Kyle Busch's Party in Nasvhille: One People Can't Let Go

(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Who can blame Kyle Busch for being the life of the party?

After smashing a guitar in the Nashville Superspeedway Victory Lane last Saturday night, people are still talking about what was, until that point, a snoozer like all other snoozers.

Busch led 151-of-225 laps, only trailing when pit sequence got him off track with some of the series’ better back markers, then continued his domination after a lap 123 melee that sent hometown favorite Trevor Bayne to the garage.

It was a rough night for Bayne, who was demoted immediately back to rookie status after holding the provisional pole—that is, until Busch snatched it away and relegated Bayne to the outside of the front row. Busch bounced before turn one and rode into the sunset and away from the field.

So, after Busch ruined the hometown story and turned the race into a worthwhile time to take a nap, he then livened the Nashville Superspeedway up again—first by doing what Busch said Mythbusters deemed impossible by lighting his rear tires on fire in a sensational burnout, and then by smashing the esteemed Gibson guitar in Victory Lane.

This was, after all, a day following Busch’s uninvited arrival to the track for practice. Along with Carl Edwards, Busch stole the media frenzy from Nationwide Series regulars when qualifying was rained out in Pocono and the Cup Series duo made it to Nashville for two practice sessions.

Let’s get this straight: Busch stole the show, broke the prize, then set sail back to Pocono in moment’s notice. Had the post-race show followed in its traditional monotony: Drive by crowd, Victory Lane, thank sponsors, TV off, last Saturday’s race would long be forgotten.

The tidal wave of negativity billowing from Nashville hardly followed him back up north, but the reactions haven’t stopped in Nashville.

Some are calling Busch’s actions detrimental to stock car racing. NASCAR Nationwide Series Director of Competition Joe Balash didn’t. Neither did anyone else within NASCAR—A.K.A. the people that actually matter in this whole deal.

Nobody complained when John Wes Townley destroyed a racecar not five laps into the Federated Auto Parts 300. Nobody wanted the crew chief’s reaction or to see the fabricator’s tears. Nobody wanted to throw around the monetary value of the piece Wes Townley had just destroyed.

That car, like the guitar Busch crumbled, had a price tag. It’s just that the car was worth more than the No. 18’s tire bill from Saturday night, unlike that guitar, which has been given as a prize enough times to make me numb to its worth.

I don’t know what Joey Logano did with his guitar, or what Brad Keselowski and Scott Wimmer did with their 2008 models. I do know what Busch did, and that was respect that thing enough to give a piece to every member of his team.

While other guitars collect dust, Busch’s ends up in the hands of a bunch of guys who truly deserve it, the same ones he’s thrown under the bus multiple times this season for ruining bad runs.

Busch doesn’t need to apologize to anyone. He’s reconciled with the No. 18 team, he’s in good standing with NASCAR, yet the majority of the media continues to fry him like a Twinkie at Bristol.

And this, all because he turned a boring night at home into a lively, rock-and-roll party in Nasvhille.

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