The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly--Carfax 400

This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew brings you this week's version of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from the Irish Hills of Michigan. Served with wall-eyed pike and brats. Enjoy!

THE GOOD

Brian Vickers: as the race winner, he automatically gets first billing. He had a stout car and was in the top 5 for much of the race. He was able to squeeze every last drop of gas out of his car to get to Victory Lane. He moves to within 12 points of Mark Martin for the final spot in the Chase. Good job Brian!

Jeff Gordon: like Vickers, he was able to squeeze every last drop of gas. He was in the top 10 for much of the day. He was strong throughout the race. He solidified his spot in the Chase field.

Dale Earnhardt Jr: he was the beneficiary of brilliant pit strategy by Lance McGrew, his crew chief. Jr came in on the final caution for four tires and fuel, and he was good to go the distance while many other drivers were saving fuel. He went balls to the wall en route to a third-place finish.

Carl Edwards: while he wasn't in danger of missing the Chase, his hold was tenuous before the race. A fourth place finish greatly solidified his position. He started 32nd and worked his way up the field en route to that fourth place finish.

Sam Hornish Jr: he was the highest finishing Penske driver, finishing in fifth. Although he never led, he moved up nine positions from his 14th starting position. I think he's finally starting to show what he's capable of. That first win won't be that far away.

Casey Mears: he started near the back of the field (42nd) and worked his way up to a solid sixth place finish.

Honorable Mention: Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer, David Reutimann, Denny Hamlin.

THE BAD

David Ragan: he couldn't stay out of his own way--causing or being a part of two accidents, one of which knocked out a Chase contender, Kurt Busch. What made it worse was that he was running in the top 5 before the first accident. He looked like he was a sure lock for the Good category. And I would have put him there had he finished in the top 5.

Weather: the forecast called for 0% chance of rain. Well, it rained. Several times. Fortunately, they were brief showers and racing was resumed quickly thereafter.

THE UGLY

The first half of the race: it was a Hendrick Motorsports snoozefest. It wasn't until fuel strategy became a factor it got a lot more interesting. I ended up doing various things around the house in the first half.

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