With a heavy heart in honor of the losses of Denny Hamlin's grandmother and the mother of one of his crew members, the Crappafoni Pictures crew brings you a subdued version of this week's The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
THE GOOD
Denny Hamlin: as the race winner, he automatically gets first billing. He raced today with a very heavy heart. One wouldn't have blamed him if he had skipped the race to be with his family. But race he did, and he finished nearly a second ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya. He was stout, and led the most laps in the race. This time he didn't let this one slip away. The win breaks a 50-race winless streak. Good job Denny, and my condolences to you and your family, and the crew member and his family on your losses.
Juan Pablo Montoya: he proved that Indy was no fluke in powering his way to a second place finish. Although he didn't lead a lap, he was stout throughout the day.
Clint Bowyer: this was a MUCH needed stout run for the #33 team. He was at the point for 23 laps in the race. He was at the point late in the race when he was overtaken by Hamlin. Still, a third place finish is much needed and much welcomed. Good job Clint!
Kasey Kahne: he was at the point for 35 laps. He started 8th and pretty much stayed in the top 10 all day. He solidified his position in the Chase.
Sam Hornish Jr: he started 29th and worked his way up. Although he never led, the #77 car got stronger as the race progressed. A shout out goes to the #77 crew for hitting the setup and consistently fast pit stops.
Jimmie Johnson: I've got to put him in this category. He was three laps down at one point due to an ill-handling car. Chad Knaus and the #48 crew showed why they're the best in the business in overcoming that three-lap deficit. Rather than packing it in for the day, they kept working on the car until they hit the setup late in the race. JJ rallied to finish 13th, just behind Kevin Harvick. Had the race gone another 10 laps, they would have been a factor.
Honorable Mention: Brian Vickers, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, and Tony Stewart.
THE BAD
Reed Sorenson: finished 15 laps down. Fortunately, he's one step above Start and Parker City.
Marcos Ambrose: he was unusually bad in this race. He should be much better at the Glen. Finished a head-scratching 8 laps down.
David Reutimann: although he finished on the lead lap, his Chase chances took a SEVERE hit by finishing 29th, the next to the last driver on the lead lap.
Dale Earnhardt Jr: he finished 28th, and his Chase chances are pretty much done now. He needed at least a top 10 to have any chance of making the Chase.
THE UGLY
David Reutimann: he lost three positions in the points standings because of his poor finish.
Robby Gordon/David Stremme: these two got into each other more than once. They decided to play bumper cars and both were penalized by NASCAR. Can you say, "Justin Allgaier in the #12 next season?"
Those are my nominees for the race. Feel free to come in with yours.
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10 comments:
no head-scratching for Marcos as he was an innocent victim when Denny ran over Ruetimann....was NOT impressed with Hamster when he did that either as he took out, potentially, 2 top 10 cars!
Yep, Marcos got taken out by Hamlin driving agro - no fault on the Aussie (oi! oi! oi!).
Glad to see "2" Penske cars running in the top 10 - and Sam and his CC Travis getting some press!
Jr started off pretty well...oh well, chalk this year up to testing!
dang it, I stuffed up his name again...Reutimann, I'll get the 'e' and 'u' in the right order one of these days, lol
I thought Jr was going to have a good day too, ofi...it just ain't his year, eh?
What? Ragan isn't in the Bad or Ugly column? What's up with that?!
Poor Junior, give his ride to Brad!lol 92.5 WESC Greenville, SC carried the race yesterday. When I left work, Junior was in 10th. When I left Kroger, it sounded like "The Big One" took place. Why can't the announcers on the radio give lessons to these guys in the booth on TV? It was like I was really there listening to them! lol
have to agree with tez. the 00 and 47 looked to have solid finishes till Denny got a little to agressive. I do appreciate that he did apologize and admit that he was too agressive, during his interview with the Speed guys.
i would also put Ragan in the Bad, he took out 5 cars with his little escapade late in the race. i am beginning to doubt Roush's talent scouting ability.
Agree with previous comments about Ambrose and Reuty.
It seemed that there was a lot of hard racing and they were really banging on each other during those restarts. Very un-NASCAR like! LOL
Nice to see some hard points racing for a change.
Bobby Labonte didn't really blame Ragan, so that's good enough for me. Looked like Bobby lifted and got hit from behind.
DISCLAIMER: I was flying blind when I was doing this!
Tez, I think Hamlin will get his at some point in the year, particularly if a Chase berth is at stake. It's definitely not Jr's year, that's for sure. Plus he lost a position to Harvick when Happy finished 12th.
Kristen, I couldn't put Hamlin in both the Good and Ugly categories, although it would have been easy to do.
RA6AN, I was flying blind! NASCAR.com sucks because they don't show a condensed replay of the race. They used to a few years ago.
Beverly, I'd be in favor of that!
Stork, it seems that's the only way that Hamlin can win a race--by taking out good cars. I was hoping that the race would have gone 10 more laps.
Gene, I think the double-file restarts have added some drama to the race. You never know who or when someone will go Bonehead and take out half the field. I'd put my money on either Hamlin or Edwards, as they are both very aggressive on restarts.
jon; try checking out the yahoo one over NOL...they have a live chat thingy next to the leaderboard and it's generally pretty good coverage, funny at times too, lol
Tez, thanks for the suggestion. I'll do that next time.
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