The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly -- 2011 Showtime Southern 500

This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew goes old-school for this week's The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Southern-style, and you're seated on the newest furniture, courtesy of Furniture Row! Enjoy!

THE GOOD

Regan Smith: he gets this spot as the race winner. First it was Trevor Bayne getting his first Cup win at the sport's most prestigious race. Now it's Smith getting his at one of NASCAR's crown jewels, the Southern 500. Smith didn't take the lead until very late in the race when he stayed out after a late caution while the leaders pitted. Smith ran the fastest lap of the ENTIRE race on the white flag lap. All on old tires. That will get it done. GREAT JOB REGAN AND THE #78 CREW!!

Kasey Kahne: he led the most laps but was shuffled back a bit on the final restart. He recovered in time to a fourth place finish. He looked like he had the car to beat throughout the week: he won the pole, and was fast in a brief practice.

Carl Edwards: he was stout throughout the evening. He looked like he had the car to beat in the second half of the race, as he checked out on the field. But a caution with 10 laps to go bit him in the rear. He took two tires and it appeared it would pay off. Then another caution with three laps to go for Kyle Busch wrecking, er, making contact with RCR teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer appeared to favor Edwards. But he didn't count on Brad Keselowski (his old rival) giving Smith a great push to clear him. Congratulations to Carl and Kate on the birth of their first son, Michael!

Brad Keselowski: he'd been hanging out mid-pack until the latter half of the race. Then the Blue Deuce crew got the car better and better. He gave Smith that shove that catapulted him to the lead. The third place finish was by far his best finish of the season.

Ryan Newman: Rocketman was racing in the Tornados paint scheme. That usually means a very strong run and a spot in this section. I'll be sure to save Newman a spot in this section next time he runs in the Tornados paint scheme! He was stout, and led early. He fell back mid-race but rebounded to a strong top 10 finish.

Kevin Harvick: Happy led 47 laps, by far the most he's led at Darlington in his career, and it looked like he was a certain top 3 finisher until Kyle Busch got loose and made contact with Happy, who in turn took out Clint Bowyer. (Busch was trying to make it three-wide on the outside and he had no room. Not a smart decision.) He and Kyle Busch had some post-race fireworks of their own as they had a staredown with their cars. Then as Harvick got out of his car, Busch wrecked the 29, Harvick threw a punch at Busch but missed, and the crews nearly engaged in an all-out brawl in the garage area. You can bet there WILL be payback, as Busch would be wise to keep his head on a swivel. The reckless move by Busch cost Harvick a sure top 3 finish. (Harvick finished 17th.)

Honorable Mention: Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray, and Martin Truex, Jr.

THE BAD

Kurt Busch: normally I would put the first start and parker here, but he was REALLY bad tonight. It appeared they missed on the setup and the Double Deuce kept getting Darlington Stripes. Kurt finished six laps down.

Matt Kenseth: as good as his Roush Fenway teammates were, he was almost as bad. He and Marcos Ambrose made contact in lap 2; when Kenseth went to pit, he missed the committment cone, costing him a violation (he pitted after passing the committment cone on the outside). He was never a factor, finishing 25th, 4 laps down.

THE UGLY

Kyle Busch: he caused two wrecks in the closing laps of the race trying to improve his position: the one where he wrecked Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer, and where he wrecked Marcos Ambrose after that. In the first wreck, he had a run on the outside and tried to make it three wide, but got loose. I partly blame Harvick's spotter for not seeing Busch coming on the outside of Harvick and alerting his driver. Because Busch was driving so hard, he got loose, made contact with Harvick, who in turn made contact with Bowyer, putting his RCR teammate into the wall. Then shortly after the final restart, he flat out tried to wreck Ambrose for no apparent reason. He was fortunate Ambrose held his line. (Ambrose finished 13th.) Yes, I get that you're trying to get as many positions as possible, but you're trying to pass guys in areas of the track where it's simply NOT possible to pass.

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