The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly -- Autism Speaks 400

While the Fox Sports crew is bidding farewell to its NASCAR coverage for the 2009 season, the Crappafoni Pictures crew isn't. NOOOOO! We will be here throughout the season to bring you The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. This week's version comes served up with Philly cheesesteak sandwiches and crab cakes. Enjoy!

THE GOOD

Jimmie Johnson: as the race winner, he automatically gets first billing. He led 298 of 400 laps en route to the win. Is there a track where he DOESN'T win at? As long as he and Chad Knaus are together, the 48 team will continue to pile up wins and it won't surprise me to see Johnson finish his career with a triple digit win total. One word of advice, though: LOSE the beard.

Tony Stewart: Smoke led six laps en route to his second place finish. He almost made two tires work, losing a spirited battle with JJ with two laps to go. He's getting closer to that first points win as an owner/driver. Started 31st and finished 2nd, a +29 difference.

Greg Biffle: the Biff led 41 laps and had a strong car all day. He started fifth and finished third, a +2 difference.

Matt Kenseth: he led a number of laps en route to his fourth place finish. He started at his car number, 17, and gained 13 positions. Props also go out to his crew for consistently quick pit stops throughout the race.

Kurt Busch: for a time it looked like he had something for Johnson. But after the last pit stop, the Blue Deuce went backwards. He rallied in time to finish fifth.

Honorable Mention: Carl Edwards, Casey Mears, Mark Martin, Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jeff Burton, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, and Regan Smith. These lead lap drivers all gained at least six positions from their original starting positions.

THE BAD

David Gilliland: it didn't seem that long ago I was lauding Gilliland and putting him in the Good category for solid top 20 runs on a very underfunded team early in the season. He led one lap under caution and guess what? He parked the car after leading the lap. At least Tony Raines had an excuse: he was in an accident after his right front tire exploded and tore up the #37 Long John Silver's Chevrolet. I think Gilly drew the short stick at the Start and Parkers pre-race meeting, held in the Todd Bodine Meeting Room.

Jeff Gordon: I debated about putting him here. But because he finished two laps down and didn't run well all day, I had to. A sub Good for salvaging a 26th place position. He also lost the points lead to Tony Stewart.

AJ Allmendinger: after a strong qualifying run, he proceeded to go backwards at the drop of the green flag. He dropped 22 positions en route to a 29th place finish, four laps down.

THE UGLY

Paul Menard and Robby Gordon: these two hooked up in a pretty good wreck. Thank goodness for the SAFER barrier in the inside wall, as Gordon hit the wall hard. A sub good to both drivers as they were able to finish the race after significant repairs. Another sub good to NASCAR for putting the barrier along the inside wall.

Those are my nominees for the week. Feel free to come in with your nominees for the race.