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Just Busch being himself
Published Friday, July 10, 2009
Last week, my pick to avoid the “Big One” and win the race in Daytona was Kyle Busch. Neither of my predictions came to fruition, if only for half a lap, but Busch’s reputation of a loud mouth has not suffered.
Busch was leading the race coming out of turn four on the final lap when Tony Stewart, the eventual race winner, attempted a pass on the outside. Busch, evidently not thinking that Stewart had enough momentum to make the pass, moved up the track to make the block.
It was too late. The nose of Stewart’s Chevy was already on Busch’s quarter panel and “The Shrub” was turned into the wall. In my view, Busch was clearly at fault. Stewart had the spot, and Busch moved up where there was no space.
The resulting ping ponged wreck, while not as spectacular as Carl Edwards’ wild ride at Talladega, was hard. Busch finished the race in 14th position and was in no mood to talk to the media after the race. He pulled the obligatory “fast walk through the pits, not paying attention to anyone, with a scowl on the face, trying to get to the team hauler” act. He’s become a pro at that move.
Speaking of Carl Edwards, he was in a very similar position last spring at Talladega, with the same result as Busch’s. He wrecked, and the car behind him, in this case Brad Keselowski, went on to win the race. Only difference is that Edwards manned up and gave his thoughts to the fans and the media after the race.
Only after arriving in Chicago to prepare for this week’s race did Busch address the incident. Of course, he did nothing wrong, and Stewart “punted” him into the fence. Even after Stewart’s apparently sincere explanation of the wreck in Victory Lane at Daytona and personal apology in Chicago, Busch felt Stewart was wrong and went to great lengths to make his feelings known.
I have said before, Kyle Busch is as talented of a racecar driver as anyone that has ever climbed into a car. Time might prove him to be the best ever, but he is a loud-mouthed knucklehead that has had too much success too early. His ability is so natural that it comes too easily. Let’s hope that someone, at some point, makes him realize that having a little class and humility is important, too.
The first big driver move of 2009 happened this week as Martin Truex Jr. officially announced plans to move to Michael Waltrip Racing for the 2010 season. Napa Auto Parts will remain with MWR and sponsor Truex in the No. 56 Toyota next season.
Where does that leave Bass Pro Shops and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing? To me, Bass Pro Shops will be going somewhere other than EGR, and EGR will be going nowhere, and fast.
Despite Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s troubles this season, I wonder how the story would have been told differently if Teresa Earnhardt had worked to keep Junior at what once was DEI? Surely would have been a lot different, and for the better.
My pick to win at Chicagoland Speedway this week is Mark Martin.
– Jeff Findley is a guest columnist for The Clanton Advertiser. His column appears each Weekend.
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Comments
Posted by kwsrgraves (anonymous) on July 10, 2009 at 10:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Jeff, old friend, the words you speak of Kyle, echo of Dale Sr, Rusty, DW, and Tony Stewart. It's racing. It's NASCAR. And to some degree, the sport NEEDS the drama. This is a truly professional sport. It's a multi-billion dollar sport. It is a privately owned sport. While not unique, it is unusual. But this stuff that you write of is kind of reminiscent of that wrestling crap that is always advertised on Pay-Per-View. NASCAR needs the drama.
Posted by REK1138 (anonymous) on July 13, 2009 at 9:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Busch had a choice - he could have raced Tony to the finish and in all probability, having the bottom line, would have won (worst case he comes in second), or keep trying to block Tony. Had it been Mark Martin or Jeff Burton, he would have gotten away with it. Had the roles been reversed, does anyone doubt Busch would have gone for the win?
The fact is, I think Busch has learned to embrace the bad boy the press and fans make him out to be. He's learning what Jeff Gordon always said, it's better to be a driver that everyone has opinion about, even if it's 99% hate, than to be a driver no one cares about. His performance at Chicagoland is much more telling in terms of his lack of maturity. He clearly didn't have a top ten car but he had a car at least as good as half the field. A smart driver, a Mark Martin or a Jeff Gordon, would have accepted that fact and would have been content finishing 20th and preserving their place in the chase. Busch just gets pissed off and drives the engine right out from underneath his car and finishes in the garage and drops two more places in the points standing. He's easily the most talented driver in NASCAR these days but the lack of patience and maturity will keep him from even getting close to championship. Ditto for Carl Edwards but at least Edwards seems to be growing up, learning that being competitive over the entire season is not worth blowing off for one or two bad races.
I love seeing Mark Martin win but he's going to have to find some consistency. He needs to confer with Johnson and Knauss - it's not about winning every now and then, it's about finishing well every single week. This is why the top five has pretty much remained unchanged, Stewart, Johnson, Gordon, and now Denny Hamlin and why drivers with multiple wins like Busch and Martin are teetering on the edge of the top twelve.
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