by Tim Wylder in NASCAR
Headlines all across the sports pages will read various ways, all of them proclaiming Kyle Busch the winner. But is he really a winner? I’m really not sure he is.
Oh he may have won the race but I really don’t think he is the great winner that everyone thinks he is. You see, Kyle Busch is like a two headed coin, sort of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde kind of deal. When he isn’t happy with his race car or some other competitor, he makes no bones about letting everyone know about it. Last night he called his brakes “pathetic” over the radio. yet he was leading the race and two seconds ahead at the time. Remember when he got his first win in the new car and he called it junk or it sucked or something of that nature? He was standing in victory lane with the first win and he still wasn’t happy. There are hundreds of people that work in some capacity for him to get where he was last night,(Victory Lane) yet during the race he all but called them incompetent, then praises them after the race. Which is it Kyle?
To me he just seems like a big baby when he isn’t doing well. I have a great idea, Maybe Kyle Busch needs to look at his bank account then take a good look at the majority of Nascar fans bank accounts. You get paid Millions of dollars to drive a race car! You are living your dream! You have been truly blessed! Try acting like it for once. Let me put this into perspective so anyone who loves racing can follow me. There are at any given time, MILLIONS of race car drivers on the planet in various stages of their careers. They all have pretty much the same unattainable dream. To be one of the 43 best in the world and drive in the top series on the planet, The Nascar Sprint Cup Series. Kyle Busch is doing just that. As a matter of fact he is, right now, the NUMBER ONE driver in all the world. Yet there are times when he is just not happy about it? I don’t get it.
THE END RESULT
All in all it was a pretty good race, a few cautions due to the good old tire issue that goes hand in hand with new pavement and a tire company that brings a tire that is too hard time after time. I think that Darlington’s new surface could really turn into great racing by the time the next race comes there. It will take getting Goodyear to bring a tire compound that has a bit more grip though.
Here is how they crossed the line. Notice that Dale Junior finished in the top five! Consistency is the key there.
NASCAR-Sprint-Dodge Challenger 500 Results
Saturday at Darlington Raceway
Darlington, S.C.
Lap length: 1.366 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (6) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 367 laps, 138.6 rating, 195 points, $313,700.
2. (36) Carl Edwards, Ford, 367, 98.1, 170, $241,850.
3. (8) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 367, 116.5, 170, $194,236.
4. (2) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 367, 117.7, 165, $138,100.
5. (15) David Ragan, Ford, 367, 97.5, 160, $123,375.
6. (34) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 367, 89.7, 155, $146,016.
7. (21) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 367, 99.1, 151, $131,941.
8. (24) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 367, 94.8, 147, $121,789.
9. (13) Dave Blaney, Toyota, 367, 100.4, 138, $111,283.
10. (12) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 367, 89.4, 134, $134,858.
11. (25) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 367, 80.9, 135, $95,925.
12. (5) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 367, 95.9, 132, $87,650.
13. (3) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 367, 98.0, 124, $137,061.
14. (22) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 367, 100.8, 126, $116,383.
15. (38) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 367, 67.6, 118, $99,750.
16. (27) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 367, 70.7, 115, $117,908.
17. (9) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, 367, 74.1, 112, $99,008.
18. (10) Bobby Labonte, Dodge, 367, 75.0, 109, $119,011.
19. (30) David Reutimann, Toyota, 367, 74.9, 106, $81,300.
20. (33) David Gilliland, Ford, 367, 63.4, 108, $97,333.
21. (4) Tony Stewart, Toyota, 366, 53.8, 100, $125,061.
22. (42) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 366, 60.3, 102, $109,091.
23. (19) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dodge, 366, 46.6, 94, $107,183.
24. (37) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 365, 51.1, 91, $86,008.
25. (28) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 365, 67.0, 88, $76,950.
26. (31) J.J. Yeley, Toyota, 365, 57.3, 90, $84,675.
27. (26) AJ Allmendinger, Toyota, 364, 48.2, 82, $72,475.
28. (18) Michael McDowell, Toyota, 364, 48.5, 79, $85,872.
29. (16) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 363, 58.5, 76, $82,625.
30. (20) Bill Elliott, Ford, 363, 38.1, 73, $92,795.
31. (17) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 363, 49.9, 70, $71,200.
32. (39) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 362, 34.4, 67, $98,239.
33. (40) Robby Gordon, Dodge, 361, 46.8, 64, $79,800.
34. (14) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 350, 50.3, 61, $78,725.
35. (29) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 341, 63.0, 58, $88,475.
36. (41) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 340, 40.2, 55, $78,325.
37. (32) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 295, 39.0, 52, $112,200.
38. (23) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 270, 33.2, 49, $115,475.
39. (11) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 265, 71.7, 46, $116,711.
40. (43) Patrick Carpentier, Dodge, engine, 261, 42.1, 48, $69,625.
41. (35) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 250, 25.3, 40, $69,500.
42. (7) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 247, 26.4, 37, $95,750.
43. (1) Greg Biffle, Ford, Engine, 234, 108.6, 39, $83,164.
Race Statistics
Average Speed of Race Winner: 140.350 mph.
Time of Race: 3 hours, 34 minutes, 19 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 3.115 seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 31 laps.
Lead Changes: 35 among 15 drivers.
Next week we are off to the home of speed, the Lowe’s Motor Speedway and the Sprint All Star Race. It will be another night full of action as that is always a great weekend. No points, just Big Money and the desire to be the best. The gloves come off next Saturday Night.
Much has been made in Kyle Busch's defense about his "all he cares about is winning" attitude being an attribute. Well, how nice that he wants to win. The object is to win. However, this constant chant gives an impression of the other drivers in Sprint Cup going out every weekend with the sole goal of spending three to four hours deciding where to have dinner, since a nice Saturday night or Sunday afternoon drive clears the head. Maybe I'm missing my guess, but I'm thinking they too would like to end the evening in Victory Lane even though doing so means dinner will be extremely late due to the never-ending hat dance.
Compare Busch's on-track demeanor to Jeff Burton. You don't think he wants to win every time out? Of course he does, no matter how high Kim's Kleenex bill will run as a result (sorry, couldn't resist). That said, he also has the intelligence and common sense -- as a side note, having the former in no way states or implies the latter is also present -- to take a step back from the immediate and see what's going on beyond the scope of who's in front of me and I can do anything I want to get past them.
Burton understands the value of patience, plus the truth of actions invariably having consequences. If it's not there he doesn't go for it anyway. If it is there he goes for it, but never without respecting the opponent; always running with passion channeled into clean aggression. At first glance, a Burton battle for position looks like he doesn't "want" it enough. In reality, each move is part of a multi-piece plan that in the end will engineer the pass. No ruffled feathers, no rumpled bumpers. Just a note to say nice things about you during the post-race interview immediately following a Gatorade shower. This is why everyone respects him. When he passes your driver, while bemoaning the occasion you acknowledge the event with a "well, it was clean and he earned it; we'll get 'em next time." Think of the last time this could said about a Kyle Busch pass up front. I'd say go ahead and I'll wait, but given the average American male life span I don't have that many decades to run through.
RACE DAY PICTURES
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