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Confirmed: Kyle Busch is Permanently NASCAR’s Evildoer
Following Richmond’s Dale Jr. fiasco, it took Kyle Busch nearly half a dozen wins, a lot of talent and some forgetful fans to collect some loud cheers amidst tens of thousands of boos. Saturday night at Bristol, it took all of about seven seconds to erase all of that progress and even less time for Carl Edwards to retaliate accordingly and become the people’s champion.
I have been a Kyle Busch supporter from day one. He’s earned the season he’s had and it isn’t his fault that the car he was racing for the win at Richmond was Dale Earnhardt Jr. Had it been Dave Blaney, Matt Kenseth or even Jeff Gordon, there wouldn’t be the onslaught of hate flung at Busch every time he appears on the racetrack’s giant Sprint screen. Fans have to learn to respect ability and understand circumstances. Kyle Busch didn’t mean to turn your favorite driver and he shouldn’t apologize for it. The last time I checked, racing for a win with seventeen laps to go is fair game. It doesn’t help that Richmond notwithstanding, the 18 team is blowing the 88 out of the water on a weekly basis.
But now, all of that is irrelevant. Kyle Busch is and always will be the bad guy now. His embarrassing, but nonetheless entertaining and drama-sparking behavior has forever resigned him to vilification. Although Edwards passed the winning move off as retaliatory, even if the two drivers had never so much as met, the move that bumped Kyle Busch up the racetrack and out of victory’s way was so legitimate that it wouldn’t even make the media report had Busch not turned it into the crime of the century. Perhaps Kyle Busch forgot that the sign outside of the speedway says “Bristol.” It may be a new racing surface, but it’s as tough to pass as ever. What that entails to you, the driver, is that if you don’t want to be passed, it isn’t a matter of just being in front of the guy behind you. It’s a matter of getting away from him to the point his bumper can’t touch you. Mr. Busch, you failed to do that and you have no one to be angry at but yourself.
Equally shameful were Kyle’s remarks after the race about Edwards’ appearance. Is this a racetrack or a middle school playground? Mr. Ed-like? Are you kidding me?
The sum to the right of the equal’s sign in all this is that Carl Edwards is now officially the chosen warrior to slay the dragon. He’s the Aslan. The messiah of the 2008 season. He gets a well-deserved warm welcome in every city he goes to and in the tradition of Mark Martin, you’d be extremely hard-pressed to find someone actively rooting against him. Unless you count jealous husbands whose wives don’t mind the fact that he’s a little “Mr.Ed-like.”
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100% - Chances that NASCAR is thrilled with the outcome of Bristol. In a night that seemed extremely dismal from an entertainment standpoint, it delivered in the closing moments. This storyline will carry itself handily into the Chase.
50% - Roughly the percentage of acceptance I have for the new car. It takes a lot of undue ridicule. I applaud NASCAR’s efforts from a safety, and generally speaking, competition standpoint. The races have looked virtually identical to races in the older car almost across the board. Restrictor plate races have been especially fantastic especially since drivers are gaining more comfort and familiarity with the car. The exception to all this? Short track racing. Denny Hamlin led over 380 laps at Richmond before circumstance took him out. Kyle Busch led 415 laps last night at Bristol. For over 200 laps last night, the top six cars didn’t change positions at all. That, is flat out, bad racing. Late race driver-created drama is all that’s saving these races. NASCAR, they aren’t going to bail you out every time. You’re lucky they have this many times.
0% - The chances that Michael Waltrip is the worst driver in NASCAR. This was heard over Clint Bowyer’s radio while watching the largest wreck of the night which was actually caused by Casey Mears who is either terrible or has the worst spotter on the planet. I can think of at least two or three incidents in this year alone where Mears has moved up the race track into another car and caused a melee. The hilarious irony in all this is that Mears will be Bowyer’s teammate next year and that he will in all likelihood take Bowyer’s owner points and his sponsor.
So who is the worst driver in NASCAR? As far as Sprint Cup goes, it certainly isn’t Waltrip. He gets a pass on experience and two Daytona 500 victories alone not to mention he’s an owner/driver. A strong case could be made for Michael McDowell who in addition to floating around in 40 th place on a weekly basis has almost gotten himself and/or others killed twice this year. Not that he’s in great equipment. After all, he drives for the worst Michael Waltrip, the worst driv-I mean, owner in NASCAR.
And lastly, speaking of owners:
100% - Odds that Joe Gibbs Racing is the new Hendrick in terms of fan contempt. While fans loved to speculate that Hendrick Motorsports cheated because they didn’t enjoy their dominating success last year, JGR has confirmed that they’re comprised of rule-benders, in the Nationwide series at least. Tony Stewart, the most popular driver in the stable, is leaving and Joey Legano will grab the reigns next year. While Legano hasn’t been around long enough to garner a lot of glares and bad stares, there are a large number of fans who think he’s getting a free ride in an already proven team at age eighteen no less, a luxury many veterans who have earned their living in the sport through years of struggling were never offered.
More Bristol stories that minimally involve Carl vs. Kyle coming up later this week.
By Danny West
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