Wheel2Wheel: The 'New' Southern 500

Jump in as FanHouse's Holly Cain and Geoffrey Miller go Wheel2Wheel about Darlington, Kyle Busch's audacious goals and the oh-so-lovable Goodyear.

Does NASCAR need more tracks with unusual character like Darlington and what do you think about re-naming the spring event the "Southern 500"?

Geoffrey Miller: Frankly, I'm a little confused. It's not Labor Day weekend, tropical storms aren't brewing off the South Carolina coast and the heat index in Darlington this weekend won't be anywhere near triple digits. Why then, in the name of Richard Petty, is it time for the Southern 500?

I get what the track is doing here by trying to pick back up the pieces of a tradition so mercilessly and so stupidly ripped apart a few years back when NASCAR decided the empty grandstands of Auto Club Speedway fit the sport better than the small rough-and-tumble Darlington Raceway. But let's not call a spoon a spork here (because, of course, the spork is the most ideal of food instruments) by saying this Mother's Day weekend race is the Southern 500. It's not -- it's a 500-mile race at Darlington.

And of course, track diversity is something NASCAR badly needs more of especially afer we've watched just how well the Car of Tomorrow platform handles behind other cars at the 1.5-mile cookie-cutter downforce tracks.

Holly Cain: Even in this sponsor-driven times, there are certain events that should retain their original names - the sentimental value over-riding the corporate flash-and-bang. The Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 (now the AllState 400) and Southern 500 lead that list. Something about the "Heinz Southen 500 (1989-91) or the Dodge Charger 500 (2005-2007) just never seemed right.

For the good (and the bad), Darlington has always embodied this sport's roots and it's a grounding force for the sport, which has expanded on steriod speed. In my opinion there are way too many 1.5-mile easy-drive palaces. Darlington provides the drivers a challenge and it's more entertaining to me to see them figure out a not so perfect track. They may be not love the track or the throw-back facility, but a driver can - and always does - feel pretty darn proud if he can score a win here.

Kyle Busch has a goal of 200 wins in NASCAR among all three series for his career. He's at 50 now. What kind of shot does he have and what has made him so dominant?

HC: If Busch were able to keep up his current pace of winning (one of every four starts since 2008) then his goal is reachable. But that's no easy pace. He spoke this week of becoming the all-time winner in both the Nationwide and Truck series and those are reasonable feats for him, especially considering he just 24 last weekend. But will his focus narrow as he begins to contend for a Cup championship. ... or two or three. Will Joe Gibbs want him competing all over the place or concentrating on the big picture? We'll have to see how Busch handles the playoff stretch, the only element of his game that he hasn't mastered yet.

As for his dominance, I think it is a mixture of exceptional talent and a charmed job history. It always helps that talent when you're steering a Hendrick or Gibbs car. Yes, it has been helpful he's driving a Toyota just when that make "figured it out," but the bottom line is Busch is naturally talented, agressive, in good equipment and shown the ability to take others off their game.

GM: Have you seen this kid drive in, oh, the last two seasons? Better yet, remember when his lack of patience saw his old No. 5 car up front a lot with Hendrick Motorsports before crashes or other problems took him out? Honestly, 150 more wins for Busch is a ton in NASCAR's three divisions, but at his current clip it's hard to think he'll be stopped.

The dude wins in everything he sits in, from his Joe Gibbs Sprint Cup and Nationwide cars to James Finch's Camping World Truck Series duties and everything in between. He's fearless on the track, and drivers -- like Jimmie Johnson, especially -- haven't figured out how to stop Busch's Ron Hornaday-esque restart tactics.

The biggest key to Kyle Busch's performance? He's fearless with the setups he's given and knows that he can make them stick. That's pretty darn untouchable.

Is Goodyear ready for the NASCAR race at Indianapolis?

GM: At the moment, I think Goodyear is ready for a race at Indianapolis that would last 5 or 6 more laps per run than last year's 10-12 lap tire chewing debacle. They've obviously had issues with compounds, and that hastily rescheduled test last week at the track (it wasn't originally planned until problems kept happening the week before combined with rain made track time hard to come by) showed that the tire supplier is getting to near scramble mode.

I will give them the benefit of the doubt in that their testing was done on a very green race track (Indianapolis has received 7 inches of rainfall above normal in April) without the rubber worked in from tens of thousands of laps turned during the Indianapolis 500. It's not panic time yet nor time to clearance the Brickyard tickets on Craigslist, but if things don't improve after the test in June with nearly 15 cars, we'll start to worry.

The biggest consolation for me on the matter? You know darn well everyone involved is doing all they can to avoid a repeat of 2008 -- even if that means extreme, last-minute measures.

HC: In a word, "no." After an embarrassing debacle in last year's race and six test sessions since, it seems to me Goodyear would have been better prepared. But two months out, there are still legitimate questions. Yes, the last test indicated the tires can go more laps than they did in last year's race, which had a competition caution about every 12 laps. But they still are not up to full fuel runs and that is the reasonable threshold.

Goodyear and NASCAR should have a large enough group of cars testing - with veteran drivers - to get good feedback, not these small parties of four and five. It makes sense to go back after the Indy 500 because the track will change, but when Goodyear leaves from its final test - the drivers shouldn't have any doubts. And neither should the people expecting to watch a real race