This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew is California Dreamin' at Fontana (insert bad Mamas and Papas joke here) for this week's serving of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, with fish tacos (we're close enough to San Diego), salsa, and the toppings of your choice, washed down with Pepsi Max, of course! Enjoy!
THE GOOD
Tony Stewart: he gets first billing as the race winner. Smoke pulled ahead of Clint Bowyer on the final restart and had enough juice to hold off Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson for his first win at Fontana. With the win, Smoke bolsters his chances of a third championship. He has matured into a solid leader and that has helped him immensely in his racing. Could he be the modern-day A.J. Foyt? (Smoke was a former pole-sitter at the Indy 500.)
Clint Bowyer: he had a stout car from the time it was unloaded until the checkered flag, and it looked like he was going to win his second Chase race of the season. But Stewart overtook him on that last restart. What DOESN'T help Bowyer is that Jimmie Johnson finished right behind him, and he was only able to gain five points on Johnson. Bowyer could win the rest of the Chase races and if Johnson keeps ripping off top 3 finishes, Bowyer won't win the title.
Jimmie Johnson: this guy keeps ripping off top 3 finish after top 3 finish. Maybe there was something to what Kevin Harvick said early in the season about JJ and the lucky horseshoe. (Perhaps JJ played Frontierville on Facebook earlier in the season and got the horseshoe that way...just a thought.) And with Jimmie's House aka Charlotte looming, don't expect things to change anytime soon.
Kasey Kahne: where have you been Kasey? Long time no see in this category! Although he didn't lead a lap (he got as high as second position), he hung around in the top 10 for pretty much the whole race.
Ryan Newman: he capped off a great day for Stewart-Haas Racing by finishing fifth. He started 14th and quickly worked his way into the top 10. Great way to rep Tornados (a frozen Mexican-style wrap made in the central California town of Dinuba) in its home state by finishing in the top 5! Newman seems to run his best when Tornados is on the hood: a win and a fifth place finish.
Kevin Harvick: he started 21st, then had to overcome a speeding penalty exiting pit road during a round of green flag pit stops to finish seventh. The penalty dropped him to 28th, the last car on the lead lap. He was about to get lapped when a caution came out. A sub-Bad to his crew for NOT helping him gain spots on pit road. He made up all those spots on the track.
Denny Hamlin: I had to include the Hamster in here because he started in the back of the pack due to a transmission change. He charged his way up the field, eventually finishing eighth. But when you have the leader ripping off top 3s, it's impossible to catch him.
Honorable Mention: Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, David Reutimann, Joey Logano, Regan Smith.
THE BAD
Roush-Fenway Racing: it was a BAD day for them. Greg Biffle blows an engine and finishes 41st. Carl Edwards has ignition issues and finishes 34th. Then David Ragan, who was running solidly in the top 15 late in the race, triggers an accident that delivers a serious blow to Kurt Busch's title hopes. (Busch would finish 21st.) Matt Kenseth limped home in 30th, the last car on the lead lap and RFR's best finisher. Biffle's done, Edwards and Kenseth's title hopes are in serious jeopardy. They're THAT close to being done.
THE UGLY
Issues: many of the Chasers had them. Biffle and Kyle Busch blew engines. Edwards had ignition issues. Kurt Busch was collected in an accident not of his doing. Harvick and Jeff Gordon had speeding penalties. Kenseth limped home in 30th. Jeff Burton finished 23rd and is pretty close to being done. Hamlin had to have a transmission changed and started at the rear of the field.
Those are my nominees for the week. Feel free to come in with yours.
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9 comments:
Ugly...Jamie from the pole to the back almost, then up to 17th and he rode along side Junyer for most of the race! Only good thing about this race was Tony won and JJ didn't plus hearing from Yee and Ragan on the Live Chat. Where were YOU?
Stick a fork in Biffle. He's done.
Kyle looks like he's done. But, who knows? He just needs to go out and win several of the next races. Not an easy task...
Newman did well in the other Mexican food car on Saturday also. I think it was El Monterey?
Sorry for the deleted posts. My lap top is acting up!
Tough race to swallow if you're a Busch brother fan...
Whatever happened to the Kellog sponsors at HMS? It would be way cool to have Kellog's Frosted Flakes on Tony's ride... Tony the Tiger!
CR... Your lap top will work better if you'd quit dancing while trying to use it!
Good call on Harvick and Hamlin driving up through the pack jon.
Bad-- to the 18 team. Definitely a bad time for everything to go wrong.
Ugly-- D Ragan. Is it open season on Chasers named Busch?
Ugly for Ragan indeed - he popped Kurt into the fence several laps before taking him out. Not sure why Kurt didn't let off the gas and get the heck away from the 6 car - not in his nature I am sure.
Did love the in car shot of Kurt after the wreck - blood boiling and wild eyed...thats my Kurt! LOL
All I can say is GO SMOKE!
Hi Beverly, the computer is in a separate area now. It's in a small office and I was watching the race. When I get a lapper, then I can join in! Good to see Tony winning.
CR, that's what one of the ESPN commentators said. And just a couple of weeks ago, Biff was being touted as a serious threat to JJ. But you CANNOT finish 41st and expect to be a threat.
Dwindy, yes it was tough being a fan of one (or both) of the Busch brothers yesterday. Kurt was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Thanks re Harvick and Hamlin.
Gene, Fontana has ALWAYS been hard on engines, particularly within the last 50 laps of a race. Combine that with the heat (it was 93 degrees in Fontana yesterday--no matter what time of year they run the race there, the heat ALWAYS finds them) and you have a recipe for disaster. I put Ragan along with the rest of the RFR gang in a WELL DESERVED bad. They were unusually putrid at Fontana.
Kristen, I swear Kurt wanted to kick some Ragan @$$ yesterday! I thought I saw steam coming out of his ears!
Photogr, as long as JJ didn't win, that's fine with me!
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