Track Smack: Will Burton keep the heat on Johnson?

1. Does his win at Charlotte make Jeff Burton a serious contender for the Sprint Cup crown?

Bill Kimm: Absolutely. A sixty-point deficit is nothing. If Burton can keep his nose clean, then he can take this thing all the way to the final race at Homestead with a shot.

Joe Menzer: Anyone who is second in the points standings with five races to go, back by as little as he is, has to be considered a serious contender. Plus he's won twice this season, shedding that belief that he's only "solid" as a points racer and can't win when he has to.

David Caraviello: You know, Jeff Burton is a savvy, gutsy, smart driver, and he did indeed close the gap on Jimmie Johnson. But I'm not quite ready to label him a title threat after one win where he stayed out on a fuel-only stop. I need to see a little more.

Joe Menzer: Well, he'll have to show a little more here in the last five races. But they all will, or they won't catch Jimmie. That's the beauty of the Chase. Jeff Burton has no choice. He has to be aggressive.

Bill Kimm: David, what more do you need to see? In the five Chase races his worst finish is ninth, with three top-fives. It seems to me he's right there with J.J.

David Caraviello: Hey, I'm not knocking the guy. He hasn't finished worse than ninth since Richmond. That's strong. But to beat Johnson, you have to be able to win multiple races in the Chase. Can he do that? We'll see.

Joe Menzer: I will admit, I have had my doubts about Burton. Sometimes I think his penchant for "racing clean" without exception precludes him from being able to pull off a championship. You need a bit of nasty streak, I think. And Burton will not change. He has said that again and again. But once in a while, a champion has to be willing to knock somebody out of the way to go get that trophy.

Bill Kimm: I agree with both of you. But Burton sounded like he realizes he needs to win if he wants that title, and taking a fuel-only stop is the risk needed to win. That No. 31 team keeps that mindset up, and he will a player.

Joe Menzer: Agreeing with both of us will get you nowhere in the Track Smack hierarchy. You've got to have a nasty streak to earn your stripes here, too.

David Caraviello: Well, I don't think you can survive on the short tracks of south Virginia without a nasty streak. Kind of like the pickup basketball courts of metro Charlotte, as Joe and I can attest.

Joe Menzer: Wish we could say the same about you, Kimm.

Burton or Biffle?

Jimmie Johnson is up front with only Jeff Burton and Greg Biffle within 100 points. Bill Kimm and Raygan Swan debate in this week's Head2Head who can catch the No. 48.

• Complete story, click here
• Cross: Johnson won't lose
• Burton with no expectations

Bill Kimm: I can't believe we're comparing these drivers to a couple of old wanna-be athletes who think they are going to die after an hour on a basketball court.

David Caraviello: Hey, no question the guy has put himself in position to be there -- I'm talking about Burton again, not Bill Kimm -- and anyone could have taken the chance he did Saturday. But in my mind he needs to be right back in the mix Sunday at Martinsville before I stamp him as Johnson's chief rival. Because you know that's where Jimmie will be.

Bill Kimm: But no one else took that chance Saturday, and no on else won because of it. I get so tired of people using strategy as a crutch to say he didn't "deserve" to win or he didn't have the "best car". That is such garbage!

Joe Menzer: Tell him, Bill! Now you're starting to bring it! Caraviello used to say he liked fuel-mileage races and the strategy it brings into play. Plus, he already admitted anyone could have done the same thing and been right there with him.

David Caraviello: Bill, my young and naive friend, you sound like so many of the e-mails I get. I didn't say he didn't deserve to win. I didn't say his victory wasn't legit. It's just when we're talking championship strength there's a difference in winning on a fuel run and just outrunning everyone else, as Johnson did at Kansas.

Bill Kimm: Talking championship strength -- Jeff Burton has 799 points in the Chase races this year compared to Jimmie's 838. He's right there at the halfway point. Sounds like a championship contender to me.

Joe Menzer: Well, I think this season as a whole has suggested that the Childress cars, while solid, are just a tick or three behind Hendrick and Gibbs on the whole. So they have to rely more on savvy and guile. We all better hope that Burton and Greg Biffle keep running strong -- and I should have mentioned Roush Fenway in the earlier group with Hendrick and JGR -- because if Burton and the Biff fall off in the next two races, this is going to get ugly.

David Caraviello: Joe is right. The RCR cars have struggled to win races, which this time of year is what you have to do. Hey, if Burton runs away from the field at Martinsville on Sunday, then I'm a believer. Right now, I'm on the fence.

Bill Kimm: Well if we can agree on one thing, it's that J.J. has been unbeatable at Martinsville lately, while Burton has been up and down at best.

Joe Menzer: I'm on the fence as to whether we should have let Bill Kimm join us today.

2. Should NASCAR have penalized Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards for their garage fracas last weekend?

Bill Kimm: I can't believe we are still talking about this. This is such a non-issue. No, no, no! No penalties to either driver. What would you penalize them for, being too passionate?

Joe Menzer: No penalties. It was a scuffle. Happens once in a while. And while entertaining for a couple of days, in the end probably too much was being made of it. I have to admit I found it kind of funny, though.

David Caraviello: I understand that this whole thing was a bit overblown, that it was basically two guys pushing each other around, that no punches were thrown. I understand NASCAR takes these things on a case-by-case basis. But at the very least, both guys should have received probation.

Joe Menzer: What? David, David, David. Are you crazy?

Bill Kimm: Caraviello, you disappoint me. Apparently David has taken some sort of medication that has taken the "man" out of him.

Joe Menzer: On what basis do you think probation was deserved? Listen, NASCAR said earlier this year that it was hell-bent on trying to let the drivers show more of their personalities. There have been times this year where they've balked at that, like when they had the meeting and then tried to tell the media that they never really had a meeting.

AP

Harvick and Edwards

Queen City rumble

• NASCAR: Feud is over
• Edwards' wild week finally over
• Harvick, Edwards in altercation

David Caraviello: No, I'm not crazy. And the basis is precedent. In virtually every other situation like this -- Robby Gordon vs. Tony Stewart at Daytona in 2000, Greg Biffle vs. Kevin Harvick at Bristol in 2002, etc. -- some kind of minor penalty has been assessed. That should have been the case here.

Joe Menzer: But this is a perfect case for just letting it be. It wasn't that big a deal. You said it yourself. Well, all I can say is that I was covering the NFL in 2000 and 2002. You know, where guys hit guys for a living. And if you want guys to show their personalities a little more, you can't fly off the handle over something as minor as a little name-calling and shoving match.

David Caraviello: Oh, I know. But still, you can't let this kind of stuff happen. And is Carl still on probation from his post-race altercation with Kyle Busch at Bristol? If so, his involvement might have warranted a fine.

Bill Kimm: This does bring up an interesting point, though -- NASCAR's lack of consistency, which I think is a bigger issue than Carl and Kevin pushing each other in the garage.

Joe Menzer: I think the bigger question that should be asked out of this whole thing is about Edwards. Did he let Harvick calling him a "pansy" on national TV get into his head so far that he lost his focus? If so, he's not championship material yet.

David Caraviello: NASCAR stresses that they take situations like this on a case-by-case basis, and that no two incidents, however they appear, are ever the same. They're to be commended for that, and not tossing out knee-jerk penalties. But I think sanctions here would have been warranted.

Joe Menzer: And I think you are acting like a woman.

David Caraviello: Hey, look at how some other leagues might have handled this. The guys involved in the Phillies-Dodgers incident the other night in the baseball playoffs, where the benches cleared but no punches were thrown, were fined. And in the NBA, you're automatically suspended for even starting something like this.

Joe Menzer: OK, I may agree with some kind of small fine. But that's as far as I'll go. Can you imagine the uproar if Edwards, who is already on probation, gets penalized in the Chase over something like this? And by the way, while we're talking about Edwards already being on probation, that was a joke in itself. The guy simply defends himself after a race and gets the same penalty as the guy who rammed him? Stupid.

Bill Kimm: You can't compare NASCAR to other sports. NASCAR is the only sport where you are with your competition from Thursday through Sunday without a break. That doesn't happen in any other sport. Locker room is together, RVs are together, everything these guys do is together.

David Caraviello: Yeah, Bill, you're right, those baseball players only take to the field once a week.

Bill Kimm: Plus the Major League Baseball and NBA incidents you mentioned took place during the event. This little altercation didn't take place during an event, and only a handful of people actually witnessed it.

Joe Menzer: Hate to agree with Bill, but this would not have happened in baseball. This would have been the equivalent of another player going in another team's locker room. Not gonna happen.

Bill Kimm: You're missing my point, David. The only time they see each other is on the field of play. NASCAR is unique in these guys are with each other constantly.

David Caraviello: So that forgives them? No way. In NASCAR, an event weekend is the event. You reap what you sow, as J.D. Gibbs might say. Carl's post-Bristol probation expired after Talladega, by the way. So if I'm NASCAR: probation for Harvick and Edwards, and suspension without pay for Bill Kimm.

3. The driver lineup for next season is almost complete. But who's the best driver out there right now without a secure ride for 2009?

Joe Menzer: I might have said A.J. Allmendinger before his fiasco at Lowe's Motor Speedway last Saturday night. But he's shown steady improvement this year and deserved a better fate than what he got. So maybe him.

David Caraviello: Boy, who's in that select group, anyway? A.J. Allmendinger, Regan Smith, Patrick Carpentier, and Sterling Marlin? Have to go with A.J., who despite wadding up a car Saturday night, has shown some real progress.

Bill Kimm: I think A.J. has the made the most progress and will become a great driver, so if you're looking to the future, go with A.J. If you are looking to get some decent results quickly, maybe a guy like Scott Riggs.

Joe Menzer: Sterling Marlin? Does he want to come back to Cup full-time?

David Caraviello: I don't know. I think he's made some overtures as to getting a part-time ride, and he's started a few events this season. Oh, and I forgot J.J. Yeley and Ken Schrader. And of course Riggs, who I think is better than the equipment he's been in.

Joe Menzer: Riggs is a guy who has hung in there pretty well under difficult lame-duck status at Haas CNC (soon to be Stewart-Haas Racing). But I think he's headed for life in the Truck Series, where he probably will do pretty well.

Bill Kimm: I'm a fan of J.J. -- but he is not ready to be in a Cup ride. He's had two opportunities and he was disappointing in both of them.

Joe Menzer: Geez, Ken Schrader? I mean, I love the guy and all -- but when you start talking about him and Marlin, who's going to give them a full-time ride at their ages. And does Marlin even want one?

David Caraviello: Interesting to see where J.J. will end up. He's a great guy with a strong resume, but not exactly a pup. Of course, as we've seen since, his struggles in that Hall of Fame car weren't all because of the driver. And hey, Schrader has a ride now, doesn't he? Who knows if he'll still have the itch.

Joe Menzer: J.J. Yeley struggled in the No. 18 car at Joe Gibbs Racing, too! And that team has done pretty well since he left. Not much else, other than the switch to Toyotas, has changed. Let's go back to Bill's off-hand comment that A.J. Allmendinger is going to be "a great driver." Um, that's a little premature, isn't it?

David Caraviello: Well, he is Bill Kimm. I just kind of let that go.

Bill Kimm: No I don't think so. The improvement he has made this year shows me he has what it takes to be successful. And you can ignore me, DC, but I will never go away!

Joe Menzer: The one guy here we need to be talking more about is Regan Smith, who's a free agent at the end of the season. In a year when all these open-wheel hotshots were expected to contend for rookie of the year honors, he's been the best newcomer.

Bill Kimm: I'm sure David wants to take away Smith's good run at 'Dega because it was in a restrictor-plate race.

David Caraviello: I will choose to ignore that comment, Kimmer. Hey, we still don't know if the forever young James Hylton is going to show up in a car for Daytona in 2009.

Joe Menzer: If you listen to Dale Earnhardt Jr., most folks in the garage still believe Regan won that race. I don't. But his body of work for the season has been pretty solid.

David Caraviello: Regan's been under the radar, and the rookie class hasn't been that strong, but the guy's still done a good job. Boy what a boost that Talladega victory would have been to them.

Bill Kimm: Let's be honest -- the 2008 rookie class has left much to be desired. No one has made me go, "wow." Just like David in this week's Track Smack.

Joe Menzer: Yet you are ready to anoint Allmendinger as "the next great driver" and dismiss Regan Smith -- when Smith has on the whole had a better season.

David Caraviello: You know who might be the best driver out there without a ride right now? David Pearson, that's who. That dude still thinks he can get out there and whip up on some people, and after seeing him wheel a vintage car around Darlington, I might be inclined to believe him.

Bill Kimm: What is your fascination with old people today? Marlin, Schrader, Hylton and now Pearson?

David Caraviello: Hey, people love these guys, man. Who do you think gets stopped for more autographs, Ken Schrader or Regan Smith? And Pearson is a freaking legend.

Joe Menzer: I'm about ready to whip up some on Bill Kimm! Don't talk bad about old people!

Bill Kimm: Oh yeah, you are in that AARP group -- my apologies!

Joe Menzer: What? You'll have to speak up some, son. I'm hard of hearing.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writers