The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly -- 2010 Bank of America 500

This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew is in the capital of NASCAR, Charlotte, for this week's serving of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, complete with Carolina-style ribs, plenty of corn on the cob and fried taters, and washed down with the beverage of your choice. Enjoy!

THE GOOD

Jamie McMurray: as the race winner, he gets first billing. Great job by the 1 crew in getting him to the front, as he started WAY back in the pack. Did you see that final restart? McMurray was shot out of a cannon! I bet he was singing "Blue Bayou" to Kyle as he sped by the #18! He led 65 laps in getting his third win at the third different crown jewel track this season. (He also won the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400.) Good job Jamie!

Kyle Busch: he led the most laps but McMurray sung his own version of the Linda Ronstadt hit "Blue Bayou" on the final restart. Then he had his hands full with Jimmie Johnson, but was able to hold him off for second.

Jimmie Johnson: this is the reason why he's Four-Time. He had a wicked loose car at the start of the race, spun out early and dropped way back in the pack, and spent the rest of the race playing catch up. And he very nearly did. Most other drivers would have finished in the 20s. If he does win the title this year, he can point to this race as the reason why. He gains another five points on Denny Hamlin and more than doubles his lead on Kevin Harvick, even though Harvick had a top 10 finish.

Denny Hamlin: for awhile, it looked like the Hamster was going to get his first win at Charlotte. He had a solid car that was in the top 5 for much of the race, and even when he started outside the top 5 on restarts, he was quickly in the top 5. But he's got to start getting wins and finishing ahead of Johnson if he's to win the title.

Matt Kenseth/Roush Fenway Racing: he led a contingent of Roushkateers in the top 12. Kenseth started 24th and slowly worked his way into the top 10. His car was the best and fastest in the last 50 laps of the race. It looked like he was on a rail, as he was passing other cars effortlessly. Greg Biffle was solid all race, had good pit stops, and finished right behind Kenseth. Props also to David Ragan for finishing in the top 10, in tenth. Carl Edwards brought up the rear in 12th, and even he had a solid race after falling backwards early. Props go to his crew chief Bob Osborne and the Quack Quew (crew) for battling back. Good job to the Roushkateers!

Joey Logano/Joe Gibbs Racing: in addition to Kyle Busch and Hamlin, I give JGR props for having all three of its drivers in the top 10 with Logano's seventh place finish. Logano ran a quiet race, but was there at the end. He kept his nose clean, stayed out of trouble, and ran a smart race. Good job to all the JGR drivers!

Honorable Mention: Kevin Harvick, David Reutimann, and Juan Pablo Montoya.

THE BAD

J.J. Yeley: he was the first start and parker of the night. He drew the short straw at the start and parkers' meeting in the Todd Bodine Meeting Room. Reportedly Dave Blaney told Yeley, "You drew the short stick. You lost. What's fair is fair."

Dale Earnhardt Jr: this was a prime opportunity for him to get a solid finish and prove that the 88 team is on the right track. But he finishes in 29th, three laps down. At least he passed Kurt Busch late in the race, as he was running in 30th for much of the second half of the race. The honorable thing for Jr to do is step out of the seat, and have Rick Hendrick put Aric Almirola in there and see what he can do. He's lost it, and once you lose it, you can't get it back. At the very least, he needs to have a heart to heart with Mr. Hendrick at the end of the season.

Kurt Busch: gotta put him here. The Blue Deuce crew swapped out EVERYTHING in the car but the engine, the decals, and the sponsor and NOTHING worked. They even swapped the kitchen sink at their shop, from what I've heard, and even THAT didn't work. You could have put David Pearson in his prime in that car and it still would have finished 30th. The Blue Deuce was THAT BAD. You can now officially kiss Kurt Busch's chances to win the title goodbye.

THE UGLY

Kasey Kahne/Sam Hornish: Kahne got wickedly loose and Hornish was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got collected in Kahne's mess. It would have been very easy for Hornish to throw Kahne under the bus in the post accident interview afterwards but kudos to Hornish for not doing so. But you could hear the disappointment in Hornish's voice, more so at being in the wrong place at the wrong time, as he was trying to avoid Kahne. For Kahne, it was the icing on the cake, so to speak. He was battling a wickedly loose race car, and no matter what kind of adjustments he and the 9 crew tried to make, it got looser as the race went on. The accident was the end result.

Those are my nominees for the race. Feel free to come in with yours.