This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew is in Dover to bring you this week's The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, complete with crab cakes, Philly cheese steaks (GO FLYERS!) all the fixin's, and plenty of beverages of your choice to wash them down with. Enjoy!
THE GOOD
Kyle Busch: as the race winner, he gets first billing. He had a dominant car the second half of the race, and overcame radio issues early. He became the first driver to sweep Dover since September 1991, when Harry Gant did it at age 51. He now is second in the points, 69 points behind Kevin Harvick. Good job Kyle!
Jeff Burton: he led one lap during a round of green flag pit stops. The 31 car got better as the race went on. He ran a typical Burton race: quietly moving forward without much fanfare, but was there at the end. No shame in being runner up to Kyle Busch, especially today.
Roush Fenway Racing: I have to put this group here because three of their drivers all having strong races--Matt Kenseth (3rd); Greg Biffle (6th); and Carl Edwards (8th). This is the best they have run in quite some time. Could a victory be in the not too distant future?
Joe Gibbs Racing: in addition to Kyle Busch (winner), JGR's other two drivers (Denny Hamlin (4th) and Joey Logano (10th)) also had strong races. Hamlin matches his career-best finish at Dover, and Logano's top 10 was huge for that team, particularly with the problems besetting Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie McMurray.
David Reutimann: he was strong throughout the race, and for once he wasn't snakebit. He even led a lap during a round of green flag pit stops. He was in the top 10 for much of the race, eventually finishing 5th. Good top 5 run by the Aaron's Dream Team!
Kevin Harvick: the points leader was ALMOST lapped by Jimmie Johnson early in the race. A timely caution caused by Marcos Ambrose cutting a tire and hitting the wall kept Happy from going a lap down. Kudos to the crew for keeping up with the changing track conditions and not only making the right adjustments, but in consistently gaining ground on the stops. Dover is one of Harvick's worst tracks, and to come away with a top 10 is HUGE. If he has the points lead after Indianapolis, look for him to start racing for wins.
Tony Stewart: Smoke got better as the race went on. This was his best finish in quite awhile. He slowly climbed into the top 10, finishing 9th. Good job Smoke!
Honorable Mention: Jeff Gordon, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Newman.
THE BAD
Johnny Sauter: he drew the short stick at the Start and Parkers meeting and was the first to park.
Sam Hornish Jr: he was the cause of TWO cautions for spinning out. C'mon Spinning Sam, you can do better than that!
David Ragan: sorry Melissa, gotta call your driver out this time. As good as his Roush Fenway teammates were, he was about equally as bad. UPS isn't paying all that jack to see its car finish consistently near the back of the pack!
Dale Earnhardt Jr: your sponsors aren't paying all that bank to see you finish in the 30s due to mechanical problems or other issues. They want to see you in the top 15 at least.
THE UGLY
Marcos Ambrose: twice he cut tires to bring out cautions. On one of them I was thankful because Harvick was about to go a lap down. Here's hoping you find more consistency.
Those are my nominees for the race. Feel free to come in with yours.
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8 comments:
I had high hopes for Jamie Mac but then his axle broke!
I had picked him just outside the top 10.
Nice stuff, Jon.
It was good to see Kenseth running at the front on Sunday. Maybe RFR is turning it around. Ford needs a presence in NASCAR.... just not Carl. LOL
Jon...
I think I'd lay a little guilt, blame or whatever you want to call it, on the four-time in a row reigning champion of NASCAR. Jimmie Johnson had the car, knew the track, and had played with the competition all day long. He was in the perfect position to win and yet, due to no one's inability other than his own, he exceeded the pit lane speed limit and was penalized while neck and neck for the lead with Kyle Busch and 35 laps to go. That is not the mistake a champion normally makes.
Kevin continuing to hang the points lead deserves kudos after he finish well on a track he normally hasn't done well on.
Thanks Jon!
Yea, no "bad" to JJ for speeding and essentially losing a win? LOL
Sam had cut tires too, not much he could do - same bad for Kurt who worked his way up in the hunt but staying out caused him to cut down that tire. No good for Penske this week.
caught a bit of the race on the 4pm showing on TSN after I got home...apart from Jimmie getting pinged, sounds like it was a bit of a snoozer, lol
Gene, thanks. I'd have no problem seeing Kenseth running up towards the front. He's pretty cool. Biffle and Edwards are another issue.
Dwindy, JJ's mistake was ENTIRELY his fault. He should have accepted the fact he was going to line up behind Kyle and passed him on the track. As for Kevin, all he needs now is to finish as close to Kyle at Charlotte as he possibly can. Reason being that after Charlotte the series enters into tracks Harvick runs well at.
Kristen, my bad for not putting JJ in the Bad category. He was both good and bad. As for Sam, on one caution he did cut a tire; on the other he simply spun out. Seems many drivers had tire issues throughout the race.
Tez, you didn't miss much.
Add Labonte to the bad. First start-and-park race of the season, but probably not the last.
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