Smack: On a bright stage in Music City, standing alone

1. With Sprint Cup taking the week off, it's time for a Nationwide race in Nashville. Can this series stand on its own, without the big show to back it up?

Dave Rodman: It's a tough call. If pure racing was the deal, the Truck Series would play to packed houses everywhere it went. So obviously it's not that simple.

Raygan Swan: Well, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards always show up, so I believe the fans will, too. I enjoy watching the standalone events, and can even attend more standalone events from home in Indiana now that Iowa is on board.

David Caraviello: As always, the Nationwide Series is a strange animal. It's promoted as a separate entity, yet it's the Sprint Cup regulars that the fans turn out to see. Without them, these races lose a large degree of their cachet. But it's clear there are places where the Nationwide races can be hugely popular. They've done a great job with the race in Kentucky. Montreal seems off to a fantastic start. But you need the right combination of place and driver to make it work.

Dave Rodman: That's progress? Take a swig of Kool-Aid and repeat after me. Is it better? Impossible to say. For the health of everything, it's hard for me to really argue that we're better off today in the Nationwide Series than we were when events like Daytona and Darlington and Charlotte were special for the guys that raced most weeks at Hickory and Orange County and South Boston. Back then, you had to have a lot of respect for guys like Jack Ingram and Tommy Houston and Tommy Ellis and L.D. Ottinger. They were legends, they could compete, and I think they carried a following from the little tracks they raced at.

David Caraviello: But Dave, if NASCAR wants to heighten the profile of its Triple-A series, isn't better drivers and tracks the only way to do it? I remember covering a Busch event years ago at Myrtle Beach Speedway, a rickety old place from a spectator standpoint. The field was all Busch regulars. The crowd was OK, but not great. Surely you can't sell this series that way, can you?

Raygan Swan: I say yes, better tracks in the Midwest! In New York! Just kidding. Look at the Truck Series. You can't argue that Kyle Busch hasn't helped sell those races. Yes, you need the drivers to sell the series.

David Caraviello: I mean hey, I'm all for celebrating history. But you can't keep going back to tracks that are plainly out of date. And why not let fans in Nashville or Memphis or Kentucky see the drivers they really want to see?

Cup overflowing?

Five races into the season and there is one constant in the Nationwide Series -- Cup drivers have won every race. Should they race in the series?

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• Weigh in with your take
• NASCAR Says ...

Raygan Swan: So tell me why again we are going to Montreal? Especially now if we are leaving New York?

David Caraviello: What do those have to do with one another? The acceptance for that race in Montreal, at least what we see on TV, seems miles ahead of the acceptance the banquet received in New York. Enough to the point where I wouldn't be shocked to see the big show go there one day.

Dave Rodman: They've heightened the profile of the Nationwide Series, building it on the carcasses of a lot of tracks and teams and drivers. Ha-ha -- sorry, that was the bitter me. If you want to elevate it, across the board, of course you have to go to more high-profile tracks. Still, I really think a track rotation plan, like I've been hollering about for Cup, would work. Alternate in and out of those short tracks and create some excitement about the series.

David Caraviello: But Dave, how on earth can you go from a place like Nashville or Kentucky to Hickory or Myrtle Beach? I understand the desire for racier, old tracks. But from an amenity perspective, fans have been sitting on wood bleachers and eating bad hot dogs for too long.

Dave Rodman: I'm not talking a lot of races. It would be pick-and-choose spots to maintain some connection to where it came from. It would be hard for most of these tracks to pay the nut, really.

Raygan Swan: I agree with David. I want the food the new Yankee Stadium serves!

David Caraviello: Like cheese empanadas and plantain chips? You may be onto something, Raygan. Let's see if the folks in South Boston will add those to their concession stand menu!

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.

3. Well, it's almost official -- the Sprint Cup banquet is bound for Las Vegas. Good move, or not?

Raygan Swan: Seemingly the drivers are happy about the move, and fans should be too considering the fan element possibilities. I just don't know why the decision wasn't made sooner. But personally I prefer New York over Vegas, despite what New Yorkers say about the cars driving through Manhattan.

David Caraviello: OK, I love Vegas. It's really the city that never sleeps. But I don't like this move. Having attended the event twice, there was something about New York that made the banquet feel almost regal. And besides, if everyone who didn't get enough media attention left NYC, the Mets and Islanders would have been gone long ago.

Dave Rodman: Like a lot of things, time will tell. But you can only hope that NASCAR has really, really considered the long-term ramifications of this, because I think that once they leave New York, there won't be any going back -- at least, not to the Waldorf-Astoria. I'd have to think what they built up in equity over the last 30 years will go poof in terms of people snatching up the rooms and dates.

Raygan Swan: Yeah, but I do respect the cost aspect of the trip in light of the economy. But still, it's New York, and we're not getting a track there anytime soon, so it's the one time the sport gets to be covered in the No. 1 market! Also, I feel that Bill France Jr. would not be happy about the decision to move to Vegas.

Bright light city ...

The Sprint Cup postseason awards banquet, a fixture in Manhattan since in 1981, will be moved to Las Vegas this year.

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• Weigh in with your take

David Caraviello: I will completely back the idea that it's unfair to ask teams to drop $600 a night on New York hotel rooms in this economy. The rates there during the holidays are truly ridiculous. But does this mean NASCAR is abandoning New York? Like Raygan said, there's no track there. Now no banquet. I really feel the sport needs some kind of presence there given its business and sponsorship ties, and I don't think a one-day, pre-Chase swing through town is going to do it.

Raygan Swan: Right, and these sponsors all headquartered in New York deserve a week of NASCAR's time considering the cash they drop for the sport. They enjoy the fancy parties and the ability to see the drivers outside their firesuits.

Dave Rodman: Look at it this way. If they get noticed more in Las Vegas, who the hang cares? It's Las Vegas. What is that? David's right about the notoriety of being in New York City. That was a special time of the year and a special place. Paying for it was tough, but it was special. I can think of a lot of memories from NYC banquets that Vegas could not even dream of replicating -- as dreamlike as that place fancies itself to be.

David Caraviello: Well, the fancy parties are being severely curtailed these days. Vegas will be less expensive. It will add a sense of excitement and unpredictability to the ceremony itself, at least the first year. But I wonder about the longevity of going out there after the novelty wears off. A little Vegas goes a very long way.

Dave Rodman: And look at it this way. The champion will be thrilled. No champions week media responsibilities. What in the world is based in Vegas? Breakfast at the MGM Grand? Come on. It would be the ultimate joke if they flew the champion to New York or L.A. for champion's week media, then flew him into Vegas on Thursday morning for the banquet. Then we'd know it's all about the money.

David Caraviello: Dave, I've wondered about that myself. I wouldn't be surprised to see them flown over to L.A. for a media day, given how close that city is to Las Vegas.

Dave Rodman: Obviously, no one's going to complain after they've won the championship -- it just comes with that burden. But NASCAR has proven many times that tradition means little to nothing. And Raygan, per your comment about Mr. France -- yikes. Not thrilled doesn't even begin to register how he'd feel, even if a million-dollar payoff was involved.

David Caraviello: Maybe they should have spelled "NASCAR" using the window lights of the Empire State Building or something. Who knows. I just feel like they're leaving New York for the wrong reasons, because fans didn't like the place and felt they had to be somewhere NASCAR was more accepted. I thought this event was all about the sponsors and the competitors. Shouldn't the fans understand that?

Dave Rodman: I thought it was outrageous that anyone other than NASCAR would suggest that the event would become more fan-friendly. Unless they make a quantum shift, that would be the last thing NASCAR would want or advocate. Then again, they may take advantage of blowing up 30-odd years of tradition by completely redesigning this event. Man, the nut they'd make on ticket sales alone might make it worth their while.

Raygan Swan: OK then it's settled, we are not going to Vegas! Ha, I'm not at least. I was supposed to cover the banquet this year, and I won't be able to considering I'll be home with a newborn. So which of you gets to do the honors?

David Caraviello: Well, far be it from me to turn down a trip to Sin City.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writers.