The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly -- 2011 Pure Michigan 400

This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew is in the Irish Hills of Michigan after a one-week hiatus for this week's The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, served with Michigan-style corn dogs and hot dogs, cheese fries, and washed down with NOS energy drink. Enjoy!

THE GOOD

Kyle Busch: he gets this spot as this week's race winner. Even though he didn't lead the most laps, he had the best car in the race. He was able to turn in the corners better than any other driver, and he had enough to survive a GWC finish. With the win, he would take the lead in the points in the Chase, breaking a tie with Kevin Harvick. This team has momentum, and could be the front runner to dethrone Jimmie Johnson at season's end. Good job Kyle!

Jimmie Johnson: he ALMOST got that first career win at MIS. He greatly benefitted from a caution right after he had pitted, giving him the lead for the first time in the race. That was how he was able to gain all that track position. Could this be the turning point in the season for the 48 team? He seemed to get some of that racing luck back.

Brad Keselowski: Bad Brad should be renamed Gritty Gutty Brad. He raced without a brace, gritted through the pain, and finished third with a very strong run, pleasing the home crowd. It helped that he qualified second. He further solidifies his hold on the first wild card in the Chase. (He may just finish in the top 10 after all!)

Mark Martin: he showed why he's so formidable at Michigan. He took two tires to gain track position on a very early pit stop, and came out in the lead. He was able to hold the lead for a long time and when he lost the lead, he didn't drop off that much. Because of all that track position gained, he was able to come away with a top 5 finish.

Clint Bowyer: despite all the distractions of his contract status with RCR, and a bad starting position (p35), he has a solid top 10 run, finishing 8th, but is still 24 points behind Tony Stewart, who sits in 10th place in the standings. Bowyer was definitely the mover of the race, gaining 27 positions since the drop of the green flag.

Matt Kenseth: he was in the top 5 for a great majority of the race, but on the final restart, he got shuffled back to 11th. He was able to make up one position to finish 10th.

Greg Biffle: he looked like he had the car to beat for most of the race, as he led the most laps, but got shuffled back due to bad pit stops late and bad pit strategy. Although he sits in 13th in the standings, he has no wins, and in order to make the Chase, he needs two wins in the final three races before the Chase. Fortunately, all three tracks are favorable to him.

Honorable Mention: Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, and Tony Stewart.

THE BAD

JJ Yeley: he was the first start and parker. He drew the short stick at the start and parkers' meeting in the Todd Bodine Meeting Room. He ran a total of 11 laps before declaring himself done for the day and hotfooting it out of town with his earnings.

Kevin Harvick/Gil Martin: Harvick's crew chief was definitely not on his game. He should have borrowed some Wheaties Fuel from Clint Bowyer this morning. (I think Bowyer ate the whole box; that explains the huge improvement from starting position!) Harvick was running well and at the first pit stop, the crew made adjustments to the 29 car and whatever they did, they pissed the car off. At one point, the 51 car was running better than the 29! Even Andy Lally was leading laps!! On the final caution that brought out the GWC, they could have made it on fuel. They had the PERFECT opportunity to steal at least A DOZEN positions on the track, perhaps even steal a top 5 finish, but they pitted instead. They were losing positions in the pits every time they pitted! Harvick was horrible on restarts, going backwards (by MULTIPLE POSITIONS) each time, so I don't think it would have mattered a hill of beans. Richard Childress will be addressing this issue tomorrow morning. Sounds very ominous.

THE UGLY

Kevin Harvick: losing positions on pit road + bad restarts = NOT being a factor in the race = UGLY. I'm not picking on Harvick; I'm calling them like I see them, and he had a HORRIBLE race; hence being in the Ugly category.

Those are my nominees for the race. Feel free to comment, or to submit different nominees.