(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Keys to Victory
1) Handling—A tight car will generally translate into poor tire wear, which might mean a visit to the outside retaining walls. You can pretty much guess what happens if the car has a tremendous amount of oversteer.
Finding the edge between speed and grip will aid in the efforts to conserve fuel late in the race.
2) Got Gas?—If you have amazing fuel mileage, you'll probably embrace the possibility of the long, green-flag runs that are such a facet with Michigan International Speedway. Or, if a caution comes out on the edge of a pit window, having superior mileage with fuel just may offer, at the very least, an opportunity to gamble and stay out while the rest of the lead-lap cars pit for tires and gas.
3) Having a leadfoot—Yes, this sounds rather redundant, but with NASCAR implementing the double-file, shootout style restarts, being mired behind a car that's not as competitive as the leaders may just prove costly.
As it is a super-speedway, aerodynamics play a pivotal role when cars pull up behind and beside another, which triggers that old, despicable racing factor in the form of "dity air." Gordon made a comment last Sunday at Pocono about how his car's handling was horrible when he was stuck behind slower, lead-lap cars.
And, oh by the way...
Yes, I can understand how Kyle Busch was probably excited to finally win his first race at Nashville. And yes, the sport truly needs character, and is Shrub ever the villain this sport needs.
However, smashing the trophy for winning at Nashville, or in this case, a beautiful guitar with artwork by longtime NASCAR fixture Sam Bass, and claiming that pieces of the guitar would then go to his crew members seems a bit sour to the mouth.
Many fans and writers have pointed out how Busch could have easily bought guitars for every member of his crew.
After all, he makes millions upon millions of dollars and could honestly buy a guitar easily, even by not competing at Nashville in last Saturday night's Federated Auto Parts 300 for the Nationwide Series.
It was just simply wrong to do—emotions can be shown without destroying the prize that, supposedly, drivers vie for, not the hundreds of thousands of dollars they receive in Victory Lane.
There was a time when raw emotion could be depicted just by facial expression or by being silly without crossing the line of extreme tomfoolery. Some fans may recall Darrell Waltrip's 1989 Daytona 500 celebration when he finally won the Great American Race.
DW spiked his helmet and did the Icky Shuffle. With his gratitude and appreciation for the win so poignant, he didn't have to destroy the Harley J. Earl Trophy to prove his point.
Just when we fans, or perhaps even Busch himself, think they've seen a change in Shrub, an act of immaturity follows.
The desire to win a race is never a bad thing—after all, who shows up to the track to finish in second place?
Busch must learn to harness that raw talent and desire for victories with a bit of grace and sportsmanship which would go a long way's for NASCAR's ultimate bad boy.
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