Smack: If this is Pocono, then Pocono just got good

1. What the heck happened at Pocono on Monday? Side-by-side racing? Guys banging off one another? Is this is the new face of racing at the big triangle?

Joe Menzer: I tell you what: I didn't have that race on my schedule, so I tuned in on television. But I thought it was a great race -- especially the last 40 laps or so. If that's the new face of Pocono, bring it on!

David Caraviello: Double-file restarts, it seems, may be the best thing to happen to Pocono since that half-mile-long restroom. The racing the last 50 laps or so was anything but boring, which is what we've come to expect from the place. It was almost ... desperate, which makes for great TV.

Raygan Swan: I remember I went for a corn dog at Pocono in June and came back like 30 minutes later and hadn't missed a thing. Monday I was on the edge of my seat and cried my eyes out at the end! Denny Hamlin gave me my favorite Victory Lane moment yet.

Joe Menzer: Wait a minute. You "cried your eyes out at the end?" Do you attribute that to the racing or to, um, your current hormonal state?

Raygan Swan: Hamlin and the hormones. It's not that often we see such raw emotion from these drivers, or get to see them in such a vulnerable state.

David Caraviello: Well, I wouldn't say I cried my eyes out ... I only do that when the Braves lose. But it was kind of stunning everything that race featured -- the intensity at the front of the pack, guys mad at each other afterward, and Denny Hamlin clearly emotional. I kept asking myself, "this is Pocono, right?" Sure didn't seem like it. And that's a good thing.

Joe Menzer: Ah, yes. The Hamlin factor. It was indeed emotional to see him climb out of the car in Victory Lane after trying to compose himself. A great story, and great for television, too -- although obviously that's not why it happened. It was genuine on Denny's part, and that's what made it so compelling.

Writer's Block

Raygan Swan compares Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman not on the track ... but on a pizza.

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Joe Menzer tries to follow Jimmie Johnson's lead and it doesn't go well.

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David Caraviello gets excited about the Brickyard going back to the Brickyard.

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David Caraviello: I only wish Juan Montoya would have challenged him at the end -- but he's racing to get into the Chase, and that's what you do at this point in the season.

Raygan Swan: Agree, and the race had so many compelling storylines -- Juan looking for redemption, Kyle Busch proving he was capable of leading through adversity, Tony Stewart coming from the back ... so much to watch in one race.

Joe Menzer: My wife says whenever I do something, I always seek credit. So I'll go along with it and ask you two to name the guy who said three weeks ago that Montoya would soon win a race.

David Caraviello: I believe that was Dave Rodman.

Joe Menzer: Um, no. Guess again?

David Caraviello: Ryan Smithson? Because picking Juan Montoya to win is just what he does.

Raygan Swan: Joe, it was Bill Kimm. Anyway, but by far my favorite part of the race was when Denny radioed to crew chief Mike Ford and said, "I'm going to win this race." Awesome stuff!

Joe Menzer: It was me, dang it. Me, I say!

Raygan Swan: Sorry Joe, I have pregnancy brain. Really, it was you?

David Caraviello: You? Dude, you've been on vacation for like six weeks. I can't remember that far back. Anyway, let's not get too carried away. For Pocono, it was a stunningly good race. But they still need to lop 100 miles off that sucker.

Joe Menzer: And now I'll tell you that this week might be the time Montoya finally gets to Victory Lane. Although you are right, DC2, he backed off at the end at Sonoma to take a good points day and he's obsessed, rightly so, with making sure he makes the Chase. It has taken three years of tinkering with the car and for him to figure out the give-and-take of this NASCAR Cup deal, but Montoya now is one to watch as the Chase approaches. Once the points are reset, look out.

David Caraviello: Maybe they should race on Mondays in Pocono more often. Make it a tradition, like Fourth of July at Daytona. Hey, it worked this week. Maybe one reason the racing was so crazy was because everybody was in a hurry to get home!

Raygan Swan: Ha, good point. I could see that. Mondays to drivers are like our Friday nights. (Continued)