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Kyle Busch’s no win situation
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NASCAR fans have put Kyle Busch into a very weird predicament. On one hand they say over and over that NASCAR drivers are too vanilla, they don’t show enough emotion. On top of that many fans and NASCAR detractors say that the drivers of today don’t try hard enough to win, that they simply stay back at point’s race. On both of these points Kyle Busch never fails to deliver. Yet the fans and many in the media continue to talk bad about him, or boo him.
Case in point the end of the Coke Zero 400 Saturday night, Kyle gets wrecked after trying to block his way to a Daytona win. Let’s be clear about this right now it is Kyle’s job to try and block in this situation and really it is Tony Stewart’s job to punt him out of the way for the win. This is not the fault of the drivers but a creation of the NASCAR rule book.
After the wreck Kyle declined interview requests and sulked on his way to the infield care center, and his transporter afterwards. Many in the NASCAR media, this columnist included have often ridiculed Kyle for behaving in this manner. However it seems that there may be something far greater going on here.
Let us play Devil’s advocate here, how does it serve Kyle to be that upset give an interview where in a wound up state he says something potentially embarrassing to himself, his team, or his sponsors?
At this point in his career Kyle seems to have one goal and one goal only, and that goal is winning races. Is behavior on the track, and driving style seems to indicate at this point of his career he cares more about winning then gaining spots in the points.
It would appear that Kyle has something to prove, something to prove to Rick Hendrick, NASCAR, NASCAR fans, his sprint cup champion older brother, the executives at Roush Fenway racing, and to himself. Kyle has a large chip on his shoulder and a review of his history in NASCAR may reveal why.
This is a guy who was the Joey Logano of eight or nine years ago. He had so much potential as a driver that Roush Racing was willing to put him in a truck at the very young age of 16. That was when NASCAR passed the rule that drivers must be at least 18 before they can compete in the national touring divisions. It was also before the Regional developmental racing series had grown into prominence nationally. In effect Kyle’s career was put on hold for two years.
Kyle was later injected from the California Speedway in response to that rule, and some flack over tobacco sponsorship.
It seems that now he is trying to make up for that.
After those two years Kyle catches on with Hendrick Motor Sports and in his four seasons there won four races. Then he was replaced not because Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a better driver, but because he is more marketable, and Hendrick can make more money with Dale than with Kyle.
He goes out and wins 20 races in the three national series last year and his still booed. He may be the best driver of this generation and NASCAR fans fail to embrace him as such. It seems that this would make the best of us a little bitter.
In the end Kyle has the belief that he can win each and every race, and it is that belief that makes him a valuable commodity for NASCAR. When he doesn’t win he is upset, and when victory is snatched from him he doesn’t want to embarrass himself on national TV. These are the traits NASCAR fans have longed to see, and yet as Kyle displays them NASCAR fans and media dismiss him as punk.
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