Busch is the new Public Enemy No. 1 in NASCAR
So NASCAR has its new "Public Enemy No. 1" and it's none other than Kyle Busch, the driver who is so good at being "bad."
It's hard not to notice Busch. That was never more evident than at Richmond Saturday night. After Denny Hamlin led the first 381 laps of a 400-lap race, his drive to a sure victory ended with a flat right front tire. That put NASCAR's most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., in the lead and sent the crowd into a frenzy as it appeared he would end a winless streak that at the time was 71 races long.
But Busch saw an opportunity to win for the second-straight week. He engaged in a fierce, side-by-side battle with Earnhardt that culminated with the two cars colliding in the third turn with three laps remaining, allowing Clint Bowyer to speed by for the lead. Earnhardt's Chevrolet ended up in the wall while Busch continued, setting up a "green, white checkered-flag finish" while the huge crowd was ready to riot.
"[The fans] were going crazy and you see it, but you don't pay attention to it," Busch said. "I don't know why they were telling me I was number one, I was in second place. Clint Bowyer got the lead from me -- they were all confused.
"I guess, too many old [Dale Earnhardt] Jr. Budweisers."
Bowyer went on to win the race with Busch finishing second, but it was obvious that the Earnhardt fans thought Busch raced their driver harder than some thought was necessary.
"I told the cops I don't know why they were escorting me," Bowyer said. "I told them they better get on and escort Kyle Busch out of here."
There are plenty of side-plots that thickened this drama. When Earnhardt announced in 2007 that he would leave the family-owned Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) team, Rick Hendrick quickly signed him to a multi-year contract at Hendrick Motorsports. A few days later, the decision was made that Busch would leave that team to open up a ride for Earnhardt. Team owner Joe Gibbs recognized that Busch may be the best young talent in the Sprint Cup series, so he signed the driver for his race team that also includes two-time Allstate 400 at the Brickyard winner and two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart along with Hamlin. So even before Earnhardt's car had come to a stop, the Earnhardt fans were quick to say the crash was intentional.
"The `Junior Nation' assumption is probably going to always be right," Busch said. "It's just a product of hard racing with both of us going into the corner and running out of room and we got together."
Brash, cocky, arrogant are all words that can be used to describe Busch, but the bottom line is he simply doesn't care what others think about him; he's a true racer at heart.
Ironically, Busch may reflect more qualities of the late Dale Earnhardt than the late champion's own son exudes. Busch wasn't afraid to take away a victory from Earnhardt because Busch isn't in this game to finish second.
"Everybody probably is racing around the race track scared to death of wrecking Dale Earnhardt, Jr., so why wouldn't I be any different?" Busch said.
Incidents like these make NASCAR promoters, such as Humpy Wheeler at Lowe's and Eddie Gossage at Texas, salivate. They will take this incident and exploit it for all it is worth. Last year Gossage created a "Rumble at the Speedway" promotion after IndyCar driver Danica Patrick grabbed Dan Wheldon by the arm and yelled at him after the two were involved in an incident at The Milwaukee Mile.
Unfortunately for Gossage, NASCAR Sprint Cup doesn't return to his race track until November. But it's not too late for Wheeler to get the promotional "wheels" in motion because Lowe's hosts the Sprint All-Star Race in two weeks and the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day Weekend.
After Saturday night's incident, the sparks may still be flying in this rivalry.
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