This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew presents to you this week's version of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Served Southern-style, with all the fixin's. Enjoy!
THE GOOD
Tony Stewart: as the winner of this race, he automatically gets first billing. The win broke a 43 race winless streak. This is Smoke's first win at Talladega. Way to go Smoke!
Regan Smith: finished a career-best second place. While he never led a lap, he gave it his best effort to win the race, but came up just short.
DEI: with Smith, Paul Menard, and Aric Almirola, they finished 2-3-4. A HUGE shot in the arm for the organization.
Elliott Sadler: he had a strong car all day and led four laps en route to a fifth-place finish. Excellent effort.
Scott Riggs: he's very rarely been mentioned in any of these categories. He finished tenth and led four laps. A good job by a driver that's looking for a ride next season.
Honorable Mention: David Ragan, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer, Bobby Labonte.
THE BAD
Ryan Newman: as the last place finisher, he gets this dubious spot. He had mechanical issues all day. I wonder if he's counting down the days until he joins Stewart-Haas Racing?
Sterling Marlin: while he did well to qualify, his car also had mechanical issues.
THE UGLY
The Big One: the first one happened on Lap 69 and involved nine cars. It started when Brian Vickers' right front tire exploded and the following drivers were involved: Vickers, Martin Truex, Jr., Almirola, Kasey Kahne, David Gilliland, Terry Labonte, Jamie McMurray, Mike Skinner, and Tony Raines. NASCAR threw a red flag that lasted for 17 minutes.
The Big One, Part 2: this happened on Lap 174, and unlike the first one, this one had HUGE championship implications, as several Chase drivers were involved. A total of 12 drivers were involved: Carl Edwards (who started it), Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Dave Blaney, Michael Waltrip, Travis Kvapil, Joe Nemechek, Reed Sorenson, and Juan Pablo Montoya. The first six are all Chasers. Another Chaser, Jimmie Johnson, NARROWLY escaped being involved. IMO, this clinched a third straight title for Johnson. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good, and Johnson was LUCKY. How he escaped, I have no earthly idea. I'll have something for Edwards later on.
jbroomy, I hear ya. If Dale Jr had pulled that, his result would have been allowed to stand. And I'll make a late addition to the Good category: David Ragan. I'm taking him off the Honorable mention category.
IowaGirl, thanks. I think it will. And I think JJ clinched his third straight title when he escaped The Big One, Part 2. The two drivers chasing him were both in that crash.
How about adding Goodyear to the Ugly and Bad, because it was "ugly" every time one of their "bad" tires exploded this weekend in all 3 series?
So much for safety. Goodyear has fallen so far behind with the tires the last few years, they could put wooden wagon wheels on the cars and get more laps out of em.
Cuda, perhaps NASCAR should consider other tire companies to supply their tires. It's obvious Goodyear isn't cutting it. But Brian France has his nose so far up Goodyear's ####, he can see out the other side.
Jon-I aint happy-so far I have read Regan was placed finishing 2nd, 4th, 11th, and 18th, depending on which blog you read-I like Tony, but I believe he forced Regan down under the line----
WHAT DO THE RULES REALLY, REALLY SAY-I WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR ANSWER-thank you-Dave
Dave, sometimes I think the rules are written on an easel board, to be erased on a whim. I think NASCAR relegated Smith to an 18th place finish, or the last car on the lead lap. He should have finished second, at least. (The position he was before he was forced down by Stewart) The rules as per Talladega state a driver cannot improve his position by going down below the yellow line. He can go down below the line IF he is forced down there by another car. Smith had a run on Stewart. This will be talked about for quite awhile.
It appeared he was forced. There is no doubt he was below the yellow line. But if he held his ground, he'd have taken out the remainder of the field. At the very least, he should have been awarded second place.
I have to agree lol I have done said it like a kazillion times, Regan Smith deserved that win...but we can only believe what we know as truth and move on,,,buut this much is for sure that horse's #### Carl flippin' Edwards just passed the shrub on the Nations most wanted list heheeh...dang sooo close yet so far away!Peace>>>
Too bad for him. I saw this on SEXY&WEALTHY dating site """""""R I c h M atch Making .c 0m"""""" site everyone is talking about. It's said lots of professional athlets and celebrities have profiles there. GIrls there are also hot, they love chatting sports and stars.. It is reported michael phelps once find his match on that site too.
Good List Jon! I would have to throw Penske's engines on the Ugly list unfortunately. ALthough it made for yet another exciting day (in a bad way) in the pits for me...
jon'
It was a great race but for me it lost its sheer competitiveness once the whole thing started to become a farce. Especially by way of all of the crashes. It made one of those Keystone Cops car chases from the silent era all the more engratiating.
However it now seems that all JJ has to do is just survive the remaining races intact to win the Cup outright.
Check out my own thoughts on the matter by way of the link I've provided below. Just click on the text to view. Also there's my piece on the Sooners' win over Baylor.
Cousin Carl as he keeps being called by the airhead commentator, was a chowder head for sure. Unbelievable that he did that! More unbelievable that he took out his teammates too. Most unbelievable that he was driving aggressively a full 10 laps before everyone on TV said he needed too. Jimmie Johnson gets assured the win, while Biffle and Edwards take themselves down a notch, and worse than that, they prevent little E from having a good points day, virtually eliminating him from the Chase. Rousch should take the costs of that stupidity out of his winnings and salary! What a bonehead!
Kristen, thanks! Glad you had a great time at Dega! Unfortunate for Penske's engines, though.
Tophatal, at times it looked like the Keystone Kops! All JJ needs now is consistent top 10s and top 5s. I'll be sure to take a read!
volfan, Kenny Wallace did a great job considering what he had!
BeaverNut, Carl made the Bonehead decision of the year. He denied Harvick a chance to break a LONG winless streak. I could live with it if Harvick blew an engine, or a tire. He had the best car and finishes 21st thanks to a Bonehead. Thanks for coming.
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.
