The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly -- 2011 Wonderful Pistachios 400

This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew is back in action (we had to leave due to a prior committment last week, and time was tight) in the heart of Virginia for this week's The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, complete with all the fixin's you can think of, and washed down with PLENTY of Budweiser. (Be sure to drink responsibly; we here at the crew want to see you get home in one piece.) Before I get to my nominees, I have to give a shout out to the first responders of 9/11/01. THEY are the true heroes, along with our brave servicemen and women.

THE GOOD

First Responders/Armed Forces: you all are the true heroes. You did your jobs in the wake of a terrible attack on our nation, and you did it to the very best of your ability. Great job, guys and gals. May we NEVER forget and take for granted the job you do.

Kevin Harvick: it's been awhile since we've seen you here. Normally, I put the winning driver first, but since the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 is tomorrow, I put the First Responders/Armed Forces first. Now back to Harvick. He had the dominant car tonight, but got caught in the pits when the caution came out midway through the race. He had to take the wave around. In the following run, he made up many positions. On the money stop, he came out first, then subsequently drove away on the restart. He had to hold off a hard-charging Carl Edwards to win his fourth race of the season and tie Kyle Busch in the points heading into the Chase. (It's too bad it's not the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 anymore; he'd have had the hot band of the moment in Victory Lane with him like he did with the Barenaked Ladies in 2006.)

Carl Edwards: he had the car to beat midway into the race. He had the best car on the longer runs, but the final run was too short a time for him to contend for the win. Had there been a few more laps to go, we'd be seeing him and not Harvick in Victory Lane.

Jeff Gordon: he took the lead from Harvick late but a subsequent caution and a less than stellar pit stop bit him. He came out fourth after the final pit stop, got shuffled back a bit on the subsequent restart, but rallied to finish third. He enters the Chase with momentum, extending a streak of top 13 finishes he started at Infineon. He'll be tough to beat in the Chase.

David Ragan: he gave a whale of an effort to win the race, and had he won, he'd have clinched a Chase berth and not Denny Hamlin. Ragan was solid all night long. Although he never led, he was consistently in the top 10 throughout the race. Unfortunately for Ragan, rumors are swirling that Clint Bowyer could be moving into the 6 car and Ragan into a third RPM car. Regardless, a very solid run by Ragan.

Kurt Busch: he had quite the adventure this evening, particularly with Jimmie Johnson. They couldn't seem to stay away from one another. This observer couldn't help but laugh when he envisioned a fight between Busch and Johnson. (Slap fight, perhaps?)

Kyle Busch: patience was the word du jour for his race. He went a lap down, rallied, and subsequently finished sixth. Patience and Kyle Busch haven't always gotten along. This should serve him well in the last 10 races. An extra Good goes to Kyle for having the best paint scheme.

Tony Stewart: he's run the best he has this season when he's needed it. He clinched a spot in the Chase with his seventh place finish, and Smoke has some momentum now. Chicagoland is a track he's always run well at. (He needed to finish 14th or better.) Good job Smoke!

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: he had some harrowing moments tonight, but righted the car, finished 14th, and clinched his Chase berth.

Denny Hamlin: he clinched the final wild-card berth when Menard found trouble, and Ragan didn't win the race.

Honorable Mention: Ryan Newman and Mark Martin.

THE BAD

Paul Menard: he needed to win to clinch a Chase berth. He had a bad run and found trouble. He finished the race, but in 34th, 81 laps down. (I normally put the first start and parker here, but the DFL driver finished last due to an accident, so that doesn't count.)

Jeff Burton: the momentum he had built up since Watkins Glen has vanished. It looked like the 31 team was heading in the right direction, but they took a giant step backwards. It didn't help that he cut a tire and slapped the wall. He was briefly in the top 10 but went backwards shortly thereafter.

THE UGLY

Jimmie Johnson: he's been on this list more times in recent weeks than in the last five years put together. Perhaps he IS feeling the pressure of defending his title yet again. Or perhaps other drivers are taking more liberties in pushing JJ around. Harvick started that at Fontana when he shoved JJ into turn 3 much harder than JJ wanted to enter the turn. (By the time JJ righted the car, Harvick drove past him for the win.) The reason he's in the Ugly category is because of his post-race whining about Kurt Busch. (I think Busch is living in JJ's head rent-free.) JJ got loose, made contact with Busch, and slapped the wall. Actually, Busch being there saved JJ from a MUCH worse situation where he could have finished in the upper 30s, so he should THANK Busch for that.

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

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly -- Crown Royal presents the Matthew & Daniel Hansen 400

This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew is in Richmond to bring you this week's The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, mid-South style, complete with BBQ and washed down with NOS Energy drink. Enjoy!

THE GOOD

Kyle Busch: he gets first billing as the race winner. He was stout, leading 235 laps and was stellar on the restarts. With the win, he puts himself in position to make the Chase, as he won his second race of the season. Good job Kyle!

Denny Hamlin: he sorely needed this good run. He led 33 laps en route to the runner up finish. Home cooking is what he needed and it tasted sweet.

Kasey Kahne: like Hamlin, he sorely needed a good run, and he got it. Now if he can put together a couple of wins, he could make the Chase as a wild-card.

David Ragan: great run by the UPS Ford tonight. The fourth place finish was his first top 5 finish in 2 1/2 years. I think he's putting together a very good season and a win isn't too far away.

Carl Edwards: he leaves Richmond still in the points lead as a result of his top 5 finish.

Honorable Mention: the rest of the lead lap finishers.

THE BAD

JJ Yeley: he was the first start and parker, running 38 laps and declaring himself done for the day.

THE UGLY

Juan Pablo Montoya/Ryan Newman: they met up on more than one occasion. Newman got loose and got into him the first time, and Montoya got payback.

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

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly -- 2010 Air Guard 400

This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew is in the mid-South for this week's The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, complete with crab cakes from neighboring Maryland and washed down with copious amounts of Coke Zero. Enjoy!

THE GOOD

Denny Hamlin/Joe Gibbs Racing: as the race winner, the Hamster gets first billing. He led the most laps en route to the win. As good as the Hamster is at Pocono, he's even better at Richmond. He's already led over 1,000 laps at RIR. With the win, he clinches the first seed in the Chase. Not to be outdone, Kyle Busch started 32nd and finished second. Busch gave it all he had in the closing laps but didn't have enough for Hamlin. And what about Joey Logano finishing a very solid fourth? Logano, in fact, had the best car and might have won had a late caution came out. For one organization to finish 1-2-4 is OUTSTANDING.

Jimmie Johnson: it's been awhile since he's been in this category. He was at the point for awhile and had a stout car on short runs, but faded a bit on long runs. A much-needed third place finish was what the 48 needed going into the Chase.

Marcos Ambrose: gotta give props to him. He started 13th and started moving towards the front in the second half of the race to a fifth place finish.

Clint Bowyer: with a solid sixth place finish, he was able to clinch the final Chase spot. He got five bonus points for leading a lap, which was HUGE.

Kevin Harvick: he started somewhere around downtown Richmond. (Actually, he started 20th, not conducive to a potential race winner.) He dropped back to 26th at one point before he slowly started working his way towards the front, moving up to sixth at one point. While he had a solid car, nobody was going to beat the Gibbs cars tonight.

Carl Edwards: he started from the pole and led the most laps in a race in two years. He was stout at the beginning, but he began to fade in the second half of the race, eventually finishing tenth.

Honorable Mention: Juan Pablo Montoya, AJ Allmendinger, and Ryan Newman.

THE BAD

Dale Earnhardt Jr: I normally put the first start and parker in this spot, but I'm making an exception tonight. He started towards the front and quickly went backwards. And kept going backwards. And kept going backwards. You get my point. I think it was when he realized he had a bad car, he got discouraged and his driving showed it. Normally, when a driver has a bad car, he usually finishes a couple of laps down. He finished SIX LAPS DOWN. It's partly due to Hamlin having a stout car and very few cautions (three, to be exact) coming out.

Greg Biffle: he was like Dale Jr--once the green flag dropped, he went backwards. He finished five laps down, not what you want going into the Chase.

THE UGLY

ABC's coverage: enough said. And we have TEN more races of this?

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

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly -- Heath Calhoun 400

This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew presents this week's The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, BBQ-style, complete with all the fixin's that only Saturday night racing can deliver. Enjoy!

THE GOOD

Kyle Busch: as the race winner, he gets first billing. He had the dominant car for the first half of the race; at one point, only nine cars were on the lead lap. He led the entire first half of the race, but had to scramble late in the race and beat Jeff Gordon on the final restart. He led a total of 226 laps. Good job Kyle!

Jeff Gordon: he had a stout car in the second half of the race but was snakebit yet again. He was the victim of a great Kyle Busch restart. He'll get that win soon--I'm predicting at Sonoma.

Kevin Harvick: he started sixth and quickly moved his way forwards. He was in the top 5 for much of the race, and overcame a bad pit stop. He led a couple of laps during green flag pit stops. With his third place finish, and Jimmie Johnson's 10th place finish, Harvick takes over the points lead by 10 points over Johnson.

Jeff Burton: not to be outdone, Harvick's RCR teammate got stronger as the race went on. The #31 crew was on top of the changing track conditions, and made the correct adjustments. He led a few laps, which was popular among the fans.

Carl Edwards: I think this is the first time I've put Cousin Carl in this category this year. He started way back in the pack (28th) and slowly worked his way towards the front. He led his first laps OF THE SEASON. Hopefully for Edwards and the #99 crew, this race will turn around their season.

Honorable Mention: Juan Pablo Montoya, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Newman, Marcos Ambrose, and Jimmie Johnson.

THE BAD

Tony Raines: normally, I would put the last place driver (READ: start and parker) in this position, but Joe Nemechek's day ended due to an accident before he started and parked. Raines was officially the first start and parker.

Scott Speed: he went backwards from the drop of the green flag. If not for the wave around, he'd have finished double digit laps down.

Tony Stewart: he was another beneficiary of the wave around rule. His finishing position isn't an indicator of how bad he really was tonight. It was a very un-Smoke like performance. He missed big-time on the setup and had his hands full. A sub-Good FOR finishing on the lead lap.

THE UGLY

Dale Earnhardt Jr: he cut a tire under green and had to pit, going several laps down in the process. Then he had a speeding penalty on pit road. All in all, a bad day for Jr. He drops five positions in the standings, to 13th, out of Chase contention for now.

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

Gas and Go--Richmond (Spring Race 2010)

This week's Gas and Go comes from the racing capital of Virginia, Richmond. As usual, I will offer short insights and takes leading up to the race, and pick my winner.

1. Fresh off breaking his 115-race winless streak, Kevin Harvick is looking to make it two in a row. Richmond is also the track where he started his only two-race win streak of his Cup career, in 2006. He would win the summer race at Richmond, then start the Chase by winning at Loudon, NH. Could he make it two in a row? Only time will tell.
2. Richmond is the kind of track that RCR could dominate at. All three RCR drivers have won at RIR: Harvick, Clint Bowyer (spring 2008), and Jeff Burton (he won in 1998 when driving for Jack Roush).
3. Not to be outdone, Denny Hamlin would like to turn his hometown track into his own playground and win in dominating fashion. He's certainly capable. Nothing like home cooking. He's won twice this year and in my opinion he's looking at it this way: another win and he's tied with Jimmie Johnson for the Chase lead.
4. Winning at Talladega will make it easier on Harvick for three reasons: 1) attracting sponsors; 2) re-signing with RCR as a result of getting new sponsorship; 3) getting that 800-lb gorilla off his back and not having to answer questions about the winless streak. Speaking of sponsors, Reese's will be sponsoring the #29 car this weekend. Reese's has been with Harvick since his rookie season in 2001.
5. The track was first built in 1946. At first it was a 1/2 mile dirt track, hosting its first NASCAR Grand National event on April 19, 1953. Since then, the track has undergone four additional configurations, the most recent being the 3/4 mile configuration after the spring 1988 race.
6. Lee Petty was the first winner at RIR. Denny Hamlin is the most recent winner, winning last season's Chevy Rock & Roll 400.
7. Jimmie Johnson, the active leader with three wins, has quite a ways to go to catch Richard Petty's all-time record of 11 wins at Richmond. Petty won under three different configurations of the track.
8. Johnson was the last driver to win from the pole, in the summer 2007 race.
9. Back to the burning question: who will win at Richmond? Look for the usual suspects to run strong: Hamlin, Harvick, Johnson, Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer, and Kyle Busch. Any one of these guys could win the race.

Predicted Race Winner: Kevin Harvick. He makes it two wins in a row, narrowly edging Denny Hamlin. (I predicted once he gets that first win, he'll reel off several afterwards.) The rest of the top 5: 3) Burton; 4) Bowyer; 5) Gordon.

Darkhorse top 10 finisher: there won't be an unlikely top 10 finisher--Richmond isn't conducive to an unlikely top 10 finisher. There aren't the variables at Richmond that there are at Talladega. Put another way, all the top 10 will be occupied by those in the top 20 in points.

Your insights are always welcome.

Information courtesy of www.rir.com.