The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly -- 2011 Toyota Save Mart 350

This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew is in Wine Country for NASCAR's lone visit to NoCal. This week's The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is served up with dungeness crab, clam chowder in bread bowls, and washed down with the wine country's finest wine. Enjoy!

THE GOOD

Kurt Busch: the Double Deuce has gotten better and better since his on-race rant a couple of months ago. He's looking like the Busch of 2004, when he won his only Cup championship while driving for Jack Roush. Kristen, I know you must be a happy camper--I can picture your smile from here in Victory Lane! Wish I were there to experience it, but I plan on being there next year. For Busch, this is his first win of the season, and his first Cup win on a road course. It is kind of unusual for him to get his first win of the season this late in the season. He is definitely gaining momentum as the Chase nears. The car was stout all day long, and he dominated the race. He could pick any groove and the car would run perfectly. He easily led the most laps, with 75. A shout out also goes to Steve Addington, his crew chief, and the crew members of the Double Deuce!! GOOD JOB GUYS!!

Jeff Gordon: the Vallejo native had a junk car to start with, but through a combination of pit strategy, good pit calls by Alan Gustafson, and good pit stops, the #24 car got better as the race went on. He had something for the elder Busch brother, but it was too little, too late, as he was gaining a second a lap on him.

Carl Edwards: if there's one thing I learned about him, it's that he's a vastly UNDERRATED road racer. While he's not won a road course race at the Cup level, he's won at the Nationwide level, so he knows how to get it done. The 99 team struggled all weekend to get speed and grip. He started mid-pack (23rd, to be exact) and quickly worked his way to the front. While he didn't lead a lap, he still keeps the points lead going into Daytona. Very solid third place run today.

Clint Bowyer: he has struggled on road courses in the past, but he's getting better. Today and throughout the weekend, he was strong. He had a good qualifying run (he started 9th) and was in the top 10 for pretty much the whole race. Could this be the race that the 33 team turns its season around on? It remains to be seen, but today is a good start.

Marcos Ambrose: he'd run strong, then get shuffled back, then run strong again. To finish in the top 5 is a testament to the stout car (and driver) he had today. He was patient, didn't panic, and took what the car gave him. He didn't try to overdrive the car, and the result was a top 5 finish, even though he didn't lead a lap.

Kevin Harvick: Mr. Where Did He Come From? strikes again. He started somewhere around San Rafael (actually, 26th, but it seemed like he started from there). He was hanging around mid-pack throughout the race until very late. With Happy's pit strategy, he was banking on a late caution, which happened when Brian Vickers exacted payback on Tony Stewart after an earlier incident between the two drivers. Harvick pitted, took four fresh tires and fuel, and was the first one out with those four fresh tires. He started 13th, and finished 9th after that run to the checkered flag. Great job by the 29 crew for turning a marginal top 20 car into a top 10 car. Harvick finished 9th and led six laps in the process. (This was prior to the final caution.)

Joey Logano: good job by the kid in getting his first career pole, and when you run JPM off the course, you earn your spot here. I'll say this: he's got spunk, and when he stood up to Harvick last year, he gained a lot of respect in my book, and I'm a Harvick fan.

Honorable Mention: Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex, Jr., Brad Keselowski, and David Gilliland.

THE BAD

P.J. Jones: he was the first start and parker. He drew the short stick today at the start and parkers' meeting, held in the Todd Bodine Meeting Room. Jones ran a grand total of FIVE LAPS (at least he beat his two-lap effort of a couple of years ago) before declaring himself done for the day and hotfooting it out of town with his prize money.

Casey Mears: it's pretty bad when your only mention is for running out of gas and stalling at the entrance to pit road, and you bring out the first caution. I think he thought he might lead a lap by being the last driver to pit during a round of green flag pit stops. I don't think the Geico gecko likes THAT kind of publicity. Casey Mears' Great Adventure ended up putting him two laps down, and he never recovered. He actually had a pretty good car, and had he pitted one lap earlier, would have been in contention for a good finish. A bad also goes out to his crew chief, whose name escapes me at the moment. He would finish 34th, with those two laps down. (Thirty-three cars finished on the lead lap.)

TNT'S coverage: while it was better than last week, I never got the explanation or the replay of Dale Earnhardt Jr's mishap that ended up with a hole in the side of the engine of the 88 car. I'd have liked to know HOW that happened!!

THE UGLY

Juan Pablo Montoya: he was this year's Jeff Gordon, in the sense that he had several drivers mad at him during the race, most notably David Gilliland and Kasey Kahne. JPM punted Kahne for NO reason other than being impatient. Late in the race, HE got spun out and dropped from a sure top 10 to end up finishing 22nd.

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

Sonoma Weekend

It's been a few days now since the race at Sonoma. You saw and/or heard the usual post-race posturing. Jeff Gordon mad at half the field. Martin Truex Jr. vowing retaliation against Gordon. Jimmie Johnson winning (again). Looking back, it was an awesome weekend.

Saturday: I picked up my rental car at FYI late in the morning (NO, not for your information; it's the code for the Fresno-Yosemite International Airport), a white Toyota Camry that was faster than the Joe Gibbs Toyotas they fielded at Sonoma. (Hell, I could have qualified in the 20's at Sonoma; the car was THAT fast and powerful.) I stopped outside of Fresno to get a bite to eat prior to setting off for the Ramada Inn in Vallejo. I left around noon, arriving in Vallejo approximately three hours later. The car was equipped with XM Radio (unfortunately, I couldn't get the NASCAR channel). I was about 10 minutes away from the hotel when Kristen called. I called her upon settling into my room and hung out with her, RA6AN, and Tez for a bit before we walked to Applebee's to catch the last part of the Nationwide Series race from Road America. Very interesting course. After the race, we momentarily parted ways to get ready for dinner at La Strada Nostra in American Canyon.

Sunday: I had initially planned to leave at 6:30 AM, but changed my mind and left at 6 AM. Good thing I did because traffic started backing up shortly after I arrived at the track. To give you an idea of early morning at Infineon, here are a couple of shots.

A couple of random shots around pit road:

Notice that on the right, each member of Clint Bowyer's crew has a helmet with the Hamburger Helper hand holding a different tool. The tool corresponds to each member; the jackman has a hand holding a jack, the gas man has the hand holding a gas can, etc. It's the same way with the crew's firesuits.

My long-time friend Leon and I reuniting:

Leon, good to see you again my friend!!

The best parts of the race: the National Anthem/Flyover and Kasey Kahne taking the green flag to start the event.

The first half of the race looked like it was going to be a snoozefest, as Jimmie Johnson led the entire first half of the race. I thought to myself, IS HE GOING TO LEAD THIS ENTIRE RACE, BECAUSE IF HE IS, I'M OUTTA HERE. Thankfully, he didn't, as Marcos Ambrose took control of the second half of the race. Even Mattias Eckstrom led 8 laps! (I believe he was the first debut driver to lead laps since Matt Kenseth in 1998.) Smoke led a couple of laps during green flag pit stops.

Then it got VERY interesting. On the restart on Lap 67, Boris Said was slow on the restart, backing up a BUNCH of drivers, eventually leading to a huge crash. There were tires screeching, brakes locking up, and cars slamming into each other like bumper cars. (Thanks a lot, Boris!) Here's how the carnage looked in part:

The huge wreck ruined what was looking to be a huge points day for Martin Truex, Jr., as he was in the top 10 for much of the race and was stout. At right, Truex looks dejectedly at the damage his car sustained. If you could have seen him up close, he was like, UN-FREAKING-BELIEVABLE. He was an innocent victim, in the wrong place at the wrong time.

After a 20 minute red flag period, the race resumed with Marcos Ambrose in the lead. Ambrose was THIS close to snagging his first Cup win except for his idiot crew chief telling him to kill the ignition when Ambrose didn't have to; he had enough fuel to go the distance.

Here's the fateful shot of JJ about to take the checkered flag:

I was very upset initially, then when I saw the replay of Ambrose stalling later in the evening, I calmed down and realized that NASCAR did the right thing in handing Ambrose his penalty. That was a gift-wrapped win for Johnson. With Kevin Harvick's third place finish, it was a HUGE points day for Happy, as he leads Johnson by 110 points.

Then we waited awhile for Kristen to emerge from the #2's post-race inspection. She emerged and we chatted about the race, Kurt Busch and his near run-in with an obnoxious fan, Busch's post-race meltdown, etc. We met a couple from Kansas that made the trek to Infineon. Then later we posed for a group pic:

As Tez and I were waiting for the shuttle to take us back to my car, I espied the Infineon Girls coming my way. (Do I still have the touch or what?) Here's two of my favorite pics:

Tez and I finally arrived at the car around 5:00 PM, roughly 2 1/2 hours AFTER the race ended. Because of the enormous amount of traffic, we didn't return to the hotel until 6:45 PM. I called a friend of mine prior to meeting Tez for dinner at Applebee's. I have to give a shout-out to Brett, one of the servers that took care of us both Saturday and Sunday. Great job Brett! Good luck and God speed in your new position! Another shout out goes to Kate (Ekaterina), who wryfully said, "See you next year." She's cool. The weekend ended on Monday with me giving Tez a ride to SFO to catch his flight and returning to Fresno at 5:45 PM. I arrived home approximately 7 PM. Let's plan this next year!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly -- 2010 Toyota/Save Mart 350

This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew is IN Sonoma, bolstered by a visit from the blogger jon_464 and various friends, to bring you this week's version of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, served up on a silver platter with Dungeness crab, and washed down with plenty of NoCal's finest wines. Enjoy!

THE GOOD

Jimmie Johnson: after much debate between this blogger and friends, this blogger wasn't even going to put JJ in this category. But after seeing the highlights, this blogger relented. He led the most laps, most of which came early on. He was the beneficiary of Marcos Ambrose's stall on a late caution, giving credence to Kevin Harvick's theory that JJ has a golden horseshoe stuck up his @$$. He should also be put in The Lucky category, as he was the beneficiary of several late cautions.

Robby Gordon: this was the smartest race he ran in a LONG time. Like Johnson, he was the beneficiary of late cautions, as this extended his fuel mileage. He kept the #7's nose clean and was rewarded with a runner up finish. This was ENORMOUS for the team, as he is safely in the top 35 now.

Kevin Harvick: he was strong all weekend, and was consistently in the top 5 for much of the race. Although he didn't lead a lap, he stayed out of trouble and even escaped two big skirmishes. It was a HUGE points day for Happy, as he is now over 100 markers ahead of Johnson.

Mattias Eckstrom: the Swede made his Cup debut and was stout. If not for Jeff Gordon going idiot and punting him, Eck would have certainly had a top 10, maybe a top 5. Perhaps Red Bull should put him in the 82 next year, replacing Scott Speed.

Marcos Ambrose: for the second half of the race it looked like the affable Aussie was about to get his first Cup win, as he had the best car at that point. But due to a bonehead decision by his crew chief to cut the ignition to save gas, Ambrose stalled the car and by the time he got it refired, several drivers had passed him under caution. Good rally by Ambrose to finish sixth.

Honorable Mention: Jeff Gordon, Jan Magnussen, Greg Biffle, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Tony Stewart, Boris Said, Juan Pablo Montoya.

THE BAD

Frank Kerr: he's the genius crew chief that told Ambrose to shut off the ignition. BAD decision Kerr; you cost your driver the race.

Joe Gibbs Racing: between Joey Logano (33rd), Denny Hamlin (34th), and Kyle Busch (38th), I think it's a weekend they don't want to hit "rewind" any time soon. It's even worse when the Kid finishes the best of the three! I think they want to hit the Fast Forward button at the start of the race and hold it until it's over. At least Hamlin didn't have to worry about overheating issues.

THE UGLY

Joe Gibbs Racing: see above.

Jeff Gordon: he was seemingly involved in EVERY dustup; actually, he was involved in three cautions, including punting Eckstrom for no apparent reason when the Swede was in the top 10 at the time. Jeff, you know better than that, especially coming from NASCAR's elder statesman. You looked like an impatient rookie in his first Infineon start at times.

Those are my nominees for the race. Tez and I are at the hotel bouncing ideas off each other as I write this.

My Sonoma Weekend

This past weekend was one of the most awesome, memorable weekends I have had in a long time. I'll give you a brief synopsis of my weekend.

SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 2009

9:00 AM: left the house to pick up my rental car at the Fresno Airport. Made a detour en route.

10:45 AM: picked up rental car at the airport.

11:00 AM: left Fresno en route to Vallejo.

2:15 PM: arrived in Vallejo, ate lunch prior to checking in to The Ramada Inn.

2:45 PM: checked in, unpacked, and relaxed prior to dinner.

6:00 PM: arrived at La Strada Nostra, an Italian restaurant on Hwy. 29 in the south part of Napa, to meet my fellow Fox Sports Bloggers (above image) for dinner. A fantastic time was had by all that were present, including a blogger from Yahoo Sports (not pictured) that was in our dinner party. The food was fantastic, the drinks flowed freely, and the company was even better. We hung out at the restaurant until 8:45 PM. A few of us then hung out at the lobby of the Gaia Hotel just south of the restaurant until 10 PM.

11:30 PM: lights out.

SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2009

5:30 AM: awoke and got ready for a VERY long day at Infineon. Made arrangements with YeeMum to pick her up at 7:00 AM.

7:00 AM: YeeMum and I left for the track, arriving at 7:45 AM. We had hit some traffic about a mile east of the track, and there was a slight delay in parking. We waited about 10 minutes for a shuttle to pick us up and transport us to the track.

8:15 AM-12:00 Noon: several of us hung out with Kristen at Kurt Busch's pit to start out. It was interesting listening to Larry, one of Kurt's crew members, explain the process of constructing and deconstructing the pit area before and after a race. I also hung out at Kevin Harvick's and Kasey Kahne's pit areas. (I must have brought Kasey some luck, as he ended up winning the race, LOL.) Jeff, Kasey's catch can man, and I had a good, but brief conversation. I ended up taking a picture with two of Kevin Harvick's crew members (below).

These guys are cool! One of them complimented my Harvick crocs that I was wearing! I couldn't resist having my picture taken with these guys. The picture was taken around 9:30 AM (approximately). I had bought a Pit Pass earlier; that's why I was down in the pit area hanging out and taking pictures of various crew members, some of the cars that were racing that day, some pit signs, and other unusual objects. I even had a few pics taken of me sitting in front of Harvick's pit.

Some unusual pics:

Lugnuts from Jeff Burton's pit (left); Kevin Harvick's pit sign (right). Could the missing Maltese Lugnut be in Burton's pit? Nah, Burton's not running well enough, LOL.

12 Noon: I decided to take my seat. I was sitting where I had a clear view of Jimmie Johnson's pit, as seen below. Chandi (Jimmie's wife) was not there at the time of the picture, but was there during the race.

2:20 PM: Green flag waves, Brian Vickers takes the green flag. He led the first few laps of the event. He was strong at the beginning but faded down the stretch.

The race was scheduled for 110 laps, but a caution with two laps to go extended the race another three laps. Had the caution come on the final lap, the race would have ended under caution. Green-White-Checkered finishes are always exciting, and especially on road courses. Everyone knew that this was the last restart of the race. Kasey Kahne was in front of Tony Stewart at that point.

5:05 PM (approx.): Kasey Kahne takes the checkered flag roughly a second and a half ahead

of Tony Stewart. Here are a couple of pics to mark the occasion:

The picture on the left is Kahne taking the checkered flag with Stewart giving chase. The picture on the right is Kahne's right arm extended as he emerges from the #9 car.

7:15 PM: after a nearly two-hour wait, YeeMum and I finally board a shuttle to take us to the parking lot. We're both exhausted, but she's a happy camper because her driver (Kasey Kahne) won the race and she was able to see him win in person. Once we got to the car, it took us an hour and a half to finally hit open traffic just west of Napa.

9:00 PM: we stop to get a burger and fries in downtown Napa. After not having eaten all afternoon, a burger and fries was a welcome sight (and taste).

10:00 PM: I drop off YeeMum at her motel. I thank her for a great time together and that I am glad that she was able to make it to Sonoma.

11:30 PM: Lights out.

MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2009

6:30 AM: awoke and decided to take my time showering, getting ready, packing for the trip home, etc.

9:00 AM: left Vallejo after a light breakfast and filling the car up with gas. Took my time getting into Fresno. Surprisingly, there was very little, if any, congested traffic.

12 Noon: pulled into Fresno.

12:45 PM: returned rental car without problem.

2:00 PM: arrived home.

That was my Sonoma weekend. I had a fantastic time, and my life is richer for not only the experience, but for the new friends that I made. Thank you all, and I'll see you down the road. Let's make this an annual event!

Gas and Go--Sonoma

This week's version of Gas and Go takes us to the California Wine Country; more specifically, Sonoma in the Napa Valley of Northern California. For us NoCals, it's the only time NASCAR comes to our neck of the woods. Here are a few observations about Sonoma and the track.

1. Infineon Raceway opened in 1968 under the name Sears Point Raceway on 720 acres of a former dairy farm. The Raceway hosted its first race, an SCCA Enduro, on December 1, 1968.
2. Infineon Raceway hosts 340 days of racing activity each year, making it one of the busiest tracks in the nation. It is also one of the premier racing venues in the nation.
3. The road course features more than 160 feet of elevation change: Turn 3a is 174 feet and Turn 10 is just 14 feet. So not only does a driver have to make both left and right turns, he also has to deal with the vast elevation changes, further testing his mettle.
4. Drivers will make 1,100 turns on the course should they complete all 110 laps.
5. The Toyota/Save Mart 350 is one of the few races measured in kilometers. The race spans 110 laps, or 218.9 miles or 352.21 kilometers.
6. Ricky Rudd won the inaugural Winston Cup race at Sears Point in 1988. He would win his second Sonoma race 14 years later, in 2002. It would end up being his last career win.
7. The late Dale Earnhardt won his only road course race at Sonoma, in 1995.
8. Vallejo's own Jeff Gordon holds the career record for wins at Sonoma: five, including three in a row from 1998-2000. He also won in 2004 and 2006. Home cooking has served him well there. In addition to his five wins, he has also started from the pole five times (1998, 1999, 2001, 2004, and 2005). Could a sixth win be awaiting him in front of his home fans? (Infineon is Gordon's home track)
9. Juan Pablo Montoya won his first Cup race at Sonoma in 2007. He started 32nd, the farthest back that a winner has started. Typically, a prospective winner would want to start within the top 10.
10. Look for the usual suspects to run well: Gordon, Mark Martin, Montoya, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch (the defending race champion). My dark horse: Jamie McMurray. He always seems to run well at Sonoma, and is frequently the best running Roush driver there.

Predicted Race Winner: Juan Pablo Montoya.

Your comments and takes are always welcome!