Crappafoni Pictures proudly presents this week's version of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, presented with a Michigan twist.
THE GOOD
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: as the race winner, he automatically gets first billing. Congratulations on breaking a two-plus year winless streak! I've said that he'd win at a track that he wasn't expected to win at. Michigan qualifies for that! This was Chevrolet's first win at Michigan since June 2001, when Jeff Gordon piloted his Chevrolet into Victory Lane.
Kasey Kahne: had a strong car both early and late. Fuel strategy allowed him to finish a strong second.
Roush Fenway Racing: four cars in the top 10 will get you in this category. Jamie McMurray got a free pass, and his car got stronger as the race went on.
Red Bull Racing: Brian Vickers finished 4th, and A.J. Allmendinger finished 19th. Vickers may have had the car to beat had it not been for that last caution.
Tony Stewart: his car ran in the top 10 much of the day, culminating in a strong 5th place finish.
Elliott Sadler: finished strong in 9th. He had a strong car much of the day, spending much of it in the top 15.
Honorable Mention: Jimmie Johnson.
THE BAD
Dario Franchitti: as the last-place driver, he gets first billing in this dubious category. Better luck next week, D.
Juan Pablo Montoya: I think he unloaded a bad car and it got much worse as the race went on. He finished nine laps down.
Bill Elliott: the former champion has turned into a field filler. As recently as 2002 he was in the hunt for a championship. As much as I like Bill Elliott, I think it's time for him to hang up his helmet and enjoy retirement.
THE UGLY
Ryan Newman: the Daytona 500 winner had mechanical issues and spent a LOT of time in the garage. He finished in 42nd, 89 laps down.
Robby Gordon: a hard crash on Lap 152 ended his day early. He'll be a factor next week at Sonoma.
J.J. Yeley: had mechanical issues and spent time in the garage. He returned to the race to finish 87 laps down.
Dave Blaney: he brought out the first caution of the race when a rear axle broke. He returned to the race and actually picked up four positions through attrition. A sub-good for that.
Those are my nominees for the race. Feel free to come in with yours!
Dale Jr and Tony Eury Jr are giving a classic interview on ESPN right now.
Awesome stuff!
Joking about him and McMurrqay running 1/4 throttle going back and forth around each other,, and tons of props to everyone but himself.. He keeps saying "im so fortunate to be where i am."
Always an awesome interview win jr wins. Thats been missed that over the last 2 yrs.
jon- You forgot the other ugly. The rain delay that the Show Your Moon tour had this week. LOL Congrats to Jr and company. Did any of you see Tiger make that birdie putt to force a playoff tommorrow? Now thats pressure.
the good is JUNIOR....JUNIOR is bad...and the comments all the JUNIOR haters were leaving about how he won the race was just PLAIN UGLY!!! ..thanx jon...GO DALE JR. GET THAT CHAMPIONSHIP!!!
Jon - I agree with the list. I think Kasey Kahne should get a double good this week. He was there to push Jr. across the line if Jr. needed it, and it was just a classy move!!
Also - I'd put David Ragan as an honorable mention. After dealing with Robby Gordon earlier in the race, he was in a position at the end leading the race with 6 laps to go, and might have won with better fuel mileage. It was good to see him perform so well.
Jon- do you ever feel like you need a good then bad catagory? when I do H/N I am cutting and pasting like mad at the end of the race. Ex. San Hornish....really good, then bad...oy. Good stuff.
The BAD: NASCAR for warning Jr. about passing the pace car under yellow. When after warning he did it twice again.
Bad: Nascar again allowing it because they could not deal with the back lash from fans, as well as this padds their pocket.
Good: Kenseth and Vickers saying Nascar made a bad call not penilizing Jr. for the passing of the pace car...
How about a Frustrating Category? I would nominate Mark Martin...he ran out of fuel after the Green, White, Checker restart. He was third, but had to come in for a splash of fuel & finished 25th.
HEY HOTFOOTLORI DO YOU THINK KASEY WOULD HAVE PUSHED JR. ACROSS THE LINE? WOULD NASCAR ALOW THAT? IF SO DOUBLE GOOD FOR KASEY! I LIKE HIM EVEN THAT MUCH MORE.THATS SPORTSMENSHIP AND A CLASS ACT DRIVER!
JW and Amp88, a win's a win! You take 'em any way you can!
Lori, that was classy on Kahne's part. He's earned a second good for that! I put Ragan in with the Roush Fenway team as part of four drivers in the top 10.
Kristen, sometimes I do! Hornish was running so good until he spun out!!
Noahspop, I don't think Jr. gets the same break next time. He'll get penalized accordingly.
Moseby, Michigan's a great track--I saw them going SIX wide at one point in the Cup race.
Gerrel, I think that was the fault of Martin's crew chief. He should have anticipated a green-white-checker restart. He wasn't the only driver in that category.
I am from Central California. I am passionate about sports, particularly the NFL and NASCAR. My favorite teams are: Panthers (NFL), Lakers (NBA), Flyers (NHL), and Dodgers (MLB). I am also a Kevin Harvick fan in NASCAR. I am a Fresno State honk. (I'll admit it!) And I am also a fan of MMA. Jackie Robinson to this day represents what is right about baseball. I also enjoy discussing the relevant (and sometimes irrelevant) issues of the day pertaining to sports. I will never understand why televised poker is so popular. Who wants to see a bunch of people sitting around a table, muttering to themselves? I do my best to keep politics out of my sports discussions. That is why I recently created a nonsports blog, cencalscribe. blogspot.com. That is where I post my nonsports topics.
