The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly--Folds of Honor 500

Welcome back to this week's edition of GBU, Southern-style, served with chicken and waffles. Without any further adieu, enjoy!

THE GOOD

Brad Keselowski: as the race winner, he gets first billing. He had to overcome a loose wheel and loose lugnut during the race, yet managed to stay close until the end. This is why you NEVER say that (driver) has this race in the bag. (See: Harvick, Kevin.) Keselowski managed to pass leader Kyle Larson late in the race and cruised to the win.

Kevin Harvick: he was dominant, leading nearly 300 laps in the race, but a speeding penalty on the money stop was the death blow to his opportunity to win. He had to start at the tail end of the field, BEHIND the lapped-down cars. He fought admirably to finish in the top 10, but needed a quick caution to salvage a chance to win.

Kyle Larson: he led late but a tactical error cost him a chance to win. Larson had the best Chevy in the field.

Matt Kenseth: he was a lap down at one time, but got the free pass after a caution. He then made his way through the field to finish a very solid third.

Kasey Kahne: he stayed out of trouble, and quietly put together a very solid P4 run.

Honorable Mention: Cole Whitt. Even though he finished a lap down (and I rarely mention drivers in the Good category if they finish a lap or more down), he put together his second consecutive top-20 finish driving for Tri-Star Motorsports, a small, one-car team making its return to Cup racing after a four-year hiatus. (Whitt finished 18th at Daytona and 20th today.) It's his first top-20 finish on a 1.5-mile track. He was also the top mover of the race, finishing 19 positions above from where he started.

THE BAD

Jimmie Johnson: he was inexplicably bad, a rarity for him. Plus he is usually dominant at the ATL. If he's not dominating at a 1.5-mile track, he's usually in the top 10.  Seems that the 48 team totally missed on the setup and he went backward from the drop of the green flag to start the race. Atlanta is NOT a good track to totally miss on set-ups to begin with, and long green flag runs make it worse. Plus he had not one, but two pit road penalties. Time for the 48 team to toss Atlanta out and focus on the Las Vegas race next week.

THE UGLY

Denny Hamlin: the right rear wheel hub failed him, causing him to pull his Toyota to the garage for extensive repairs. He gave it a go, but the hub failed again, and finished 38th with a DNF next to him.

Ryan Newman/Austin Dillon: both drivers suffered battery failures. Newman took his car to the garage and after replacing the battery, he was able to finish the race in 35th. Dillon suffered his battery failure while running in the top 5 late in the race, bringing out the race's final caution when he stalled on the backstretch. He either missed pit road or was told to cruise around by his crew chief. (I think it was the latter, in order to screw Harvick over, as Harvick was leading by nearly six seconds at that point and had checked out on the field. Harvick left RCR on less than good terms after the 2013 season, and they haven't won since. Harvick has since won a Cup championship (2014) and has been a perennial contender since leaving RCR. At RCR, he would be a contender every three years or so.)

That's all for this week. Stay tuned for the next edition of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Vegas buffet-style!