Sunday, October 3, 2010

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly -- Price Chopper 400

This week, after a two-week absence due to moving into smaller, more cramped quarters, the Crappafoni Pictures crew is back at it with Toto in the land of Oz to bring you this week's version of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, complete with BBQ ribs, grilled corn, and all the rest of the fixin's. Enjoy!

THE GOOD

Greg Biffle: as the race winner, he gets first billing. He was especially dominant in the second half of the race and he checked out with 50 laps to go. The race was for second place. He was that dominant. For awhile, I've been saying that Carl Edwards would be in the thick of the title hunt. After today, I substitute Biff for Edwards as the triumvirate that will fight it out for the title, along with Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick.

Jimmie Johnson: he was mired in the middle of the field most of the race. It's a testament to the 48 crew that Johnson finished second when he easily could have finished 20th. They made the car better and better as the race went on. An added plus: he leads by three points over Denny Hamlin, and it's good to lead after the third race of the Chase, as four of the last six years, the champion has led after the third race of the Chase.

Kevin Harvick: he led 16 laps after starting mid-pack. Once again, the master of "where'd he come from?" strikes again en route to a third place finish. He also moves up two positions in the points standings, 30 behind Johnson. But at this point he needs WINS, not top 5 finishes. Top 5s won't cut it this year.

Tony Stewart: he led the most laps, but didn't have enough for the Biff's onslaught. Still, it was a sorely needed good run for Smoke, and it puts him in striking distance of Johnson.

Jeff Gordon: HE needed a good run, and got it. This sets him up nicely for Fontana next week. Now if he can only cash one or two wins in, he'd be in great shape!

Paul Menard: he led the most laps in one race, careerwise. The 98 team was strong when they unloaded, strong in qualifying, and strong in the race. He was able to make two tires work when he took two tires for track position late in the race. I have blasted him in the past NUMEROUS times, but today I'm giving him his props. He's earned his place in Cup. He'll be a winner at RCR next season.

Honorable Mention: Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, AJ Allmendinger, and Jamie McMurray.

THE BAD

Landon Cassill: he drew the short straw at this week's Start and Parkers' meeting in the Todd Bodine Meeting Room. According to NASCAR.COM, it was a "Rear Gear" issue. Let's face it: he PARKED IT. Who are we bullshitting here? We the People AREN'T STUPID. And if I'm wrong, I'll admit it.

THE UGLY

Kasey Kahne: he was running pretty decently until he got loose and slapped the wall. Then as he was making his way around the track, he cut a left front tire and tore up the #9. Needless to say, his day was ruined.

Those are my picks for the week. Feel free to come in with yours!

8 comments:

Dwindy1 said...

Good GBU jon!

I was glad to see Kevin do well even though my other two picks in the Trifecta went upside down...

I've lost my confidence jon. I'm afraid to pick the drivers I really want now for fear I'll hex them! I think Kristen somehow transmitted her abilities to do that to me! I don't know if it was intentional or not... She seems like a nice person...

Anyway... If this is true maybe I should put the hex on a few drivers that deserve it! Look out JJ!

Thanks jon!

Dwindy1 said...

BTW...

You moved? Still in the valley?

Later!

Gene Haddock said...

Now, this is the cookie-cutter Chase races that we all know, and don't love. Boring!

Except for Reutimann trying to piss off Toyota.

jon_464 said...

Dwindy, no problem! Just go with your gut instinct when picking for the Trifecta. I frequently do that when I pick F1 races and do better than I expected. Yes, I moved to Hanford. I love it!

Gene, Reutimann injected life into an otherwise boring race by "trying" to pay back Kyle. It was laughable, as Kyle actually had a pretty good finish considering the damage his car had.

klvalus said...

Missed ya! Hope the move went smoothly...will have to google to figure out where your new town is!

Can't disagree with your picks, although a bit surprised Rooty Tooty wasn't given a bad for taking out Kyle on what seemed to be a racing incident (for once) from the #18. It was the most exciting part of the race however.

Wish Kurt had a better day but he is still hanging on. The rest of the cookie cutters should suit him better.

(hehehehe Dwindy...vexing about the hexing isn't it??)

tezgm99 said...

good - that you're back :)

bad - that you had to move in the first place (I did that in April...not fun but at least is wasn't January I guess!).

ugly - probably your attitude if anyone wrecked anything while moving it, lol

CR_Racing said...

Hope you got a nice swag from the Hanford welcome wagon! I'm familiar with Visalia, and Fresno. But I thought Hanford was a feed lot?

Too bad the next two race are Jimmie's tracks! Football is getting more interesting every week!

jon_464 said...

Hey Kristen, it was TORTURE not seeing a race for TWO WEEKS. I'm about 35 miles SE of Fresno. Now that most of the short tracks are out of the way, I can see Kurt making his move.

Tez, thanks. Glad to be back!

CR, I'm in a somewhat sleepy town between Fresno and Visalia. I agree we're in Jimmieville as far as NASCAR goes the next two weeks, although Charlotte hasn't been too kind to him recently.