Smack: On a bright stage in Music City, standing alone (cont'd)

2. It seems like a weekly occurrence -- guys blowing their chances to win races because of mistakes on pit road. Edwards and a slow stop. Reutimann overrunning the box. Earnhardt missing the pit board. What the heck is going on down there?

David Caraviello: It does seem like there are a lot more pit-road errors than usual this year. Not being the most mechanically minded of sorts, I wonder if that's because the cars are so even now, any mistake on pit road is magnified.

Dave Rodman: I think Jeff Gordon's crew chief, Steve Letarte, said it the most eloquently: "If you can't focus on the last stop, you don't need to be going over the wall," or words to that effect. It's all about focus. Then again, that label should fit drivers, too.

Raygan Swan: Your guess is as good as mine, but Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s second pit-road mistake Sunday was almost comical. Maybe teams spend less time on pit practice considering the Cup teams didn't test during the offseason.

Dave Rodman: On the one hand, the rule calling for longer wheel studs would put a crimp in these tire changers' routines -- but, uh, wouldn't that just mean you practice a heckuva lot more, for a while, to eliminate the possibility of mistakes? As far as speeding penalties, that would take a lot of work and statistical analysis. There have definitely been a lot more lug nut issues, and that's disappointing, because it isn't like NASCAR showed up on Sunday morning and said, 'Surprise, your studs are five turns longer.' They had time to prepare.

It's just the pits

Carl Edwards went into his final stop at Texas with the lead, but a slow stop may have cost him the race. It's been a recurring theme up and down pit road.

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• Video: Junior misses his box

David Caraviello: Dave, you've been around this gig longer than either of us [and I mean that in the most respectful way]. Do you think pit-road errors are up? Or has this always been going on, and we're just noticing it more now? It's just strange -- I can't remember seeing a race like Texas last week, where one contender after another was laid low by pit-road gaffes. One driver a week, maybe. But this is happening in bunches now.

Dave Rodman: David, per your earlier comment, I think the evenness of these cars on the race track does magnify the ability to gain spots on pit road, as well as the difficulty in getting spots back on the race track once you've lost them in the pits.

David Caraviello: All I know is, if I'm that No. 88 team, I'm attaching Earnhardt's pit board to a 40-foot-long pole. Better yet, suspending it from a helicopter. Surrounding it with blinking neon lights that say "Pit here." Anything to prevent him from missing it again.

Dave Rodman: It'll be real interesting if Jack doesn't shuffle something up on the 99's crew. I wasn't aware they'd had two guys get hurt until Carl mentioned it Sunday. But that's tough. Still, it seems to me that practice, practice, practice would cover a lot of these miscues and missteps.

Raygan Swan: I would agree, and since performance on pit road is so crucial now, maybe teams should consider taking notes from Red Bull Racing. Their over-the-wall guys focus only on pit stops, whereas other teams' crew have multiple jobs, at the track and the shop.

David Caraviello: Well, I think there are several teams that bring in Sunday-only guys to go over the wall. Of course, at the height of its power, that No. 17 crew of a few years ago -- one of the best units we've seen -- juggled shop jobs and race-day duties adeptly. Maybe times have changed.

Raygan Swan: David I know many teams have Sunday-only guys, but the Red Bull guys are working Monday through Friday on stops. That's their only responsibility.

Dave Rodman: Like it or not, it all points out that this is a professional sport, and these are professional athletes. You can only hope that the athletes themselves got the memo and consider it in the proper context. And that's probably one area where this differs from stick-and-ball sports, where ballplayers are literally trained from childhood. These over-the-wall guys fell into their jobs almost by accident, I bet -- not that the good ones aren't damned good.

David Caraviello: Darrell Waltrip mentioned on TV Sunday that he doesn't think teams practice "disaster" scenarios, like pushing a car back into the pit box before making changes, enough. Maybe he's onto something there. Or maybe just everybody's feeling the pressure. Either way, if what we've seen so far this season is any indication, odds are somebody is going to lose the race at Phoenix next week in the pits. Or maybe more than just one person.

Dave Rodman: Make no mistake, I'm a Monday morning quarterback when I'm saying this, so crew chiefs -- forgive me. But if I'm a crew chief, I've got a list of possible scenarios, and in my pre-race checklist, I get together with my over-the-wall crew and hit 'em, one by one: If this happens, do this, etc. Quiz 'em: If that happens, what do you do? A little role playing never hurt anyone. (Continued)