This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew is in Dover for this week's serving of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, served up with crab cakes and a seafood medley, and washed down with copious amounts of Coke. Enjoy!
THE GOOD
Matt Kenseth: he gets this week's top slot as the race winner. Kenseth was stout throughout the race, spending much of the time in the top 10. He led a total of 33 laps en route to his second win of the season, and 20th of his career. He took two right side tires on the final stop and they held up. The track position gamble paid off. An extra Good for Kenseth for posting the fastest lap of the entire race.
Mark Martin: while he didn't have a particularly strong car, it wasn't weak, either. He was in the mid-teens for much of the race. He stayed out to get track position on the final caution, as he had enough fuel to make it to the end. He was shown to be the leader on the final restart. Kenseth quickly caught his old mentor at Roush Racing and took the lead, but Martin was strong enough on old tires to hold off spirited challenges from Marcos Ambrose and Kyle Busch to finish second. He gambled and it paid off.
Marcos Ambrose: he's getting closer and closer to that first win, period. (Will it come on a road course, or an oval? And will he be the next member of the First Win Club?) While he didn't lead a lap, he was strong throughout the race, spending much of the time in the top 10. A very good run by Ambrose, and that should set the table for him to get better as the season rolls on.
Kyle Busch: he was a beneficiary of that final caution, as he was struggling up to that point. He gambled on track position and won by taking two right sides only. Plus he made up several spots on the track. Today was a day where you could gamble, like the top 5 did, or hope that four fresh tires would work. Today, the two tire stop worked.
Brian Vickers: this was his first top 5 finish of the season. Like the others, he gambled on track position (is this sounding like a broken record?) and won.
Jimmie Johnson: JJ led the most laps of the entire race, but was bit in the rear when he took four tires and the #48 did not respond to the tires on that final pit stop. (For the record, with the car running as well as it was, I'd have taken four tires myself and worked my way through the field.)
Carl Edwards: he, too, was bit in the rear by taking four tires. He and crew chief Bob Osborne were banking on the track getting slick and with the four fresh tires, he'd have more grip than those with two tires. But there was just enough cloud cover for that strategy to backfire.
Honorable Mention: Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex, Jr., and Kevin Harvick.
THE BAD
Michael McDowell: he was already out of the race by 10:45 AM Pacific time. You blinked and you missed him. He was the first start and parker that hotfooted it out of town with his prize winnings.
Tony Stewart: Smoke was uncharacteristically bad today. The 14 team totally missed on the setup and that made for a VERY long day. He usually does quite well at the Monster Mile. All race long he was fighting with a very loose car and no matter what kind of adjustments they made, it wouldn't tighten. Then on the final pit stop, he gets popped for going too fast entering pit road. Just one of those days that he'd like to toss back into the lake.
THE UGLY
Engine issues: Kasey Kahne was most notably affected, as he was running in the top 5 for much of the race and he had a stout car up to that point. Regan Smith had an electrical issue that caused all his telemetry to go dark. That put him behind the wall for a number of laps. He returned, but then his car suddenly and inexplicably lost power. Back behind the wall he went. AJ Allmendinger also had engine issues (he was running in the top 10 at the time).
Those are my nominees for the race. Feel free to come in with yours!
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7 comments:
jon,
All those crew chiefs that went with 4 tire changes on the last green flag pit stop need to be in the ugly category... Of course that means whoever made the call for two tires or no pit stop at all most certainly need to be in the good category...
I was surprised, given the slick concrete conditions with the rubber build up, there weren't a lot more mishaps. Those guys were constantly having to catch their cars as the wall loomed up after each turn. They really are some of the finest wheel men in the world! Maybe that's why there were so many engine problems...
Thanks jon!
Dwindy, good point you brought up re the crew chiefs that decided to go with four tires. Last week, four tires worked. (Regan Smith being the exception; he stayed out and won.) This week, it didn't. I'd have gone with four because there were still 30+ laps to go when the green flag flew. The track was rubbering up and you have more grip with four fresh tires. Just one of those times where it didn't work.
I'll give a good to Mother Nature for holding off enough to get the full race in, lol
Kyle actually took 4 tires on that last pit stop and restarted 13th. he passed 5 or 6 cars on the outside going through turns 1 and 2 when they got the green. His car was strong for a couple of laps on the restart then settled down.
I'll give a bad to the Furniture Row team. From the penthouse to the outhouse in 8 days. They had mechanical problems all race long.
Tez, amen to that! There was a caution for rain just before the halfway point, but it stopped as the lead lap cars came back onto the track.
Gene, my bad. I thought Kyle took two tires and worked his way through the field. I know he was picking them off one by one. He very nearly made four tires work.
I dunno why but my whole reaction to yesterday's race was "ho hum". Guess I am getting too used to the fireworks. NW race was unbelievable in comparison - in a bad way but at least it was exciting.
Good to Bowyer for coming back with a great run after his airborne trip on Sat. Bad to Kurt again for absolutely no clue on the setups...
Kristen, mine too. Seems that way every time Kenseth wins (except when he beat Kasey Kahne by inches in 2004 in Kahne's second Cup start). Kurt was on the lead lap for a far longer time than Smoke. Plus he didn't have the penalties that bogged down Smoke. There were a LOT of drivers that missed the setup.
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