Smack: The blame game

1.Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, or Denny Hamlin -- who is ultimately responsible for Saturday night's mayhem at Richmond?

Joe Menzer: Part of me wants to say Hamlin is most responsible. I know he was heartbroken after leading three zillion laps and having a tire go down -- but once he knew it was going down, there was no way he was going to last 15 laps on it.

David Caraviello: While I don't think this was quite the conspiracy some think it is, you have to fault Hamlin for this. He goes to pit road when he should, the caution never comes out, and Junior and Kyle never tangle.

Raygan Swan: I'm going with Denny Hamlin because it's hard for me to understand why he couldn't find a way to get to the bottom of the track when he knew he had a tire going down, a caution that allowed Busch to catch Junior.

Joe Menzer: But then they were racing at Richmond, and it's very possible another caution may have come out anyway. Regardless, I don't believe Hamlin stayed out to "conspire" to help Kyle try to win. That's ridiculous.

David Caraviello: True, being a short track, the wreck at the end might have still happened anyway. That's quite a possibility, actually.

Joe Menzer: So let's take Hamlin out of the equation. What he did wasn't the smartest thing, and it was a contributing factor, but the other two likely would have had to race each other after another restart anyway. Who's at fault?

David Caraviello: I don't know how you can assign fault there at all. Both of them were racing for position, neither wanted to give. If you have to blame anyone, you blame both of them.

Joe Menzer: Agreed. And that is where so many misguided Junior fans are missing the boat. What was Kyle supposed to do? Let Junior win? They were both racing hard, trying to win the race. It was on of them "racin' deals." Not the first and certainly won't be the last, especially in the final laps at Richmond.

Raygan Swan: I think it's Junior's fault for not knowing better to keep clear of Kyle, because he knows his driving style. Maybe he should've taken precautionary measures, as ridiculous as that sounds, but hey, it's Kyle ... the so-called wild card.

David Caraviello: You have people claiming Kyle "turned his wheels into Junior." Please. Guys racing in close quarters lean on one another all the time. Like Busch and Craven at Darlington.

• Watch the video
• Rodman: Race to oblivion
• Menzer: Bad Kyle is good
• Rodman: Final thoughts
• Caraviello: No conspiracy

Raygan Swan: But as I saw it, Kyle went up a bit as Junior was coming down a bit, a racing incident.

Joe Menzer: Well, the only way he could have kept clear of him would have been to let him go past. And there was no way Junior was going to let that happen -- nor should he have. Truth is, they both could have given each other a little more room.

Raygan Swan: True, but Kyle is like a soccer mom late to practice on I-465.

Joe Menzer: I-465? Is that in Indiana? We've got I-485 here in Charlotte.

Raygan Swan:Yep. Kyle is crazy and will do anything for the win. Not maliciously, but he's like a missile on a target.

David Caraviello: Speaking of crazy, some elements of Junior Nation are in danger of slipping into the lunatic fringe. The e-mails on this are incredible. They all "know" Kyle and Hamlin conspired to get their man. Of course, their source is probably a cousin who knows a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who used to work for Junior Johnson.

Joe Menzer: Kyle always drives on the edge, wants to get to the front. Nothing wrong with that, except sometimes -- and this appears to have been one of those times -- he could have and probably should have been just a tad more patient.

David Caraviello: He's going through the same phase Kurt did, getting into it with everybody on the track and sounding a little too arrogant off it. Kurt came through it all right. Kyle will, too.

Raygan Swan: And Joe, I have to think that Kyle and Junior have some weird tension between the two of them. Junior replaced Kyle at Hendrick, a place he loved and considered Rick Hendrick to be a father figure.

Joe Menzer: But being on the inside, he was in the better position of the two. Once he got under Junior and got a little loose, he had no choice but to turn into him to save himself and his car -- and his chances of winning. It's called racing.

Raygan Swan: They both went as hard as they could and the end result was Junior spinning up the track. If it were anyone else we wouldn't be having this conversation. It's just because it was the anniversary track of Junior's winless streak. And fans love to hate Kyle, which by the way, did you hear him tell Steve Wallace, "If you mess with the bull you get the horns?"

Joe Menzer: While you are right, Raygs, about there being some tension between the two because of the dynamics, I don't believe they were thinking about that at the time.

David Caraviello: Yeah, I can't see Kyle thinking in the heat of a Cup race, "This is the guy who cost me my job with a car owner I didn't always agree with anyway, so I'm going to get him!"

Raygan Swan: I certainly hope not. These metaphors ... we need some new material. It cracks me up to hear a 23-year-old talking John Wayne.

Joe Menzer: I told you two the same thing the first time we did Smack, didn't I? Or maybe I said if you mess with Joe, you get the horns? Can't remember.

Raygan Swan: Ha ha! No, sorry I don't remember that, but I heard you have a 10-gallon hat in your closet. (Continued)