The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly -- 2011 Irwin Tools Night Race

This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew is in Thunder Valley, aka Bristol, for this week's heaping helping of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, unofficially brought to you by Hamburger Helper. Have nothing to wash down that Hamburger Helper with? NO problem--there's PLENTY of Miller Lite! Enjoy! (Please drink responsibly. We don't want to hear of you getting popped for DUI.)

THE GOOD

Brad Keselowski: he gets the top spot this week. He had a solid qualifying run (he started 8th) and worked his way to the front. It was a gamble bringing his Nationwide crew chief to the Cup side to start the season. Kansas was where it all came together. Tonight's win established him as a LEGITIMATE threat to dethrone Jimmie Johnson. This was his second win in the last four races, and fourth consecutive top 3 finish. He'll sit in the Chase NO WORSE than third place. The Blue Deuce is clicking on all cylinders (no pun intended). Keselowski climbed to 11th in points, 20 points behind Tony Stewart. With another solid finish next week at Atlanta, he should clinch a Chase berth.

Martin Truex, Jr.: he FINALLY has a stout run--easily his best run of the season. His two-tire stop on the final pit stop was a huge gamble for track position, and he made it pay off. That took some serious stones on crew chief Chad Ochocinco Johnson's part, especially since two tires wasn't working up to that point. (Man, that Ochocinco's dude's everywhere!) On the restart he was leading, and eventually finished second, holding off Jeff Gordon on those two tires (Gordon took four tires, in contrast). Good job Martin!

Jeff Gordon: he led the most laps, and had a stout car throughout the race, but the #24 faded at the end. It was too much Blue Deuce more than the 24 itself. For awhile, it looked like he would win his third race of the season, and 85th of his career, but it was not to be. Gordon needs to finish 40th or better at Atlanta to clinch a Chase spot.

Jimmie Johnson: Vader and the 48 team are showing signs of life at the right time. Although he led only a handful of laps, he was in a position to pounce. He didn't outdrive the car and was rewarded with a fourth place finish and a berth in the Chase.

Jamie McMurray: it's been awhile since I've seen you in this neck of the woods. He led a handful of laps, and was in the top 10 for pretty much the whole race. Good job Jamie!

Honorable Mention: Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, and Marcos Ambrose.

THE BAD

Robby Gordon: he drew the short stick at the start and parkers' meeting, held in the Todd Bodine Meeting Room. He ran a total of 10 laps before declaring himself done for the day and hotfooting it out of town with his earnings. Hey Robby, how come you ran faster when you DID hotfoot it out of town with your earnings than on the track?

Tony Stewart: Smoke was UNUSUALLY bad. Even though he has struggled at this track, that term took on a WHOLE NEW MEANING. He fought an ill-handling race car all evening. It was way too loose, then it got way too tight. The 14 team struggled with the balance of the car. The end result was a 28th place finish, three laps down. Fortunately for him, he is still in 10th place and miraculously still has a chance to clinch a Chase berth after Atlanta. That's because:

Clint Bowyer: he was just as bad as Stewart. Like Stewart, he fought an ill-handling race car. But through pit strategy, he actually finished two spots better than Stewart, finishing 26th. He STILL has a chance to make the Chase, albeit as a wild card, with a win at either Atlanta or Richmond. But with no contract extension with RCR, he may be looking elsewhere, like RPM. (I'm guessing that if he DOESN'T make the Chase, he's bolting after the season to RPM.)

Greg Biffle: he was ca-ca. He got popped more than once for speeding penalties on pit road, once during a round of green flag pit stops. He actually had a pretty solid qualifying run and was solid in all the practices leading up to the race. For the race itself, he finishes 31st, four laps down.

Kevin Harvick: another driver that wasted a pretty good qualifying run (he started 15th) with a bad race car. It was loose from the drop of the green flag to the drop of the checkers. No matter what the 29 crew did to try to tighten the car up, it was stuck on loose. Time to stop sniping at Kyle Busch and focus on what is wrong with this car and the setups, Happy. He last pitted with 130 laps to go and was just about to go a lap down when the final caution came out. He stayed out and took the wave around, putting him on the lead lap for the first time since early in the race. Alas, he got lapped AGAIN. IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK TO HAVE A CAR THAT'S AT LEAST COMPETITIVE AND CAN STAY ON THE LEAD LAP??? HMMMM? When you're outrun by Mike Bliss and David Starr at one point in the race, you have a (excuse my French) SHITTY car.  JUNK THAT PARTICULAR CAR YOU RAN TONIGHT!

THE UGLY

Greg Biffle: see above.

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

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly -- Good Sam RV 500

This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew is in the rolling hills of eastern Pennsylvania for this week's The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, served up on a platter of Pennsylvania-style sandwiches, and washed down with PLENTY of Miller Lite. (Drink responsibly. And have a designated driver.) Enjoy!

THE GOOD

Brad Keselowski: he gets this slot as the race winner. Bad Brad did a masterful job just a few days after sustaining a broken ankle in a crash at Road Atlanta while testing for the Watkins Glen race. He took the lead for the first time on a daring three-wide pass in which he had a tremendous run. He held off Kyle Busch from that point on. With the win, Keselowski becomes the first wild card, as he has two wins on the season and is in the top 20 in points. Good job Brad!

Kyle Busch: he was the class of the field for the middle third of the race, and at one point he had a nearly 4 second lead on his brother Kurt before a late race caution wiped that out. He got shuffled back on the subsequent restart, losing the lead to Keselowski.

Kurt Busch: he was on the point for 38 laps and was stout throughout. He even survived a late-race skirmish with Jimmie Johnson. (More on that later.) But at one point, he berated his crew after he got shuffled back to mid-pack. Great job in fighting his way through that mess to finish third.

Jimmie Johnson: while he didn't lead a lap, he was able to drive his way towards the front, and if not for the great final restart by Keselowski, we might have been seeing JJ in Victory Lane instead.

Ryan Newman: must be the Tornados paint scheme. Or the driver. He, and not Smoke, have been heating it up this summer. Seems like every time he drives the Tornados scheme, he finishes in the top 5! (I think he's only finished outside the top 5 ONCE driving that scheme; that came as a result of a crash.) Whenever the 39 is in that scheme, it agrees with the car. Just sayin'. Newman was able to drive towards the front, even leading a lap during a round of green flag pit stops.

Denny Hamlin: he led the most laps in the race, but on the final pit stop, they made several key mistakes and lost 14 positions. They came in fifth; they came out 19th on the final pit stop. He's now in the second wild card position (he is currently 11th in the standings).

Honorable Mention: Joey Logano, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Paul Menard.

THE BAD

JJ Yeley: he was the first start and parker. He ran a grand total of seven laps before declaring himself done for the day and hotfooting it out of town with his earnings. He drew the short stick at the start and parkers' meeting, held in the Todd Bodine Meeting Room.

The race itself: now you know why Pocono is a snoozefest. Dull, boring action. LONG green flag runs. A VERY LONG racetrack and race. If you reduced the mileage to 400 miles I think it would be better. Still, it's better than soccer.

THE UGLY

Jimmie Johnson: it's not often that I put a driver in both the Good and Ugly categories. While Johnson WAS very solid today, it's his very late race and post-race antics that also put him here. On the final lap, he went down and made contact with Kurt Busch as he was trying to pass him. Busch didn't appreciate that and hit him back, causing a tire rub on the 48 car. (These two have a LONG history; the most memorable being Sonoma in 2009, when Johnson flat-out PUNTED Busch late in the race, costing him a top 5 finish.) AFTER the race, Johnson confronted cried to Busch to show his displeasure. Busch was like, "What the hell are you talking about?" As Johnson was ranting on, Busch's look turned from quizzical to getting pissed off. Then in the subsequent post-race interview, HE TRIED TO BLAME BUSCH!! I CALL BS ON THAT! (He was clearly trying to hide behind the safety of the TV cameras, probably to keep from getting his @$$ kicked by Busch.) The replays CLEARLY showed that Johnson made contact with the 22 FIRST. Man up JJ, and admit that you were wrong!! (IF I'm Kurt, I wait until late in the Chase, Phoenix perhaps, and exact my payback on the 48.)

Denny Hamlin's crew: they TOTALLY screwed up Hamlin's final pit stop, costing him 14 positions on the track. He might have made it up if there were 30 laps to go, but there were half that many.

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

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly -- 2011 STP 400

This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew is in the nation's heartland, Kansas, for this week's steamy The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Kansas City BBQ-style, complete with ribs and beef as far as the eye can see, all the fixin's you can eat, and washed down with PLENTY of Miller Lite. (Drink responsibly.)

THE GOOD

Brad Keselowski: as this week's winner, he gets this spot. Like last week with Kevin Harvick winning a fuel mileage race, this week's race came down to fuel mileage. Kes began conserving fuel towards the end of the race when his spotter told him Dale Earnhardt Jr's lap times were falling off. He conserved enough to do a burnout! He now sits 21st in the standings. Good job Bad Brad!!!

Dale Earnhardt Jr: THIS time he DIDN'T run out of gas! But he was also in fuel conservation mode. (I'd have LOVED to see a caution come out with three laps to go or so, and have a green-white-checkered finish.) For the second straight week, he finishes second, continuing his streak of solid runs. Had he led a lap, you'd have heard the crowd!

Denny Hamlin: the 11 team is finally starting to put together a series of solid runs. After an early season slump, Hamlin is edging closer to that first win of the season. He'll get a win or two to quiet the doubters. He led 34 laps en route to a solid third place run.

Jeff Gordon: Big Daddy has had good, solid cars this year, like he did today, but only one win to show for it. He was in the top 10 for pretty much the whole race. A very solid, workmanlike run. But IMO he needs at least one more win to lock up a wild-card spot in the Chase.

Carl Edwards: early on, he had a stout car. But midway, he fell back, almost out of the top 20. But towards the end of the race, the 99 car came to life. Kudos also go out to the Aflac crew for consistently good pit stops that gained him track position. He led 29 laps en route to finishing fourth and keeping his points lead. (Could he be this year's Kevin Harvick, where he keeps the points lead all the way through to the Chase but loses it then and doesn't get it back?)

Kurt Busch: the Double Deuce led the most laps in the race but was the victim of a bad pit stop towards the end of the race. On the next to last green flag stop, the gas man did not completely fill up the tank, forcing him to come in earlier than planned, costing him track position. He did have a stout car and I can see him in Victory Lane sooner rather than later.

Tony Stewart: this is the time of year when Smoke heats up. And he's starting to. He led 20 laps in the race en route to finishing 8th. He'll be good for a couple of wins prior to the Chase.

Honorable Mention: Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, and Greg Biffle.

THE BAD

Joe Nemechek: he is a former winner at Kansas. Unfortunately for Joe, he drew the short stick at the start and parkers' meeting in the Todd Bodine Meeting Room.

AJ Allmendinger: he was running the iconic STP paint scheme for today's race. Where was AJ? He was a lap down for much of the race and got very little face time, considering the strong runs he and teammate Marcos Ambrose had last week.

Jeff Burton: IMO the pressure is growing on the 31 team to perform. With Harvick running like a championship caliber driver, Bowyer being strong, and Menard improving week by week, he's really feeling the pressure. He has good runs but little mistakes or getting caught up in someone else's mess late in races end up costing him. Today, the 31 team missed on the setup and played catch-up the whole race.

NASCAR: for threatening to throw the book at Richard Childress for his altercation with Kyle Busch after the Truck Series race yesterday. Kyle started the whole mess when he bumped RCR driver Joey Coulter (he drives the #22 RCR Chevrolet Silverado) AFTER THE CHECKERED FLAG. Coulter was minding his own business, and since NASCAR won't DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT, except LOOK THE OTHER WAY, RC took matters into his own hands. I am frustrated at the fact NASCAR looked the other way on something as egregious as one driver nearly punting another driver AFTER the checkered flag. Yes, it's "boys have at it" but NOT at the expense of endangering another driver and adding an undue expense of repairing the truck to another team. Should a penalty be imposed on Childress? A minimal one, perhaps a fine but no points taken away.

Fox Sports' coverage: this merits a Bad because they asked Kyle Busch puffball questions. MY first question would have been: WHAT WERE YOU THINKING AFTER THE CHECKERED FLAG IN YESTERDAY'S RACE?

THE UGLY

None this week.

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

Some Observations About Carl Edwards' Win

Last night, the Nationwide Series put on a show at Gateway, just outside of St. Louis. Early on, Brad Keselowski, the Series points leader, was dominant, then Carl Edwards became stout. A late caution bunched up the field for one final restart. Then the fireworks went off. Bad Brad got Edwards loose in Turn 1, but Edwards held his line. No problem there; good job by Edwards in holding his line. Then with 300 yards or so to go, Edwards punted Keselowski, who was leading at the time, into the wall. Huge problem there. Edwards took the checkered flag, while Keselowski finished 14th. The problem is two-fold: Keselowski was intentionally punted by Edwards, knowing the field was behind them, and Edwards pulled a chickenshit maneuver to win the race. I'd have had NO problem with Edwards winning had he outsprinted Keselowski to the finish line.

Here are some observations:

• Edwards should have been stripped of his win IMMEDIATELY, then placed as the last driver on the lead lap. Reed Sorenson would have then been given the win, as he was in second at the time.
• Google "Carl Edwards anger issues" and you'll find 18,400 matches about Edwards, his conflicts with Cup teammate Matt Kenseth, and other Cup drivers besides Keselowski.
• The postrace interview with ESPN was telling. Edwards didn't exactly deny he did it deliberately. He was unapologetic as to how he won. It's like the fox being queried by the farmer about the chickens and the fox saying the coop door was open when he got there.
• Edwards is/will be a marked man for the rest of the season. Not only by Keselowski, but Kurt Busch and possibly Kevin Harvick, other drivers that Edwards has had issues with.
• Could this go much deeper? Meaning a Jack Roush vs. Roger Penske feud? Kurt Busch (Penske driver) used to drive for Roush back in the day, even winning a Cup title for him back in 2004. But he was run from Roush unceremoniously. Just saying.

Chickenshit Carl, hope you're happy with the win. If things balance out, it'll be your last win for awhile.