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Nascar and Racing

Kyle Busch Is 'Rowdy' Real Thing

Posted May 06, 2009 10:15PM By Holly Cain (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Kyle Busch, Darlington Raceway, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Joe Gibbs Racing

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Kyle BuschAs with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch is one of the season's most polarizing drivers in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series.

As with Earnhardt, you're either with Busch or you are against him. The difference between the two drivers? Busch is out there winning races. A lot of them.

And whether it's the everybody-loves-a-winner mentality or what, a lot of "haters" are warming up to "Rowdy." As hard as it is to cheer for Busch, it's getting even harder not to.

Busch made his trademark "take that" bow to the fans Saturday at Richmond, Va. after claiming his 50th NASCAR win as a 24th birthday present. It is his Cup Series-best third victory of the season in the No. 18 M& Ms Toyota, and he is the defending winner of Southern 500, which runs on Saturday at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway -- a gritty, non-conforming track known for being "too tough to tame.''

They are characteristics Busch and Darlington share.

Busch is not a buttoned-down corporate smoothie or media darling like Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson, but he's not hard-core, old school Richard Petty or Dale Earnhardt Sr. either. He's somewhere in-between the politically correct world of recent champs and the gritty, "let's just race" era of the NASCAR's previous generation.

He doesn't like speaking with reporters, but he's first in line to help out another driver's charity.

His competitors aren't likely to invite him over for dinner, but every one of them will tell you he's the guy to beat every single week.

He's intense enough to chastise his Joe Gibbs Racing pit crew on television when they make mistakes, but soft enough to admit the best part of this Mother's Day race weekend will be spending Sunday with his mom.

And as NASCAR nation found out last year at Richmond, he will use his bumper -- even at the expense of Earnhardt, the sport's most popular driver.

Latest NASCAR Images

    In this Saturday, May 2, 2009, photo, Ryan Newman is greeted by members of the Virginia Army National Guard during driver introductions for the Crown Royal 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Va. Newman is 10th in points, surging after a slow start to climb 23 spots in seven weeks. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

    AP

    In this photograph taken on Satuday, April 25, 2009, NASCAR truck driver Ricky Carmichael talks with a crew member after qualifying for the NASCAR Trucks series O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 auto race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan. Carmichael was running out of challenges on a motorcycle. Earn the nickname "Greatest of All Time" and the chances are there isn't going to be much left to accomplish. All it took was one trip to the Daytona 500 for Carmichael to figure out his next test: racing on four wheels instead of two. (AP Photo/Denny Medley)

    AP

    FILE - In this April 17, 2009 file photo, driver Mark Martin sits outside his car after qualifying for a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race in Avondale, Ariz. M Martin will drive a full Sprint Cup schedule for Hendrick Motorsports in 2010. The 50-year-old Martin signed a two-year contract with Hendrick last summer, but the second year originally was to be a partial schedule. It will be Martin's 22nd full season at NASCAR's top level. (AP Photo/Ken Sklute, File)

    AP

    FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2009 file photo, NASCAR Trucks driver Ricky Carmichael heads to his pit dragging the back end of his truck after he was involved in a crash in the NextEra Energy Resources 250 auto race at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. Carmichael was running out of challenges on a motorcycle. All it took was one trip to the Daytona 500 for Carmichael to figure out his next test: racing on four wheels instead of two. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)

    AP

    FILE - In this Aug. 3, 2007 file photoo, Ricky Carmichael of Havana, Fla., poses next to his motorcycle after practice for the Moto X racing competition at the X Games at Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Carmichael was running out of challenges on a motorcycle. All it took was one trip to the Daytona 500 for Carmichael to figure out his next test: racing on four wheels instead of two. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

    AP

    FILE - In this April 3, 2009 file photo, driver Ryan Newman walks down pit road with teammates before qualifying for the NASCAR Samsung 500 auto race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Newman joined Tony Stewart in his new racing venture last season motivated by his desire to have fun again and contend for a championship. So far, he's having that fun _ and again making noise on the track. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)

    AP

    FILE - In this Aug. 10, 2008 file photo, NASCAR driver Kyle Busch drives through the esses during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Centurion Boats auto race at the Glen auto race in Watkins Glen, N.Y. Watkins Glen International is holding its own after securing a new title sponsor for the NASCAR Cup race in early August. (AP Photo/Russ Hamilton, File)

    AP

    FILE - In this March 29, 2009 file photo, driver Ryan Newman signs autographs prior to the start of the Goody's 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup auto race at the Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va. Newman joined Tony Stewart in his new racing venture last season motivated by his desire to have fun again and contend for a championship. So far, he's having that fun _ and again making noise on the track. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

    AP

    NEW YORK - MAY 04: NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon (R) and wife Ingrid Vandebosch attends "The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion" Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jeff Gordon;Ingrid Vandebosch

    Getty Images

    NEW YORK - MAY 04: NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon (R) and wife Ingrid Vandebosch attends "The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion" Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jeff Gordon;Ingrid Vandebosch

    Getty Images


Former champ Darrell Waltrip, who competed against Petty, David Pearson, Earnhardt Sr. and Cale Yarborough in their primes, compared that Hall of Fame lineup with Busch, then boldly declared this week in his FOX Sports column, "I appreciate talent. ... and I have to tell you that none of them were as good as Kyle.''

Busch's Richmond win -- the 15th of his five-year Cup career -- ties him with Gordon for the most wins before the age of 25. The record could belong solely to Busch by Sunday. He's still got a whole year to rewrite that one.

"At some point I'd like to be able to win 200 races over all three series,'' said Busch, who is already the youngest pole winner and the youngest race winner in Cup history. "I think that would be a good number. It's a pretty big number. ... I've got plenty of years ahead of me and we'll see if we can't give it a shot.''

Since the 2008 season, Busch has won 27 percent of the races he has entered (29 of 107 races in three series) -- or one out of every four starts.

He already has 24 Nationwide Series wins -- exactly half of Mark Martin's all-time record total. He has 11 Camping World Truck series victories -- well within reach of Ron Hornaday's record 39 wins. And Busch has never even run a full truck season.

He's among only two or three drivers that you can expect to win any week on any track. In any series.

And if he can refine his late-season playoff effort, there's no reason he isn't a favorite to win multiple championships. That is why this season is pivotal to his career. He's proven he can win races, but he hasn't won a championship since he raced Legends Cars as a teenager.

He currently leads the Nationwide championship and is ranked fifth in the Cup standings.

As he racks up trophy after trophy (he earned three last weekend at Richmond, counting a late-model charity race and Friday's Nationwide event, in addition the Cup race), he is winning over the hearts and minds of naysayers and grudge-keepers.

Busch is the latest greatest thing for this series. He's exceptionally talented, unpredictable and not afraid to ruffle the feathers of the establishment. He's what you call "good TV". He's the reality check for a sport that leans toward becoming too polished.

And right now he's the last guy a driver wants to see in the mirror behind him.

Fans can and do boo him mercilessly. But in this sport, that just means you're winning too much.

Tags: darrell+waltrip, DarrellWaltrip, kyle+busch, KyleBusch

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