There always seems to be that one driver each year that gets everyone’s attention, whether it’s a winning streak, a champion or a driver that just thinks they own the series and for the 2008 season, there is that one driver again that makes headlines, yes I’m talking about the young kid Kyle Busch and considering yet again he is making huge news right now by doing the triple header this weekend, Kyle Busch (pictured on the right - Photo Credit: Chris Graythen / Getty Images via NASCAR PR) has gotten everyone’s attention, of course he had everyone’s attention back at Richmond with him and Dale Jr. getting into it in the final laps.You know, everyone from the media to the fans has their own opinion on this young man and chances are if you say Kyle Busch to a fan, you will most likely get a very interesting and sometimes very colorful response. With that said, with both the media and the fans speaking out about this kid, there have been two questions that have not only caught my eye, but in some cases the way they are said are offensive.
So with Toyota and Kyle Busch’s reason success so far this season in the Cup Series which includes four victories (three of them are Kyle Busch’s) and this doesn’t even include the domination in the Nationwide Series, so does Toyota have a mechanical edge over its competition…or is their advantage simply Kyle Busch?
First this question should be reworded with Gibbs Racing and not Toyota in most cases, in the Cup series (and in the Nationwide Series), its Gibbs Racing that is making the headlines and not the other Toyota teams, Gibbs is the only team that is not just winning, but dominating and pulling away from the field on any given week and while I will give Kyle Busch credit that is a talented driver that can get behind the wheel of a racecar, losse or tight and drive it, let along win, this is more than just one skilled or daring driver, in my opinion Toyota/Gibbs Racing does have a mechanical edge over its competition plain and simple. NASCAR does have the horsepower numbers to prove it, not to mention what Busch and Hamlin did in the All-Star with those modified engines that blow up in segment two, there is an advantage there period.
At this point, you might be asking, what about Chevrolet last year winning half of the races, well, in most cases, Chevrolet didn’t dominate most of the races, they were there when it counted at the end, need an example, the Spring race at Texas, Burton makes late race pass by Kenseth after a long battle to win, how about the Spring Martinsville, the battle between Johnson and Gordon with Johnson winning at the line, no pull away there, third wasn’t that far back or how about the Daytona in July, that wasn’t even a Chevy victory, it was a the Ford of McMurray edging Busch to win (good close racing).
Now on the flip side, last September in New Hampshire was a dominate victory by Clint Bowyer, in most of these examples, it was most of the Chevrolet teams winning (a lot with Hendick Motorsports) and dominating and while I can go on and on in both directions, its the same as this season with Gibbs Racing. Personally, I would like to see NASCAR tear down the #18 after a dominating victory and to make it far, take the rest of the top 5 too. The question now is, will NASCAR do anything about it or just let it play out?
Has the media and fans gone too far in comparing Kyle Busch to Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Sr.? Well, it depends upon the driver and the time period, if your comparing let’s say a young Darrell Waltrip when he was challenging for rookie of the year to Kyle Busch now who is aggressive, bowing to the fans, very pushy and etc, you have a great comparison, DW was a jerk back then, aggressive, thought he owned the place and just wanted to show what he could do, however if you compare DW later in his career, then no, what about Kevin Harvick, he was the somewhat the same way coming up in his first years, he had to wake up too and not only by NASCAR parking him, but by drivers and others around him, now a days, he is a lot more levelheaded, Tony Stewart is in this league, personally I like Smoke, he's outspoken, talented, somewhat knows when to speck and when not to and not only can drive, but is a champion, what about Jeff Gordon, there's a good example, he was aggressive and hated too, you get the point.
However I left out one person, Dale Earnhardt Sr., as a Earnhardt fan, when he was coming up, he was a lot like DW, aggressive, intimidating, pushy, he wanted to win and so on and all this when he was challenging for Rookie of the year and even before, but when you compare Dale Sr. later in his career to 2001 to Kyle Busch, get a life, there's no comparison, give Dale more credit than that, Dale is respected, he raced hard for every position from the lead to 30th plain and simple.
Like I said, it all depends upon time periods when you make the comparison and just saying Dale Sr. to Kyle Busch doesn’t do it and will get you an interesting response, however in all of those cases, the drivers earned respect after awhile, they woke up and they are winners, championship and respected period.
Right now in NASCAR, Kyle Busch is the subject and will continue to be until he gets woken up by either NASCAR, the people around him or hopefully by another driver that just has had enough with him, watch for it, it will happen, give it a year or two.
- Racedriven
