This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew is in the mecca of auto racing, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, for this week's Good, Bad, and Ugly, Hoosier-style.
THE GOOD
Jimmie Johnson: as the race winner, he automatically gets first billing. He was the beneficiary of a speeding penalty by Juan Pablo Montoya late in the race and an engine blowup by Dale Earnhardt Jr to bring out the final caution. Then he made a daring move on Mark Martin to take the lead in the final restart. But that's what champions do: they take advantage of sudden good fortune given to them. He took the lead on Lap 137 and led the rest of the way. With the win, he becomes the first driver to win the Brickyard in consecutive years. Three wins in four years--not bad. Good job JJ! Thanks for making me look like a freaking genius!! (I had picked him to win in my Gas and Go blog.)
Mark Martin: he started from the pole and was stout throughout the race. He led the first four laps, then stayed behind Montoya for much of the race until the penalty. He led on the final restart, then Johnson made a daring move to take the lead. He didn't quite have enough to overtake Johnson. Still, second place is nothing to sneeze at. Plus, he gains two positions in the points standings.
Tony Stewart: Smoke led two laps during a round of green-flag pit stops. He overcame an early pit stop mistake to finish third. He was strong throughout the race.
Greg Biffle: this was by far his best showing at the Brickyard in his career. Although he never led, he was stout throughout the day. And it was his best run in quite awhile. Perhaps Biff can use this to propel himself into the Chase.
Brian Vickers: he had a strong car all day. Although he never led, he was consistent, had good pit stops, and ran a smart race.
Kevin Harvick: FINALLY, he gets put in the Good category! Happy started 19th and slowly worked his way up the field. The #29 was getting better as the race went on. Unfortunately, he started too far back to be a factor for the win, but I'll take a sixth place showing! It was his first top 10 since Atlanta in the FOURTH race of the season.
The race itself: it was one of the better Brickyards, due to the exciting duel between Johnson and Martin.
Honorable Mention: Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, David Reutimann, Joey Logano, Juan Pablo Montoya.
THE BAD
Start and Parkers: you people know who you are. At least they ran double-digit laps before parking it for the day. Probably because it's Indy, that's the reason why they ran double-digit laps.
Kurt Busch: he was uncharacteristically bad from the time the Blue Deuce was unloaded. He spent the majority of the race a lap down.
Denny Hamlin: he took a HUGE hit in the points with his 34th place finish.
Kyle Busch: he's now out of the Chase standings, in 14th place, after a 38th place finish.
THE UGLY
Mechanical issues: several drivers had them--Dale Earnhardt Jr, Michael Waltrip, Denny Hamlin to name a few.
Those are my nominees for the race. Feel free to come in with yours.
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16 comments:
How about JPM? I know he had the penalty, but it should motivate him to do better as the Chase looms.
JPM said over his radio: "I swear on my children and my wife that I was not speeding!" I think he did hit Junior's oil. I felt bad for him.
I would put the race itself in the bad category. Verrrry boring until the last 1/4 of the race.
Would like to see JPM at least get one top-5 finish before making the Chase.
Iowa-Girl, I put JPM in the Honorable Mention Good category. He GAVE that race away with that speeding penalty. I think JPM will make the Chase AND win a race on an oval before the Chase. I picked JJ because whoever I pick on my Gas and Go posts, that driver usually loses. But JJ thwarted all that!
Beverly, Junior dropped oil all over pit road when his engine blew up. He thought it was because he missed a shift going into pit road and overrevved the engine. You couldn't help but feel bad for JPM.
Gene, the JPM penalty definitely livened up the race and made it anyone's for the taking. JJ showed why he's the three-time defending series champion.
Kurt deserved the bad. Not sure what they tried that didnt work off the truck and then well...one of my boys missed a lug so - put a fork in it!
I think Joey Logano deserved some props coming all the way from 40-something to 12th esp at a track so hard to pass at.
JPM seems annoyed that he has to points race...
Kristen, the Brew Crew totally missed on the setup. It's a good thing they were at a 2.5 mile track; otherwise they would have finished several laps down. They were uncharacteristically bad, especially when they've been real good on the superspeedways. I put Logano in the Honorable Mention Good category. He's going to win this race someday. At least once he makes the Chase, JPM can go for wins.
Nice write jon. I am not sure that JPM will win a race on an oval before or during that Chase,that would be nice though.
Those Hendrick cars are just flat better and luckier that everyone else. Even Roush's boys cant get in front of them
Montoya is doing a great job in the stock cars and has made the transition from the openwheelers look easy. Maybe JPM will shock the world at Pocono next week .... Oh that's right, there will be 6 Hendrick cars in that race.
I agree with Gene, that race was a complete snoozer after the crackers we had at ORP the previous nights :(
it's doubtful next week at Pocono will be that much better, but you never know...the races I miss tend to be good and I'm missing this one (long weekend here), LOL!
Finally, a good run for Harvick. I agree with Hanny about the lack of excitement for the race. It is just not one that I enjoy. On to next week! Take care.
RL, it wouldn't surprise me to see all six Hendrick cars in the top 6 at Pocono. Perhaps JPM will be racing for seventh place. He IS racing for points in order to make the Chase!
Tez, is there ANY way we can skip Pocono altogether? It's follow the leader for 500 miles at that snoozefest!
Volfan, Harvick's strong run was long overdue. In 2003, he had a fairly long winless streak before winning at the Brickyard. While he didn't win, he can use the momentum of that run for the rest of the season.
I agree the race should be put under the ugly category. At least it wasn't as boring as last years. But it was very close to it.
I have never felt so sorry for a driver as I did Montoya. But unfortunate there are no instant replays or time outs in racing.
Tsfan, I couldn't help but feel for Montoya. As soon as he got that penalty I thought to myself, "He gave away the race to JJ." That was a gift-wrapped win for JJ.
At the rate Tony is going now he can coast all the way till the chase if he stays in the top 5.
The race I heard was a snooze fest sadly. I was snoozing quite a bit.
Too bad for Montoya. I feel for him.
Nice GBU as always, Jon!
I was also impressed with Harvick. It's not like he's going to make the Chase, but hopefully he can return to victory lane sometime soon...
The S&P's got a good bit of publicity this week with the driver intros on national t.v....
Photogr, I'd keep pedal to metal until I made the Chase if I were in Tony's shoes. Then you gamble on setups in the last couple of races before the Chase. As for Montoya, you have to feel for him. When Jr blew up, it was right into the entrance to pit road, the WORST possible place to blow up if you're another driver about to enter the pits, as you have no control over your speed. For Jr, it was the best place, as he could go right into the garage.
Gonger, thanks. The #29 team sorely needed that strong run at Indy. I think it bodes well for the rest of the year, and it wouldn't surprise me to see them in Victory Lane before the end of the year. I didn't see the driver intros--was on the way home from church and started watching the race as the green flag was waving.
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