Another Saturday night race is in the books. Crappafoni Pictures presents to you the spaghetti western version of Darlington, served with a Palmetto State twist. Welcome to the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Darlington style.

THE GOOD

Kyle Busch: as the winner of the race, he gets first billing. Also had to overcome numerous issues in the pits, mainly involving lug nuts. Also had to overcome a pit penalty. At 23, he becomes the youngest driver to ever win at Darlington. He tamed the "Track Too Tough To Tame." 

Roush Fenway Racing: aside from Greg Biffle, the other four drivers finished in the top 20. Great run by them. Even Biffle led numerous laps before his transmission blew.

Jeff Gordon: very strong run by the four-time champion. Showed why he's a four-time champion by fighting an ill-handling car much of the race to finish third.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: a very strong run all race long. Had a top-five car and finished about where he should have. A win is coming very soon.

Travis Kvapil: he went old-school by displaying Fred Lorenzen's original paint scheme and did him proud, finishing in the top ten. Maybe Kvapil hit on a great idea..

Honorable Mention: Dave Blaney (his best run of the year), Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart/Juan Pablo Montoya (both made up a lap the hard way--by being faster than the leader and passing him near the end of the race).

THE BAD

Kyle Petty: as good a guy as Petty is (and he is one of sports' great humanitarians), it's time for him to step out of the car and run Petty Enterprises' racing operations. It pains me to say that because he is such a good guy.

Robby Gordon: had a bad car all evening and finished six laps down. Was hardly mentioned and seldom got "face time", meaning that his car was hardly shown on TV.

Reed Sorenson: a season of maddening inconsistency continues. He'll run well one week and horrid the next. He's got the talent to compete on a consistent basis, but he's got to learn to put together consecutive good races.

THE UGLY

Kevin Harvick: was running sixth when his car suddenly and inexplicably snapped loose and crashed, rearranging the car's rear end in the process. After major repairs, he finished 39th, 102 laps down. He also took a hit in the points standings as far as number of points. He only lost two positions in the standings. A silver lining: he keeps his streak of consecutive races without a DNF alive at 55 races. (He holds the record at 58, and if memory serves me correctly has finished 113 of his last 114 starts) 

Greg Biffle: was leading the race when he reported a vibration and came on to pit road. A few laps later, he was done, the victim of a transmission failure. He finished dead last.

Patrick Carpentier: was having a very strong run until he blew an engine; in fact, he led at one point in the race after starting 43rd. Give this guy time; he has shown flashes of talent.

Those are my nominations. Feel free to chime in with yours!