The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly -- Kobalt Tools 500

This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew is in the heart of the South, the ATL, for this week's edition of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, complete with all the fixin's. Enjoy!

THE GOOD

Kurt Busch: as the race winner, he gets first billing. He led 130 laps and benefited from a bottleneck on the last restart when Juan Pablo Montoya spun his tires. With the win, Busch moves up to tenth in the points standings, and reestablishes himself as a title contender. Good job guys!

Matt Kenseth: he hung around the top ten for most of the race, then when it was go time, he went. Although he never led a lap, he was pretty consistent. Kudos go out to the #17 crew for consistently good stops.

Juan Pablo Montoya: this was a MUCH needed strong run by JPM. He led three laps, got the five bonus points, and was consistently in the top 5 throughout the race. The real test is in two weeks at the bullring known as Bristol.

Kasey Kahne: he led the most laps (143), but was snakebit by that bottleneck on the final restart. Another driver that needed a strong run and got it. The ATL was the tonic this team needed.

Paul Menard: I'm usually putting this guy in the Bad or Ugly category, but not today. He had a VERY strong run, even leading a couple of laps. He belongs in the Good category today.

AJ Allmendinger: the Dinger started out slowly, but got better as the race went on. He escaped a mini-Big One late in the race.

Richard Petty Motorsports: a GREAT day for The King, with drivers finishing 4th through 6th. Even Elliott Sadler had a top 20 run, finishing 19th.

Kevin Harvick: his car was a piece of crap to start with. He started 36th and was stuck in the lower half of the standings, even falling a lap down at one point. Late in the race, he got a wave around, then got a quick caution that he sorely needed. The 29 crew showed their mettle in sticking with the car, and it got better as the race went on. It also helped that many other drivers had tire issues, and Harvick didn't. To battle back to a ninth place finish is nothing short of amazing. Harvick keeps his points lead going into Bristol, with Kenseth in second place. Could this be the year that Happy dethrones JJ as champion?

Honorable Mention: Brian Vickers, Greg Biffle, and Scott Speed.

THE BAD

Carl Edwards: what was that, racing and eventually dumping, Brad Keselowski? You were OVER 100 laps down. Yes, Kes made contact with you early in the race, but you should have remembered from Talladega last year he doesn't back down. NASCAR was right in parking your ass for dumping Kes, costing him a top 10 finish. I'd say a one-race suspension is appropriate.

Michael McDowell: he was the first start and parker. Thanks for playing.

THE UGLY

Carl Edwards: see above.

Tires: there were MANY drivers that had tire issues. Even Jimmie Johnson was having issues. The issues affected Hendrick and Gibbs drivers the most.

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

Gas and Go--Atlanta (Spring Race 2010)

This week's Gas and Go offers up short insights and takes leading into the Kobalt Tools 400 this Sunday.

1. Bring your heavy jackets. Temps for the weekend will be in the upper 50's during the day and upper 20's at night. Track temperature will be a factor, as it will warm up rapidly from subfreezing temperatures the night before the race. The pit crews that adjust to rapidly rising track temperatures and adjust the cars accordingly will have those cars in the front.
2. The cars that have good handling will move to the front quickly. AMS is the fastest 1.5 mile track on the circuit, and good handling is at a premium.
3. Look for the usual suspects to run up front: Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Mark Martin, Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle, and Carl Edwards.
4. Thinking of you: Bill Elliott aka Awesome Bill from Dawsonville. (Too bad the Wood Brothers are running a part-time schedule; Elliott would still be competitive with major sponsorship for a full season, IMO.)
5. The teams that are struggling now need to make a strong run here to kick-start their Chase chances. I look for Kurt Busch to make a strong run to move himself closer to the top 12. Dale Earnhardt Jr NEEDS a strong top 10 finish to put himself closer to the top 12, if not break into the top 12. Consequently, those teams that have a bad run that are outside the top 12 at the start of the race will have a much steeper climb the rest of the season.
6. Juan Pablo Montoya is languishing in 26th place in the standings. He's been the victim of bad racing luck this season. A good run will be the tonic the #42 team needs to kick start his season. Consequently, a bad run will put him closer to 35th going into Bristol.
7. Now begins the scramble to stay within the top 35 in points, because after Bristol next week, those that are outside the top 35 are not automatic entries.

Predicted race winner: Jimmie Johnson. The #48 team is hitting on all cylinders and rips the heart out of Kevin Harvick by passing Happy on the final turn to win. The rest of the top 5: 2) Harvick; 3) Kurt Busch; 4) Jeff Gordon; 5) Matt Kenseth.

Darkhorse top 10 finisher: Scott Speed. He has shown vast improvement and will finally crack the top 10. (And thus live up to his last name.)

Weather information courtesy of www.weather.com.