This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew is in the heart of the South, the ATL, for this week's edition of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, complete with all the fixin's. Enjoy!
THE GOOD
Kurt Busch: as the race winner, he gets first billing. He led 130 laps and benefited from a bottleneck on the last restart when Juan Pablo Montoya spun his tires. With the win, Busch moves up to tenth in the points standings, and reestablishes himself as a title contender. Good job guys!
Matt Kenseth: he hung around the top ten for most of the race, then when it was go time, he went. Although he never led a lap, he was pretty consistent. Kudos go out to the #17 crew for consistently good stops.
Juan Pablo Montoya: this was a MUCH needed strong run by JPM. He led three laps, got the five bonus points, and was consistently in the top 5 throughout the race. The real test is in two weeks at the bullring known as Bristol.
Kasey Kahne: he led the most laps (143), but was snakebit by that bottleneck on the final restart. Another driver that needed a strong run and got it. The ATL was the tonic this team needed.
Paul Menard: I'm usually putting this guy in the Bad or Ugly category, but not today. He had a VERY strong run, even leading a couple of laps. He belongs in the Good category today.
AJ Allmendinger: the Dinger started out slowly, but got better as the race went on. He escaped a mini-Big One late in the race.
Richard Petty Motorsports: a GREAT day for The King, with drivers finishing 4th through 6th. Even Elliott Sadler had a top 20 run, finishing 19th.
Kevin Harvick: his car was a piece of crap to start with. He started 36th and was stuck in the lower half of the standings, even falling a lap down at one point. Late in the race, he got a wave around, then got a quick caution that he sorely needed. The 29 crew showed their mettle in sticking with the car, and it got better as the race went on. It also helped that many other drivers had tire issues, and Harvick didn't. To battle back to a ninth place finish is nothing short of amazing. Harvick keeps his points lead going into Bristol, with Kenseth in second place. Could this be the year that Happy dethrones JJ as champion?
Honorable Mention: Brian Vickers, Greg Biffle, and Scott Speed.
THE BAD
Carl Edwards: what was that, racing and eventually dumping, Brad Keselowski? You were OVER 100 laps down. Yes, Kes made contact with you early in the race, but you should have remembered from Talladega last year he doesn't back down. NASCAR was right in parking your ass for dumping Kes, costing him a top 10 finish. I'd say a one-race suspension is appropriate.
Michael McDowell: he was the first start and parker. Thanks for playing.
THE UGLY
Carl Edwards: see above.
Tires: there were MANY drivers that had tire issues. Even Jimmie Johnson was having issues. The issues affected Hendrick and Gibbs drivers the most.
Those are my nominees for the race. Feel free to come in with yours!
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13 comments:
Great job, Jon, and Great job, Kasey!
I hoped Joey would have a better day, not to mention Dale, Jr., so don't mention Dale, Jr.lol
Good - Penske and Petty. Easily the 2 best overall teams on this day.
Bad - Ryan Newman. Sorry, Ryan, but when the (very clearly) vast majority of tyre issues stemmed from HMS and their 'partner teams', that doesn't mean it was Goodyear's fault, it means it's a team problem with the setup. I'd even chuck him under the bus for that stupid remark. Another 'bad' to the engine builders at MWR. Four races in and all 3 teams have blown up...get your act together, guys!
Ugly - probably Mike Helton's face after giving it to Carl in the yellow truck, lol
Beverly, thanks! And I'm sure Kasey would second his thanks! Good job by Jr from coming back from a lap down to have a top 15 finish.
Tez, both teams hit on the setups big time. As far as HMS, I think they were swinging for the fences and whiffed. I would bet that Helton read the Riot Act to Edwards. From what I've heard, further discipline awaits.
hey Jon, I'm just curious since I wasn't following the sport back when this happened, but did people all jump up and say "ban him!" when Dale wrecked Labonte at Bristol in...uh, '97 was it? The "rattle his cage" one anyway.
As far as I can tell, the only things that differed between that and what happened yesterday was an increase in speed since Atlanta isn't a short-track and that Brad got into the air.
Carl Edwards gets Bad and Ugly award of the year! Thanks to him a lot of cars got torn up under the G,W,C... that he caused!
Also, non-factors such as Jr and Harvick improved their finishes by 10-12 spots thanks to Carl causing the G,W,C which led to the big one!
I had grown tired of ragging on that horse toothed, man loving, bully... but now..he gets no mercy! And, I dislike Kes just as much, but he did nothing wrong Sunday.
Tez... There have been several intentional wrecks before and since that one in Bristol. And, I cant recall NASCAR ever banning or suspending a driver because of it.
A few years ago at Martinsville, NASCAR suspended Harvick for the next day's Cup race after he showed his ass in a Truck race. It wasn't for wrecking anyone, though.
They suspended Jimmy Spencer for one race for punching Kurt Busch a few years ago also.
I think Carl's biggest crime was the disrespect he showed by cutting across the infield and driving the wrong way down pit road. Harvick's suspension was for a similar stunt. So maybe Carl will sit out a race. Doubt it though.
Jon,
So what do you think of the Fox coverage? At times, I think they do well, but other times it is bad. Yesterday, they yammered on about JJ and Jr for about 20 minutes. Finally, they mentioned that Kasey had been leading for 35 laps! So apparently leading doesn't do anything for you.
The only thing is that it will be scores better than the end of the season.
Tez, I remember that punt job Dale Sr. did on Terry Labonte at Bristol in the summer of 1999. Dale punted Terry into the wall in Turn 3 of the final lap with Labonte leading the race. Labonte still finished in the top 10. IMO, I think Dale was trying to do the "chrome horn" but punted Terry too hard. The difference was Dale KNEW when to retaliate, and do it unsuspectingly. AND he would get into the other driver's head beforehand without tipping his hand.
Gene, Harvick had a 20th place car at best. But thanks to Bonehead, he gets another top 10 and keeps his points lead. I remember Harvick's Martinsville incident--he and Coy Gibbs were playing bumper cars throughout the Truck race. Gibbs turned Harvick into the wall. Harvick retaliated in kind, and not so subtly, and I think he gave Gibbs the middle finger as he passed by Gibbs. Harvick was subsequently parked by NASCAR for the rest of that race and the Cup race the next day. Kenny Wallace ran the 29 in the Cup race.
Annette, Fox's coverage was spotty. It was good in some parts, and bad in others. When DW analyzes the race and breaks things down, he's good. But too often he goes idiot. Too bad ESPN didn't have its crew from the late 90's--they were good, and they didn't talk down to the typical fan.
Great GBU jon
Maybe the action near the end of this one made it seem to be a better race than it was or better yet we did not see the traveling HMS show.
Either way Atlant is a great track that cannot fill it's seats.
HMS will be back on target for Martinsville and Phoenix.
Nice GBU again this week. I would tend to blame the teams as much as Goodyear for the tire problems. No matter what tire Goodyear brings, the teams will run it to the max with the camber and stuff. Maybe a little more conservative setup would save those problems.
All I have to say is WOOT!! =)
Kurt and Addington were impressive on the radio definitely talking more and figuring out what to do with the car and make really smart adjustments. These two could be a great team...
Edwards wont get sat - he did exactly what NASCAR said they would allow - self policing on the track. Bummer for Brad and 12 team tho - they finally had a great run going.
All I have to say is WOOT!! =)
Kurt and Addington were impressive on the radio definitely talking more and figuring out what to do with the car and make really smart adjustments. These two could be a great team...
Edwards wont get sat - he did exactly what NASCAR said they would allow - self policing on the track. Bummer for Brad and 12 team tho - they finally had a great run going.
RL, thanks. Of the 1.5 milers, I like Atlanta and Homestead. When the banking at Homestead was increased, the racing got a lot better. Perhaps Fontana would be wise to increase its banking. I can see HMS being strong at Phoenix, where they have been dominant in recent years. At M'ville, it's between JJ and JG.
JM, thanks. Both HMS and SHR had very aggressive setups. I suspect they were trying to use this race as a gigantic test session for later in the year. The RCR drivers had a more conservative setup and as a result they got better as the race went on. Harvick's team in particular made chicken salad out of chicken you-know-what.
Kristen, thanks. The Kurt Busch-Steve Addington combo is clicking on all cylinders, and the Blue Deuce is a legitimate threat to JJ's run of titles. As for Edwards, he got a three-race probation, which is basically a slap on the wrist (and probably MANY slaps on the back from his fellow drivers). Something tells me this isn't over by any means. I think retaliation could take place at either Bristol (most likely) or Martinsville or Phoenix. (I can HARDLY wait for my Gas and Go leading into the Bristol race!)
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