Track Smack: Four weeks of contenders, pretenders

1. Kurt Busch won Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Does this mean Penske Racing and Dodge are real contenders once again?

Joe Menzer: I guess I really had to see it to believe it. But that car not only was dominant at Atlanta, it was very impressive the way Kurt drove it about one foot off the wall -- and even scraped it a few times -- along the way to Victory Lane.

David Caraviello: No question, they're both better. Kurt would have had a good day at Las Vegas as well without an engine problem, and Sam Hornish Jr. and David Stremme have shown signs of life. Kasey Kahne is running better, too. But I'm not completely sold on Penske and Dodge just yet.

Duane Cross: Penske is relevant again -- but the jury is still out on Dodge. Kasey Kahne is a contender again, but after that it's slim pickins for the Dodge camp.

Joe Menzer: Based on the team's entire demeanor -- the way Kurt drove, the calm manner in which crew chief Pat Tryson steadfastly stuck to the game plan of getting four tires every time no matter what anyone else did -- and the performance of the car with that new engine in it, I'd say yes, they are legit.

Duane Cross: Kurt has been consistent this year and has suffered because of a couple of bad breaks -- just one of them racin' deals -- but the overall picture for Dodge is Kurt, Kasey and a lot of question marks.

David Caraviello: Well, we'll see if Penske is relevant again. They looked great at the start of last year, too, and then disappeared. But right now, Kurt does look strong. That average finish of 9.8 speaks for itself.

Joe Menzer: Listen, last year they were strong at the very start -- meaning Daytona, which frequently is an anomaly for many teams -- but this is different. This was a 1.5-mile track, and his car wasn't just good, it was dominant.

Duane Cross: Don't gloss over the influence of Pat Tryson -- he's not one of the first guys folks talk about when crew chiefs are discussed, but he's solid week-in, week-out. If only Rusty Wallace could have gotten paired up with Pat a few years earlier ...

Kurt Busch Video

• Final Laps: Dominant at AMS
• Victory Lane: Kurt holds on
• Press Pass: Busch's strategy
• Pit Move: Tryson explains

David Caraviello: Joe does speak the truth. Kurt led 234 of 330 laps. That tells me that Penske and Dodge have something they didn't have most of last year -- cars that can get to the front and stay there. But still, talk to me in May. If they're still in the mix then, I'm a believer.

Joe Menzer: Well, Kurt will still be there. As for the rest of the Penske guys, um, they're struggling. Much of Kurt's fate will rest on whether or not the new Dodge engine proves consistently reliable.

Duane Cross: Believe me, David -- Kurt's gonna be there in May. ... Just one look at our fantasy racing teams should convince you! Kurt is showing the way -- and will continue to do so.

Joe Menzer: Ah, here we go. I wondered when Duane would start touting his fantasy picks!

Duane Cross: And Joe, is it a surprise that Penske is "Kurt and a couple of guys?" Did anyone truly believe Sam Hornish Jr. and David Stremme would compete for top-20 status, much less be Chase contenders?

Joe Menzer: Nope. Although I kind of think Stremme might ultimately be all right, you've got to remember that at many of these tracks he is driving the new Cup car for the first time.

David Caraviello: Duane evidently does not have Hornish or Stremme on his fantasy team. I've always thought Stremme was better than he got credit for. He had a couple of top-20s before Atlanta, though I doubt Roger and his mammoth race shop are satisfied with top-20s. As for Dodge as a whole, it does get pretty slim pretty quickly after Kurt and Kasey. What happened to the rest of the Richard Petty Motorsports boys? They've disappeared after their strong Daytona outing.

Joe Menzer: As for the RPM boys, just reference Penske last year. Ryan Newman won Daytona and Kurt was strong there, too, but then they pretty much fell off the map after that. That's why this year has a whole different feel to it for Kurt.

David Caraviello: Either way, it's about time Penske got it together. That outfit has too many resources to be running in the back. I wonder if this is a case of the remaining Dodge teams getting a little better because of contraction?

Joe Menzer: Well, it's interesting that you would say that. It's something that Richard Petty talked about at the end of the year last year at Homestead, about how the Dodge teams needed to pool resources and start getting better about sharing information. Of course, the King must have known then that his organization was headed down the "merger" -- or absorption -- path that ultimately led to their deal with the former Gillett Evernham Motorsports.

Duane Cross: Penske is the epitome of woulda, coulda, shoulda dating back to when Rusty and Jeremy Mayfield and Rusty and Ryan Newman were teammates. That group just hasn't been able to nail down the details on race weekend. Maybe now the team will focus on Kurt and a Chase run and make itself relevant in the championship picture.

Joe Menzer: That's where Pat Tryson may come in to play a key role, as Duane so duly noted. (Continued)