Track Smack: A new car and crew chief make debut (cont'd)

3. Richard Petty Motorsports debuts a Ford this week with Elliott Sadler. How much difference will the looming manufacturer change make for this team?

Dave Rodman: As they say, I believe in the NBA (back me up, Joe) -- it's a project.

David Caraviello: For their sake, you hope it helps a lot. It would be difficult to be more mediocre, despite Kasey Kahne's Chase appearance. Granted, they have some ... let's say, transitional hurdles they're dealing with over there. But this would appear to be a step forward. It needs to be.

Same expectations

Elliott Sadler and his team will debut a new Ford this week and consistency will be the key to winning moving forward.

• New engine package
• Driver page
• Video: Track facts

Joe Menzer: For Mergers-R-Us? Hard to say, really. Do you think they'll merge with anyone else between now and the weekend?

David Caraviello: I read on the crawl about talks between them and DiGard.

Dave Rodman: What? Lazarus DiGard? That organization has gone beyond worm eaten, haven't they? Kasey Kahne making the Chase was a significant step for RPM. I think if they have the right stuff from Ford, that could be a positive. But for some reason this season, across the board, it seems that Yates has under-performed with what you assume might be the same stuff. So we'll see.

Joe Menzer: Perhaps the new Ford engine will make a difference. But every time questions are asked about it, the answers seem thin to me. Like will there be enough new engines for all the Fords next season, and will there be enough data where all are comfortable running them? And who knows yet if they will make a difference or not?

David Caraviello: Yeah, there's no magic wand here, guys. This is going to be a reclamation project no matter what manufacturer logo is on the nose. Yes, Kahne's Chase appearance was a step forward, but there's no overall consistency on this team. It's been Kasey and three other guys. That's not a team, that's one driver.

Joe Menzer: And let's be honest here. Kahne has had, under the circumstances, an outstanding season. He's won two races, made the Chase, been competitive most weeks ... all while it's turmoil around him. And now he has to change manufacturers.

Dave Rodman: I think more than a lot of people, they might be financially troubled, and even merging with Yates won't fix that. I apologize for using it another time, recently, but getting with Ford isn't going to be a magic bullet for RPM. In fact, I feel like Kasey's a total professional, but I think he really doesn't want to jump ship on Dodge.

David Caraviello: I will say this -- I believe great teams are great because of who they are, and not because of what cars they drive. You could force Hendrick Motorsports to field a fleet of Kias and they'd still be whipping people every week. We've seen some teams struggle mightily in cars that other organizations win with. Yes, there are differing degrees of support, but that's changing with the declining manufacturer role. Success comes from the inside out, not the other way around.

Dave Rodman: Good point. They need to get a solid lineup, back them up with solid crew chiefs and support personnel, then get the proper funding in place. A lot of those elements are there, but somehow there's still too much turmoil.

Joe Menzer: Success comes from consistency -- not just on the track but off it within the organizations that field the cars. And one thing about Kasey's team and crew chief Kenny Francis is that they've stayed together through it all. That makes them the exception at Mergers-R-Us.

Dave Rodman: Well Joe, it took them a couple years after Mayfield and Kenny's Chase-consistent squad was decimated, but now that they're there, I think they'll consistently be a weapon if they can get luck on their side.

David Caraviello: To think that RPM is going to roll out Fords and everything will suddenly be rosy, just because Roush has had success with Fords -- no. This is a team that has a lot of internal issues to be resolved. That's going to help them more than a new manufacturer will. RPM could announce tomorrow that they're going to field Lamborghinis, and they'd still be lagging behind the title contenders. Although a Lamborghini of Tomorrow would be quite a sight to see.

Joe Menzer: It's sort of like this weekly Smack lineup. For me to think you guys are going to respond intelligently to all of my creative and provocative insights overnight is not realistic. You will have to work at it to become more consistent.

Dave Rodman: Excuse me, I need to get back to the chemistry set to find the right combination for Joe!

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writers.