Smack: Former champs in danger of missing Chase

1. Jeff Gordon sits 14th in points. Matt Kenseth is 19th. Kurt Busch is 20th. Which of these former champions is least likely to make the Chase?

Joe Menzer: I say Kenseth and Kurt Busch are just about out of it. They would need to not only get hot, but pretty much avoid the kind of trouble that has dogged them all year for all the remaining pre-Chase races.

David Caraviello: As much as I hate to say it, Kurt seems to be the odd man out here. Since Bristol, he's had four finishes of 23rd or worse. Have to wonder if the point swap with [Sam] Hornish [Jr.] set this group behind, and they're paying for it now.

Raygan Swan: Yeah, remember it was K. Busch that heated up at the end of last season, so don't count him completely out yet.

David Caraviello: True, Raygan. But was he in a hole this deep, this early?

Joe Menzer: Jeff Gordon still has a solid chance to make the top 12 by race 26. But I keep thinking he's going to make a big move upward each week, and it hasn't been happening.

Joe Menzer: Raygs, you do realize that K. Busch doesn't really clear up which bro you're talking about, right?

Raygan Swan: Ha!

Joe Menzer: Or do you just call the other guy "Rowdy?"

Raygan Swan: Good point, the weirder one? Does that help?

Raygan Swan: Yeah, call the younger one Rowdy.

Joe Menzer: I call the other guy the "Happy Gilmore of racing (read more)."

Raygan Swan: Ha! Joe, that is hysterical.

David Caraviello: Did I walk in on sixth-grade homeroom? Kurt is a cooler guy than most people realize. And Joe, you're right about Gordon. Something needs to happen there to get that group over the hump. They were in position for a great Talladega finish until the end. So they're showing flashes, but they can't seem to finish.

Joe Menzer: As for Gordon, he also was in position at the end at Vegas -- but crashed out in that terrible wreck (that was his fault, by the way). But bottom line is you've got to finish strong, or at least finish, to get out of the hole he has dug.

Raygan Swan: Yeah, Gordon has some work to do, but I want to see Kenseth get fired up again and ram somebody in the back! That was great.

David Caraviello: The Kenseth thing is a little mystifying. That group is built on consistency. It's their hallmark, and they're all over the board this year.

Joe Menzer: They have absolutely horrible, stinky, terrible bad luck. But sometimes that happens even to the good guys in racin'. Like when I got a speeding ticket driving to the race at Martinsville.

David Caraviello: Have to wonder now, with Robbie Reiser freed from his interim duties on the No. 99, if Jack Roush is thinking about reuniting a group that's had so much success together. Not that any of this is necessarily Chip Bolin's fault. You're right, Joe, the breaks have all gone against them.

Joe Menzer: Our Chubbs and Robbie Reiser all rolled into one.

Raygan Swan: Joe did you get that thing paid yet, or are you gonna fight city hall?

Joe Menzer: I'm fighting it, just like Reiser has been fighting his new job promotion. He no doubt would like to get back on the top of the box for Kenseth, but you have to wonder if Jack would permit it, at the possible expense of the other teams that seem to be flourishing -- and giving much of the credit to Reiser having a bigger overall role.

David Caraviello: I have always thought of Joe Menzer as the Robbie Reiser of NASCAR.COM.

Raygan Swan: It's a good idea, David, when Bob [Osborne] and Carl [Edwards] reunited they found success after the season. Carl missed the Chase without him. So if Robbie doesn't return ... no Chase for Matt?

David Caraviello: Not sure about that. That group's been too good for too long to close the door on them. But Kurt needs to start turning this around, or he'll need an even bigger comeback than the one he pulled off last year.

Joe Menzer: I have always thought of myself as the Happy Gilmore of NASCAR.COM -- or maybe I'm more like Bob Barker. After all, he kicked Happy's butt in that epic movie.

David Caraviello: Joe, I've always seen you in the Carl Weathers role.

Joe Menzer: Gordon, I still give him a shot. I say Kenseth and Kurt are going to be out like Chubbs' hand.

David Caraviello: Nice one, Menzer! And frightening, too! (Continued)