This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew is in the rolling hills of Upstate New York for this week's version of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, complete with LOTS of snacks from the race sponsor, washed down with plenty of Coke Zero. Enjoy!
THE GOOD
Juan Pablo Montoya: dominant doesn't even begin to describe his performance today. Every time he got in front he checked out on the field. He took the lead at Lap 5 and dominated from there, leading 78 of the final 86 laps. Everyone else was racing for second place today. This was one of the most dominant performances this year. He becomes the first foreign-born driver with multiple Sprint Cup wins. (He also won at Sonoma in 2007.)
Kurt Busch: he was strong all day, and the Blue Deuce got stronger as the day went on. Although he didn't lead a lap, he finished a career-best second place on a road course. He improved in the standings for the Chase.
Marcos Ambrose: it looked like he had something for Montoya, as he took the lead at one point and led for eight laps in the race. He faded near the end and lost second place to Kurt Busch due to a tire going down in the final lap.
AJ Allmendinger: he was in the top 10 pretty much the whole day. The 43 car was strong when they unloaded, strong in practice and qualifying, and strong on race day. This on the heels of the Dinger signing a multi-year extension with RPM. All in all, a great week for AJ.
Carl Edwards: he won his first career pole on a road course. Although he never led, he was in the top 10 for pretty much the entire race. Don't look now, but I think this team is starting to find its groove. I think a win is in the not too distant future.
Kyle Busch: although he was listed starting 10th, he had to drop to the rear of the field due to a loose part near the gear box. The 18 crew was able to tighten it through some improvisation just before the green flag dropped. He was able to make his way through the field all the way to an 8th place finish. (He ended up starting 42nd.)
Honorable Mention: Jamie McMurray, Tony Stewart, Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, and Kevin Harvick.
THE BAD
Greg Biffle: although he started seventh, he quickly moved backwards and was never a factor. DISCLAIMER: Road courses are not one of Biffle's strengths. He'll be at a track much more friendly to him and his Roush teammates next week.
Jimmie Johnson: he started ninth but like Biffle, was never a factor. Since winning at Sonoma, this team is in the throes of a horrible slump, with just one top 10 since, last week at Pocono, where Johnson finished 10th. He did get mentioned once, when he crashed and collected Denny Hamlin in the process, ruining a possible top 10 for Hamlin.
THE UGLY
None. By all standards, this was a pretty tame race at the Glen this year. Actually I do have to give an Ugly to ESPN for its coverage and giving Carl Edwards more face time.
Those are my nominees for the week. Feel free to come in with yours.
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11 comments:
and Jamie Mac had a good day! Great GBU, Jon!♥
how can you give Smoke, easily the best driver in these cars on this track, a 'good' for finishing lower than where he started while no mention at all for Matt who gained 18 spots?
Beverly, thanks! Jamie was strong throughout the race.
Tez, I felt that even though Kenseth finished much better than where he started, he started too far back and was never really a factor in the race. Had he started in the mid-front of the field, and had moved up, he would have merited a Good. Smoke was strong throughout practice, qualifying, and the race and WAS in position to get a top 5. Had Smoke gone backwards, I'd have given him either a Bad or Ugly. But you did give me an idea: I'll start giving a Good to the driver that improves the most positions from the start of the race. And even though Kyle Busch was listed at starting 10th, he actually started 42nd because of issues right before the start of the race.
sounds like a funky idea. I might have to solely rely on next weeks GBU since we have the airshow coming here and, well, it's only Michigan....
I'll do it with a caveat: the driver has to finish in the top 10 to get consideration. You won't miss much at Michigan. But Bristol at night is MUST see TV.
Bristol in August is on my bucket list!
I don't mind Carl's face time. ;)
Hey RA6AN, mine too!!
Another good could have been for the track. There were several improvements made. The kitty litter was almost totally removed. Several areas of new paving were put down to help make the track safer. Although the old metal barriers and tires were still in place, I think when they look back at the race, those improvements will be pointed to as changing the quality of the overall race.
Thanks jon!
You really didnt think Smoke blatantly taking out Said wasn't ugly? Seeemed to me it was early enough in the race and Said had the racing line that all Smoke had to do was lift for half a second but no Mr Entitled just dumped him.
Also bad to ESPN coverage - Kurt up front the ENTIRE race and hardly a mention of him...oh except to say he had nothing for Montoya. whatever!
Gotta say Kyle coming thru the field was amazing to watch - now why cant Junior do that from 40th??
LOL
Almendinger must have Kahne's cars now. Amazing to see him finish a race not on the end of a hook.
Tony has been wrecking Boris for years. I was watching with some friends, and when they were together, some guy was predicting Tony would take him out. And, Boris never says anything to Tony about it.
Whoever stuffed my ballot box for Bowyer to make the Chase may want to re-vote. LOL
Dwindy, good point about the track's improvement on its safety features. Pocono could learn a lesson from the Glen.
Kristen, my bad on the gross oversight of Tony wrecking Boris. That DEFINITELY deserves an Ugly. At that point of the race, I was in and out. I think the Four Letter was too focused on Montoya and Ambrose's duel, when there was some GOOD racing behind them. EVERY time Montoya led, he checked out on the field.
Gene, a good right hook from Boris to Tony's jaw would keep that from ever happening again. I think RPM is giving Kahne the junk cars now that he's got one foot out the door. I think if he doesn't make the Chase, he'll have the other foot out the door. And I'll confess: I was one of those ballot stuffers. But I'm not changing my vote.
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