Smack: Evaluating the ups, downs after an early break

1. OK, since many teams used the recent off week for assessments, we'll do the same. What are your biggest surprises and disappointments thus far?

Joe Menzer: Let's see. Biggest surprises: Matt Kenseth winning the first two races, definitely! This from a guy who didn't win all of last year. And Tony Stewart doing so well right out of the box. I thought that would take more time. Biggest disappointment might have to be Joey Logano. After all, I'm the guy who drafted him for my fantasy team! But it's early ... I still expect him to come on later.

David Caraviello: My biggest surprise is David Reutimann. I know the folks at Michael Waltrip Racing expected to be markedly better this year -- they even think they can win three races -- but I don't think anyone on the outside expected him to hang in Chase position for this long.

Dave Rodman: Without a doubt, the biggest surprise to me is Tony Stewart's consistent, high-level performance. He got cooked by a pit sequence deal in the one race where he finished badly and erased a two-lap deficit with the benefit of only one free pass at Atlanta -- that is top-shelf.

David Caraviello: Yeah, but I think people knew Stewart was capable of this, guys. They talked a big game all offseason. And yes, Kenseth did go winless last year, but I don't think anyone's surprised to see the Roush standard-bearer win two events.

Joe Menzer: Well, I was surprised about Kenseth! Look, he's got a new crew chief that some folks in the garage were openly questioning because he's so young (and maybe because of the goofy last name). I think if someone had told any of us that a Roush Fenway driver would win the first two races, we all would have lined up and said that was going to be Carl Edwards, not Kenseth. Maybe even the Biff before Kenseth.

David Caraviello: My biggest disappointment is Mark Martin. This isn't his fault, necessarily -- those back-to-back blown engines buried him -- but to see him sitting on the top 35 fence, in Hendrick equipment, is a little startling. And weren't you guys listening to Tony all winter? They knew they were capable of this. They expected to contend for race wins. Maybe the only surprise there is that they haven't won yet.

Return to Bristol

Quite a bit has changed about Bristol since Mark Martin last raced there in Cup. But, as he says, it's still a race track.

• Complete story, click here
• Gustafson not concerned

Dave Rodman: Mark's woes are definitely the biggest disappointment, because statistical history does show that that team is probably screwed as far as making the Chase, and that is a real (racing) tragedy. The stock market rates a lot higher on the "real tragedy" scale these days.

Joe Menzer: What are you putting in your coffee these days, Caraviello? Of course Tony said all the right stuff leading up to the 500. He had to. That doesn't mean he believed it!

David Caraviello: Joe, I drink a hot steaming cup of truth every morning. And the truth is, Stewart would have toned down the rhetoric considerably if he thought they were going to struggle.

Dave Rodman: I heard Tony. I did not believe. A-la Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus, give a lot of credit to the most recent, soon-to-be-more-famous Hendrick graduate, Darian Grubb. Huge strategic call at Atlanta, and bad-ass race cars week in and week out, plus marshaling a new team. Good -- no, make that great stuff.

Joe Menzer: Well, I'm not surprised he has had some good finishes. I just didn't expect him to have this many good finishes strung together, plus he ran well in the one race he didn't finish high. He himself said in Atlanta that his consistency has surprised him.

David Caraviello: And we're piling on Joey Logano already? Kid came in with what, three previous Cup starts and no testing all winter, and we expect him to run up front? I still think with time, Joey is going to be OK. Man, I'd hate to play youth basketball for coach Menzer. What a taskmaster he must be!

Joe Menzer: Kids love to play for me. I bribe them -- pizza and ice cream for baskets!

Dave Rodman: Coach Menzer is a T machine. You would never think, in any of these media centers, that you were sharing work space with a Bobby Knight clone, would you? Roll out the ball rack and run away.

Joe Menzer: Only one T this year, folks. And I didn't even deserve that one! But we digress ... although the biggest disappointment to me this year was our first-round ouster in the recent tournament.

David Caraviello: So Joe and Mark Martin can commiserate.

Joe Menzer: We're about the same age, too, so we can commiserate about that as well. (Continued)