(Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images)
The more appropriate quote to use here, in my opinion, is that the measure of a "racer" is how badly he wants to win, how much he dislikes losing, and how he's never content with second place (and sometimes not even with first if it wasn't a dominating victory). Given that, my money's on Kyle every time, no matter who the opponent.
So, Kyle was curt and left the media center as soon as his obligations were complete. Did he say or do anything any worse than he has in the past when he's finished in second or third? It doesn't seem so.
Was he magnanimous in his praise for Logano? Probably not. Was he surly and nasty to other drivers or even to the press? Again, no more than usual, and actually less overall.
I can think of at least one instance this year where Kyle didn't win, but did finish third, and thus had media tent obligations.
At the end of the Sprint Cup race in California where Kyle had a chance to become the first driver to win all three events in NASCAR's three major series in one weekend and finished third, his interviews were actually quite pleasant and complimentary to Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon, who battled it out in front of him for most, if not all, of the last segment of the race.
He knew his car wasn't good enough to compete with them and said he was glad to have had the best seat in the house to watch the two champions race each other ahead of him as hard as they did, giving the fans in Fontana a decent race for the finish for the first time in years. Sounds like he knows how to lose gracefully at least some of the time.
As final evidence, the author states that race winner Joey Logano's interview proved that Busch's attitude is more about his personality than his upbringing.
I don't even know what the heck that means. I assume the author is talking about how Kyle's behavior at the conference had more to do with his "second place is first loser" attitude and how he moved up through the ranks to get into the top series in NASCAR, and not about how his parents raised him at home.
Of course, making that comparison between Busch and Logano as though they might somehow be different seems to contradict exactly what the author offered up before—Logano was brought up in the best of everything, especially after having been signed to a development deal with JGR years before turning 18, much earlier in his career than Busch was offered a ride in a Roush truck.
The article finishes with a quote from Logano talking about how it was a team effort (something every winner says) and that a JGR 1-2 finish was "a big deal for the guys back at the shop."
The author then makes the conceptual leap that "it wasn't a big deal for Busch, who in just over a year at Joe Gibbs Racing has failed to embrace the team concept and shown his true colors enough times to make it his typical persona."
To say that Kyle hasn't embraced the team concept is simply to ignore the facts. Time and again Denny, Joey, JD, and Joe Gibbs have talked glowingly about how Kyle has worked with his teammates—going so far as to "shake down" Joey's car at Daytona to see if he could help improve it and giving him pointers on and off the track—about how to race, about to handle the fame and pressure at a young age, etc.
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