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

This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew is at the World Center of Racing, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, to bring you this week's edition of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Brickyard-style, washed down with plenty of milk from Indiana's dairy farmers. Enjoy!

THE GOOD

Paul Menard: as the race winner, he gets the top slot. He was at or near the front pretty much the whole race. He was no slouch, no lucking into this win; he led 21 laps on several different occasions en route to the win. The win puts him in a wild-card position to make the Chase, along with Denny Hamlin. (Hamlin is currently in 11th in the standings; Menard 14th.) There's bound to be some drivers having a LOT of sleepless nights between now and the end of the Richmond race. With another win, he could pretty much lock himself into the Chase. He and crew chief Slugger Labbe played the fuel mileage strategy to perfection, as Menard saved enough fuel on the final run to hold off a hard-charging Jeff Gordon. A well-earned win for a driver that has paid his dues by being on some bad teams in the past but is now on one of the sport's elite teams. Menard also achieved an Indy first: he became the first driver to get his first Cup win at Indy. For car owner Richard Childress, it's his third win at Indy with three different drivers (Dale Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick, and now Paul Menard). Great job Paul!

Jeff Gordon: for most of the day, the 24 car looked like it was the one to beat, and had Menard not played his strategy perfectly, Gordon would have been kissing the bricks for the fifth time in his career. Gordon absolutely loved his car today, especially the way it handled. The 24 team hit on the setup big time.

Matt Kenseth: he also had a stout car. He led 10 laps and was consistently lurking but poor fuel mileage did him in. (Seems to me the Fords get great horsepower but lack in fuel mileage.) He had a typical Kenseth race: quiet, steady, and patient. He looked like he was going to get Jack Roush's first Indy win as an owner except for that fuel mileage.

Kasey Kahne: he led the most laps and early on in the race, he looked like he was going to run and hide from the field. At one point he had a 12-second lead before a debris caution came out. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time in the Big One, caused when Landon Cassill and David Ragan made contact. Kahne did an impromptu pass through the grass and busted up his front splitter. His car was never the same after that. IMO he may have had the best car overall up to that point.

Tony Stewart: Smoke was in the lead for 10 laps, and it looked like he was going to steal a Brickyard 400 win. But the earlier pit strategy he used bit him in the rear when he had to pit late. He did a great job in overcoming speeding penalties, mistakes on pit road, and bad strategy to finish sixth. With that sixth place finish, he moves into ninth place in the standings.

Brad Keselowski: he led 17 laps because of strategy and a strong car. Plus he had some fortune on his side: he was about to go a lap down when a caution came out and he needed to pit at the same time. His ninth place finish put him in 21st place in the standings, 16 points behind Juan Pablo Montoya. He still has some work to do, though.

Honorable Mention: Regan Smith, Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle, Mark Martin, and Kyle Busch.

THE BAD

Robby Gordon: don't even get me started on this guy. In one of the biggest races of the NASCAR season, he runs a grand total of FIVE LAPS. FIVE. FREAKING. LAPS. He rigged the straws at the start and parkers meeting to ensure he'd be the one drawing the shortest straw. You want to start and park, fine. BUT GIVE AN HONEST EFFORT AND DON'T BE STEALING MONEY FROM NASCAR. We're ALL hurting in this bad economy. He completed JUST OVER 3% of the total laps required to finish on the lead lap. Dude, sell your team and focus on off-road racing; you're a champion there and that's where your heart is. Why beat your head against a wall in NASCAR?

Jeff Burton: not so much bad, but unlucky. He was running very solid early in the race. He overcame driving past his pit box on his first pit stop. He also got caught in the Big One and sustained significant damage. With a new, first-time crew chief (Luke Lambert) there are bound to be some major kinks. He's mired in 25th in the standings. Better work on some things for next year, because you're not making the Chase. I wonder if he's lost it, or if most of the year has just been bad luck? I hope it's the latter and the 31 team can run better the rest of the season.

THE UGLY

Gil Martin: Kevin Harvick's crew chief was NOT on his game, to put it mildly. Kevin tells you the condition of his car; it's up to you to adjust the car accordingly. Since Sonoma, they haven't been able to do that. It's a good thing Harvick has three wins and is pretty much locked into the Chase; otherwise he'd be in a world of hurt right now. Plus Martin's strategy was dubious at best, awful at worst. It wasn't until the final pit stop that they hit the setup; by then it was too late for a top 10 or even top 5 finish. This team is NOT a championship caliber team right now; it's a sixth place team at best, 12th at worst. (I just had to rant about Harvick's lack of top 10's lately.)

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