- and more guys working their way up. There's too little team-driven driver development in this deal compared with other series.

Dave Rodman: With the COT on board, teams are going to go to the Craftsman Truck Series for driver development, which is probably good for that series. They've got that rock 'em, sock 'em racin' that Joe likes so much.

Joe Menzer: Agreed, David. It makes more sense. But it might not make more dollars, which is what it's all about with these guys. Already you've heard some top teams say they are planning to scale back their Busch -- uh, Nationwide -- programs next year because of the COT car disparity.

David Caraviello: But if an associate sponsor is paying extra cash to be the primary on a Busch car, and they want that Cup guy in the Busch car for X number of races, they're going to get him. Nobody says no to dollars in this deal.

Joe Menzer: I say put Caraviello behind the wheel in the Nationwide Series and see if he has what it takes! He's got plenty of seat time on his X-box -- or is it PlayStation?

David Caraviello: I'm a PlayStation man, Menzer. Watch out -- that's like Ford and Chevy right there.

Joe Menzer: I knew it! I'm an X-box man. One more thing we don't agree on, dude.

David Caraviello: Video games, barbecue, who's better in basketball ... yeah, we have quite the list.

Joe Menzer: Rodman clearly is the eating champion, though. No one disputes that.

Dave Rodman: Amen (urrp) to that.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the participants.