This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew is at one of NASCAR's crown jewel tracks, Daytona, for the Dancing with the Stars version of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, minus the hosts of that show. You'll have to put up with me! Actually, it's Florida BBQ-style, washed down with (what else?) PLENTY of Coke Zero. Enjoy!
THE GOOD
David Ragan: he FINALLY gets to take home the trophy! And the first slot in the GBU for the first time in his career! Because it's his first win, I decided to put him ALONE in this spot. He had a stout car from the time it was unloaded all the way to the checkered flag. It's only fitting that a Coca-Cola driver (he replaced Kevin Harvick when Budweiser became Harvick's sponsor) gets into Victory Lane. Congratulations David, you earned this one! GREAT JOB!
Matt Kenseth: he also was stout, and decided that he was better pushing Ragan home. Wise move by a crafty veteran. He was at point for a number of laps.
Kevin Harvick/Paul Menard: they were stout together. They were by far the smoothest of the tandems; it seems that no matter which one was in front with the other pushing, they were smooth in their hookups. Both drivers led laps and it seemed like when Menard was pushing, they went to the front at will. They ran both lines equally well, but got bit by the last restart when they were shuffled back and could never regain their position. Because of Carl Edwards' poor finish (as a result of a wreck), Harvick gains the points lead going into Kentucky.
Joey Logano: no matter who he drafted with, whether it was Kyle Busch or someone else, he was able to get to the front. Although he didn't lead a lap, he put himself in position to win.
Kasey Kahne/Brian Vickers: the Red Bull duo ran at or near the front for much of the race, until Vickers was taken out in the Big One. No problem. Kahne and Logano hooked up and Logano very nearly stole the race.
Kyle Busch: see Joey Logano. The one difference, Kyle Busch led a lap.
Joe Nemechek/Travis Kvapil: gotta give a shoutout to ole Front Row Joe. Because of last-minute sponsorship, Nemechek was able to run the whole race. And he did well, even leading for a time. He got caught in a late race accident (The Big One) that caused him to lose a lap due to repairs.
Honorable Mention: Jeff Burton/Clint Bowyer , Landon Cassill/Casey Mears, and Kurt Busch/Regan Smith.
THE BAD
TNT's coverage: WTH are you guys doing going to commercial breaks when there's 10 laps to go?? Gotta give you guys a Bad for that.
THE UGLY
Brad Keselowski/Greg Biffle: Biffle first. He needs to take lessons in bump drafting from Kevin Harvick. His attempt at bump drafting sent his teammate Carl Edwards into a spin. The subsequent damage to the 99 car later caused Edwards to be sick in the car due to the fumes entering the car and not coming out of the exhaust pipes. Edwards is more sick after losing the points lead to Harvick. Now Keselowski. Line up behind Biffle for your lesson in bump drafting from Harvick. Instead of being on Trevor Bayne's right rear bumper, he went to Bayne's LEFT rear bumper. You know what happens next. Bayne gets turned into the wall, and his night ends much earlier than he expected. A sub-Good for Kes and Da Biff for finding each other and being competitive. They actually worked quite well together.
Those are my nominees for the race. Feel free to come in with yours!
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11 comments:
It was good to see Ragan finally bring in a well deserved win. Congrats to Ragan.
Accident waiting to happen ( Mark Martin). What is up with him? He has been in or caused more wrecks the last few weeks than any of the other lesser drivers.
Hi jon!
It was fate! Biffle had to wreck Edwards (something to do with a beagle) and Brad had to live up to his nickname (Bad) so the two could eventually hook-up...
This resurfaced superspeedway tandem racing remains a work in progress. The teams and drivers are getting better at it but it still needs a lot of work. Some of the drivers seem better suited to it than others (like Montoya who can't seem to keep his car steady as a pusher much to Jamie McMurray's chagrin).
Another "Bad" for ya... JJ's Chad Knaus earned it by calling the 48 into the pits late while not informing the 88's crew chief of his intentions thus breaking up that teammates tandem. Jr. Nation sure is letting JJ and Chad know about it! (Not a bad thing!) LOL
Thanks jon!
Photogr, I agree on both counts. Especially on Mark "I'm an accident waiting to happen" Martin. Love MM, but he should have owned up to that one.
Dwindy, you may well be right! I definitely think The Beagle had something to do with the Edwards wreck. Now can she work her magic on Denny Hamlin so he misses the Chase altogether? As for Knaus, WHAT WAS HE THINKING?? I don't BLAME Jr Nation for letting him have it on Twitter!! This was the type of race tailor-made for Jr to win, and Knaus goes and effs it all up!! The racing gods are very wroth at Knaus, and there'll be HELL to pay with them! May the 48 start the Chase MORE than one race behind and never catch up!! Definitely a BAD.
That Red Bull duo also caused Jeff Gordon's spin, which caused Kyle to brush the wall. Those two had to pit, and became separated from their respective drafting partners at the end of the race.
TNT aired the entire race with side-by-side commercials... except for local cable providers commercials. I can't give them a Bad for that.
I agree with Gene, this was the best TNT broadcast of the year. That one break late in the race was bad, but I actually stayed in front of the TV almost the whole race because they never went to full commercials.
Why do you want to voodoo Denny?????
Gene and JM, I only wish TNT had done this for the WHOLE time they've had the coverage, instead of this one race. While it was better this week, I still didn't like the way they cut to a local commercial late in the race.
SB, simple. I don't want him to make the Chase. Especially after all the crap he throws at RCR and its drivers when its JGR that cheats. He piled on RCR prior to last fall's Dover race, nearly prompting him and Harvick to throw blows in the garage after a practice session (the one where Harvick "responded" to Hamlin's accusations).(Remember the illegal oil pans they used before a recent race, Michigan, I think? JGR gets treated with kid gloves and RCR gets the WHOLE NASCAR encyclopedia thrown at them. JMO.)
hey hey, you can't slag off Denny for acting the same as Kevin does...pot meet kettle and all that, lol
There is a wide difference between "illegal" oilpans, and the ones that JGR had at MIS, which were "unapproved".
I will admit that it seems as though NASCAR does have Joe Gibbs up on a pedestal. They probably think that non-fans will recognize his name from the NFL, and they don't want him to ever look bad.
Ugh, my DVR didn't record the race so waiting til tomorrow to watch the replay...so cant really comment yet!
Just sayin hi!
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