This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew is at the crown jewel of NASCAR, Daytona International Speedway, for this week's edition of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, served up with copious amounts of BBQ meats of your choice, grilled corn on the cob, and tossed salad, washed down with, what else? Coke Zero! Enjoy!
THE GOOD
Kevin Harvick: as the race winner, he gets first billing. He led the most laps in the race, and it seemed he was able to move to the front at will, even when he was as far back as 16th. He had a stout car tonight and earned a hard-fought victory. He was also lucky in that he escaped the Big One that involved 18 cars with 12 laps to go. He was the last winner on Daytona's old pavement, as on Monday, the track will be repaved and ready to go for next year's 500.
Kasey Kahne: he was able to escape the Big One and kept his nose clean. His runner up finish was HUGE, as he moved up four positions in the standings. Although he never led a lap, he kept working his way towards the front. With the runner up finish, he keeps his Chase chances alive, as several drivers above him got caught up in earlier wrecks.
Jeff Gordon: he led some laps and escaped the Big One. He also moved up to second place in the standings, 212 points behind Harvick.
Dale Earnhardt Jr: another driver that escaped the Big One. Because of that, he finished fourth and improved two spots in the standings to 11th.
Steve Park: what else can you say about this man's perseverance? He was injured in a FREAK accident in a Busch Series (now Nationwide Series) race MANY years ago when his steering wheel column broke off in his hands during a caution and he veered into the path of an oncoming Larry Foyt. Park suffered a severe brain injury and it looked like his career was over. It wasn't until this year that he was given a clean bill of health to race in NASCAR again. Not only did he race tonight, he was in the top 10 late in the race driving for an underfunded team! Unfortunately, he faded late and finished 13th. If anyone deserves a Good, it's Steve Park. He'd have got a good just for starting the race. I think Park showed he can still get the job done.
Red Bull Racing: with Reed Sorenson (8th) and Scott Speed (10th), they finished strong. Neither driver led a lap, but both escaped the Big One.
Mike Bliss: he gets put in the #71 car right after Bobby Labonte left and scores a top 10. Go figure. Either Bliss has what it takes to get the job done, or Labonte's done. I say the latter, with some of the former.
Kurt Busch: he did a great job in coming back from the Big One to finish in the top 10, seventh, to be exact. He led a number of laps and was stout, particularly at the beginning of the race.
Honorable Mention: Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards, David Reutimann.
THE BAD
Weather: rain delayed the race for close to an hour. Fortunately, the weather cleared long enough for the race to be run.
THE UGLY
The Big One: the carnage involved 18 cars and started when Jeff Burton got loose. Burton was running in the top 5 at the time. There were several good cars that got caught up in the carnage, most notably Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman. Mark Martin's #5 car caught fire in the pits as the crew was attempting to repair the car. Martin had to be pulled from the car by two members of Johnson's crew and a NASCAR official. By the time he was pulled from the car, it was fully engulfed in flames. Fortunately, Martin is okay. But he had a harrowing few moments in the pits.
Those are my nominees for the race. Feel free to come in with yours!
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11 comments:
Jon, I'm not ready to say Labonte is done. Until he says it, I'm keeping my mouth shut!
Jon, I'd give Kyle an Ugly for not sacking up. I'll discus in detail on my View later.
Bliss can thank the 25 cars that wrecked out for his decent finish. They all would have finished ahead of him, and Sorenson, Speed, Dale Jr, etc.
B Labonte wasn't that far behind, and was, like Park, in the top ten after the big one.
Congratulations on another Harvick win. That was a good old-fashioned summer restrictor-plate race. Basically anyone who didn't wreck pretty much was guaranteed a top 15 finish, and Bliss was running far enough toward the back he and Park were able to get through. Great to see Park back out there again.
CR, we'll see how he does in the 09 car--that car has Hendrick horsepower under the hood. Hopefully it won't be a start and park team.
Gene, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. Bliss can thank his lucky stars that he was far enough back to react to the carnage ahead of him.
JM, thanks! It's been FOUR YEARS since he's won more than one race in a season (2006, to be exact). And I agree, it was great to see Park running again. While he didn't have the best car, he didn't overdrive it, something MANY rookies/young drivers are wont to do. He worked with what the car had and was capable of and got a solid finish.
I WON! I WON! I WON! lol
Congratulations on Harvick's win. OK, I said it.
I'm proud of Steve Parks and Dale, Jr.
I know your July 4th involved a steak, so hope you enjoyed it.lol
Beverly, congrats on the win! Harvick's team is looking more and more like a team that's GOING to win the championship. There have been several races in which he's narrowly escaped major wrecks and at the same time his closest rivals have had issues or been involved in those wrecks. I agree it was great to see Steve Park run again and to have Junior finish well.
Jon, as a third party, unbiased, call'em as you see 'em observer, what'd you think of JPM's swerve to the right on new tires as Kyle Busch attempted to run past him Saturday night? Do these cars generate a side draft strong enough to literally jerk a 3,400 lb. car across a full lane of traffic? What do ya figure, they were travelling around 190 MPH?
Your guy sure came out smelling like a rose!
Dwindy, the cars now allow for side drafting. Having said that, at those speeds (190-195 mph) cars CAN move one direction or another onto traffic. In other words, one car can cause another to get loose and the result is a wreck. It was unfortunate for KB; he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's also possible that JPM thought he had cleared KB when he didn't. Retaliation could have also played a factor, but it was too early in the race IMO for retaliation to take place. I say it's "one of those racing deals" that just happened. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Hey Jon - sorry so late to comment. Pretty much been out and about since watching the race.
Super good to Steve Park - I hope he continues to get in that car or any car! One of my fav pieces of memorabilia is a picture of me and Steve and I am all googly eyed and he is doing bunny ears behind my head. LOL
At least Johnson didn't win. Good wrap up of the race.
Hey Kristen! I bet that's a funny pic of you and Park! That was Park's first Cup race in nearly 7 years. If Baldwin was smarter, he'd put him in the 36 for the rest of the year and DUMP Casey Mears. Even after a 7 year absence, Park showed he can STILL get the job done.
Photogr, that was JJ's fourth DNF of the season. That team is NOT looking like a championship team right now, but there's plenty of season left.
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