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.

2. Did gas man Jimmy Watts deserve a four-week NASCAR suspension for chasing a loose tire into the tri-oval grass at Atlanta?

Joe Menzer: I've been getting a fair amount of e-mail on this one. People want to know what would have happened if he had just let the tire go. Obviously that would have brought out a caution, too, and maybe have caused a big wreck. So did he do the field a favor, in a way? And also, had he just let it go, wouldn't it have been his team, and not him, that suffered the greater penalties? As it was, the No. 47 wasn't penalized at all.

David Caraviello: You know, I'm a little torn on this. If there's no outside pit wall at Atlanta -- and there's not -- then he's in just as much danger being on pit road than he is out in the tri-oval grass. I understand NASCAR has safety in mind, but if they're that concerned about stuff like this, mandate outside pit walls.

Pit-road mistake

No. 47 gas man Jimmy Watts brought out a caution at Atlanta Motor Speedway when he rescued a tire in the infield.

• Watch video of the incident
• Miscue changed complexion
• Watts suspended four races

Duane Cross: That was harsh, no doubt. Four weeks is an eternity in this sport -- but it certainly sends the message that safety remains the word du jour. Joe, that's the thing -- the No. 47 not being penalized in the race -- that surprised me the most. For all the ticky-tack stuff that gets called on pit road, that one seemed to be a no-brainer.

David Caraviello: I mean, no question, they had to do something. You can't have guys running halfway out to the race track, even if they have the best of intentions. But four weeks does seem a bit harsh. He really might have saved somebody from plowing into a tire. And if the tire sits out there on its own, the caution comes out anyway -- though likely not in the middle of green-flag pit stops when it did, wreaking havoc on the field.

Joe Menzer: So Jimmy Watts is a hero? I guess the biggest lesson learned should be this: Hang onto the dang tires in the pits. Of course, Jimmy is that team's gas man. So who really was at fault?

David Caraviello: I'm not going that far, Menzer. Ultimately the guy might have played a role in the outcome of the race. Pit crewmen are like referees -- they've had a good day if nobody mentions their names.

Joe Menzer: Caraviello, you hit it on the head, though. What upset so many people -- fans, drivers, crew chiefs -- was that the incident as it went down changed the entire complexion of the race, and not in a good way.

Duane Cross: Yeah, the green-flag stops would have proceeded, and when finished, the caution would have come out. I like that these guys had to work their way back to the lead lap, even if the Lucky Dog led the way.

Joe Menzer: Well, I don't think too many people liked the fact that a third of the way into the race, there were something like nine guys on the lead lap and only 17 within one of the leader.

Duane Cross: But it kept you keyed up to see if your guys would make it back ...

David Caraviello: Yeah Joe, that's circumstance. What is NASCAR going to do, implement a rule that you can't get trapped on pit road by a caution? People need to realize that strange things happen sometimes in sports. You can't legislate everything.

Joe Menzer: It might have kept some people keyed up. But I think it turned a lot of folks off, or to another television channel during the race.

Duane Cross: C'mon -- it's Atlanta, where drivers can actually race; not a better track for it to have happened than AMS. Not even one-third of the way through and now there's some real intrigue in the race! What more could you want? Certainly better than the three-plus hours of follow-the-leader we see too many damn weeks.

David Caraviello: Sorry, but I don't buy that, Joe. If my guy is trapped in the back that early, I'm sticking around to see if he can get back up there. I agree, Duane, I think it made the first part of the race more interesting. No question some of these events are too long, but let's work on the attention spans here, people. And by "people," I mean Joe Menzer.

Joe Menzer: You're just sucking up to the boss, Caraviello. It made for a boring race until about 50 to go, bottom line. Then it got pretty interesting.

Duane Cross: Joe, you're senile. A boring race? These guys were up and at 'em, driving their tails off. Were you in the buffet line until 50 to go?

Joe Menzer: What? What are we talking about? I lost my train of thought.

Duane Cross: Ha -- exactly!

David Caraviello: Time for Joe to take another dose of ginko biloba.

Joe Menzer: Don't know what that is, but maybe I'll make a Vegemite sandwich.

David Caraviello: Quoting Men at Work songs will get you nowhere with this audience, pal.

Joe Menzer: Hey, I actually tried the stuff, courtesy of Marcos Ambrose, at the track the other day (1on1: Ambrose). I hope he wasn't feeding that stuff to Jimmy Watts during pit stops. That could explain everything!

3. Who'll be sweating the most through the off week about possibly having to qualify on speed after Bristol: David Gilliland (34th in owners' points), Mark Martin (35th), Aric Almirola (36th) or Scott Speed (37th)?

Joe Menzer: I'm not sure who will be sweating the most amongst the other three, but Mark Martin will be sweating the least. They are confident they will not only get it done, but go on to have a solid year.

Sprint Cup Series

Owners' Points (Pos. 33-38)

Pos.	Driver	Points	Behind
33.	Joey Logano	321	-313
34.	David Gilliland	301	-333
35.	Mark Martin	286	-348
36.	Aric Almirola	277	-357
37.	Scott Speed	256	-378
38.	Paul Menard	238	-396

• Complete Standings

David Caraviello: Almirola. Let's face it, Speed and Martin, for all their expectations, have sure-thing rides. Gilliland's not supposed to be there. But Almirola has a tenuous sponsor situation, and can't afford to miss any races if Earnhardt Ganassi wants to keep that No. 8 car funded.

Duane Cross: Scott Speed -- hands down. Gilliland, he wasn't even supposed to be in this position; he's happy to have a ride. Martin, he'll be just fine at Bristol. Almirola, is there anyone who didn't see this coming? Now Speed ... he's looking up at A.J. Allmendinger, the guy he replaced.

David Caraviello: Well, you would hope Red Bull would cut Scott a little slack because of his inexperience, like Joe Gibbs Racing is doing with Joey Logano. But Red Bull isn't going anywhere, regardless of where Speed ends up. Almirola doesn't have that luxury.

Joe Menzer: I have to agree that Speed and Almirola are feeling the heat the most. Plus right now they are on the outside looking in, and I'd be willing to bet the house that Martin will do whatever it takes to pull off a solid finish at Bristol. But there are others who are feeling the heat, too. What about Joey Logano, who sits in 33rd, and will be driving his first Cup race at Bristol? Now there's a Fantasy pick for you. Who in tarnation took that kid?

David Caraviello: Yeah, boss? Newman and Logano aren't exactly out of the woods here, but at least they don't have to climb over people. Almirola and Speed have to make some things happen. There are a lot of people in that danger zone right now.

Duane Cross: Not to throw a sponsor under the bus ... but Red Bull deserves what it gets. This isn't a sport where you can stick a driver behind the wheel and have success (name an open-wheel driver, anyone?). However, 'Dinger was on the right path but the pieces hadn't come together when the plug was pulled. And now, Red Bull is starting over at square one. It happens -- but it didn't have to.

David Caraviello: Well, in Red Bull's defense, that was maybe more of a mutual situation than people realize. But yes, it does pay to be patient with young guys every now and then. A.J.'s clearly getting better the more time he has behind the wheel.

Joe Menzer: If you look at the current point standings, there is a big group of guys there together, separated by only a handful of points, from Robby Gordon in 29th on back. It includes Hornish, Newman, John Andretti and the rest we've mentioned. None are out of the woods, and as everyone knows, anything can happen at Bristol -- and usually does.

David Caraviello: Red Bull has a lot invested in Scott Speed. In many ways he's the embodiment of their "lifestyle." I find it hard to believe they'd pull the plug on him if he misses a few events early in his rookie season.

Duane Cross: True, David -- but things spiral out of control when, in fact, the issues could have been or should have been addressed long before. Red Bull came in with a huge splash and didn't give its program enough time to mature, or its driver. And now it's back to basics for another driver -- and the team (again) is not a factor. Thank goodness for Brian Vickers (yes, another of my fantasy guys), who is saving Red Bull.

“

I predict that Allmendinger eventually will drive the No. 43 at RPM. If not this year, then down the line.

”

JOE MENZER

Joe Menzer: As for Red Bull, not sure what conspiracy theories you're hearing, Caraviello, but from where I was standing, it looked like A.J. got the shaft. I agree with Duane that they pulled that plug prematurely and now are paying the price. Allmendinger did everything they asked of him last year. When he got pulled for five races so Mike Skinner could help get them back up in points, he didn't pout. He watched and learned. Then he came back and was driving much better, more consistent, more patient. And they pulled the plug. It made no sense.

David Caraviello: Well, A.J. thought he had something lined up that never materialized, which made it easier for Red Bull to let him go. Now he needs more sponsorship to come through if he wants to run a full season at RPM.

Joe Menzer: I predict that Allmendinger eventually will drive the No. 43 at RPM. If not this year, then down the line. I'm sorry for all those out there who think I have something personal against Reed Sorenson -- because I don't. But the guy doesn't provide the results, and hasn't for going on three years now.

David Caraviello: The King does love Allmendinger. I predict that cracks will soon be visible in Duane Cross' a-bit-overconfident fantasy racing team.

Duane Cross: To Red Bull's credit, the program will be just fine, eventually, with general manager Jay Frye; in his time, that dude has done more with less than anyone else in the garage. If they can get Speed to focus more on the car and less on color coordinating his toenails, they'll be OK -- in a couple of years.

Joe Menzer: And you said it, the King is beginning to look at A.J. as the Prince. I guess I just didn't understand why last year Red Bull didn't keep A.J. and run Speed in a third car.

Duane Cross: Red Bull gives you wings -- but it doesn't give you cash, which is what would be key for a third car at this level. And as for any cracks in my team ... can we leave my crack out of this? Being in first place does not make my butt look big. Eating at Harold's BBQ, that does!

Joe Menzer: Maybe if Duane captures the fantasy title this year, he can fund a full-time ride for A.J. next year!

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writers.