AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2008 > March > 09 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USBusch just wanted to win
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Earlier during the Kobalt Tools 500 on Sunday at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, it was the guy who everybody wants as the premier driver in NASCAR against the guy who actually is the premier driver.
No question, Kyle Busch isn’t the people’s choice. For one, his name isn’t Dale Earnhardt Jr. For another, Busch is occasionally raspy at 22, but he isn’t the angry young man anymore. He even is considered warm and cuddly these days by Tony Stewart, his old antagonist and current teammate with Joe Gibbs Racing.
That said, Busch couldn’t care less that the majority of those in the stands at AMS emphatically made the transfer from red to green in honor of Earnhardt’s switch in car colors after he went from Dale Earnhardt Inc., to Hendrick Motorsports.
Busch just wanted to win. He wanted to do so badly, and he did so easily along the way to his first Cup victory at AMS with his typically free-wheeling style.
“Everybody always says I’ve been an aggressive driver, but I’m just doing my deal,” said Busch, who was so intense during the race that his hands remained sore afterward from griping the steering wheel so tightly. “They said I used to cause wrecks, and that I used to be out of control. I don’t feel like I’m driving any different than I used to. [They say] I’ve sort of changed my style per se, and now it looks like I’m professional at it or something. It all seems to be working to my advantage right now,”
Consider this: Busch leads his NASCAR peers in the standings of the Sprint Cup and Craftman Truck series.
If not for a mechanical failure Saturday night, Busch would have topped the Nationwide Series, too. “He’s amazing to me,” said Stewart, of Busch, the youngest winner ever at AMS. “It’s fun to watch him. I mean, the nights he runs the truck races, and we’re sitting on the bus, I normally don’t pay attention. But it’s fun to watch him drive, whether it’s a truck or a Nationwide car or a Cup car. He will drive it far beyond what it’s capable of doing.
“There’s no doubt that at the end of a day, he’s getting everything that car’s capable of, and that’s what you want out of a guy. Stuff like driving the thing on the apron during Turn 2 in the truck race the other day. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody do that here. Not on purpose, at least.”
Some folks do things on purpose that aren’t necessarily good, but you know what the say: Cheaters don’t win, at least not always, and that even applies to the traditionally shady world of NASCAR drivers, mechanics and the rest.
Then again, cheaters nearly won when Carl Edwards kept the lid on his oil tank this time (ahem) while sitting 50 laps shy of zipping to his third consecutive victory in the Sprint Cup Series. Edwards and his folks at Roush Fenway Racing say their little mishap last week involving that lid in Las Vegas was the result of a bolt on the oil tank that worked itself loose from the car’s vibration.
NASCAR officials and common sense say otherwise.
Whatever the case, Edwards literally was smoking around the track near the start of the stretch drive as the leader. Soon afterward, he was smoking into his garage to give Busch a victory that he likely would have grabbed anyway. His Toyota made its competition resemble of bunch of horses and buggies during his cruise to the finish line after Edwards’ departure.
The man is proficient inside anything with a gas pedal nearby and a checkered flag in the distance. Not only that, Busch’s reputation when it comes to following the rules is as solid as Edwards’ is suddenly shaky. Plus, while Earnhardt and others kept whining about the quality, or lack thereof, of the Goodyear tires (“Even if I got them for free, I wouldn’t keep them,” said Tony Stewart, who finished a grumpy second), Busch kept driving fast.
And get this: Busch was part of the Hendrick team before he was dropped before this season for the people’s choice.
The one that finished a grumpy third.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Post your comment | Categories: Auto Racing, Terence Moore
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By GSU-Lee
March 9, 2008 9:48 PM | Link to this
Solid piece, Terrence
By CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT
March 10, 2008 2:48 AM | Link to this
Carl Edwards is one of the best drivers out there. As usual you have to trash someone without any real proof. Get a transfer to CVincinnati and spew your venon on them.
By LaReve
March 10, 2008 2:53 AM | Link to this
Yes, for once, a very solid article from Terrance Moore. Has the earth started spinning backwards or has hell frozen over?
By Angelo
March 10, 2008 10:41 AM | Link to this
Toyota-What a Joke! The Only True American Race selling out to The Japs!! Makes me sick!!
By Angelo
March 10, 2008 10:42 AM | Link to this
Toyota-What a Joke! The Only True American Race selling out to The Japs!! Makes me sick!!
By David Beall
March 10, 2008 11:44 AM | Link to this
For Terence Moore to question the integrity of Carl Edwards is laughable. “NASCAR and common sense say otherwise?” I didn’t realize he was such an expert. Also, exactly what competitive advantage could possibly come from not having a lid on the oil tank?
By David Beall
March 10, 2008 11:44 AM | Link to this
For Terence Moore to question the integrity of Carl Edwards is laughable. “NASCAR and common sense say otherwise?” I didn’t realize he was such an expert. Also, exactly what competitive advantage could possibly come from not having a lid on the oil tank?
By Big Pipe
March 10, 2008 12:58 PM | Link to this
Nice article Terence! Not sure what has happened to you over the last year but you have definitely transformed into a writer with added credibility as opposed to laughable. Keep improving and your stock will follow
By Reggiew
March 10, 2008 8:48 PM | Link to this
Edwards had them covered if he does not break.He was 7 seconds ahead on before the last caution. He was just ridin around when he broke
By Maconboy
March 11, 2008 12:07 PM | Link to this
We’ll see where things end up in Nov…….don’t count Jr out too soon………