In shadows of Dover Speedway last weekend, tens of thousands of green hatted Dale Jr. fans sat in awe as Kyle Busch showed again why he is the current Sprint Cup Series points leader. Fans of others were not spared as the array of Roush Fords battled to secure top fives while Kyle Busch secured yet another victory amidst boos from all around.
Due to the earlier reference to Dale Jr I would like to reflect on the reason my enthusiasm for the #88 has began to elude me in the past few weeks.
I would like to call out the early wreck during Sunday’s race, where Dale Jr was rear ended and nosed into the wall. For any that saw it like I did, I think it was pretty obvious his car was not hurt that bad. Certainly not as bad as the #20 and #29 who both managed to drive their mangled machines back to the garage.
How surprising was it that the #88 wound up behind the wrecker for a quick haul to the garage. In contrast, earlier this month “Rowdy” Busch was racing in the Truck series running in the top five when Ron Hornaday put him in the wall and spinning through the infield. Note Busch had already missed a race or two in that series, and has no chance at that championship at this point, yet he drove his batter truck back to the pits, got it mended somewhat, and returned to the track to battle for 15th.
The reason I mention this is to highlight the difference in personalities between Kyle and Dale.
Kyle Busch will take what he is given in the car and make up the difference with driving ability; if he wrecks he will race it wrecked.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr, has always been unable to step up and make up for an ill handling race car since he got to the Cup series. Anyone who was a fan of NASCAR prior to 2001 and the untimely death of Dale Earnhardt, Sr. knows that was his forte, compensating for the lack of a dominant car with dominating ability.
Jr. missed out on that part of the DNA. Due to what DNA he did get from Dale Sr. I will always pull for Dale Jr., I just wish he would step up and make it happen to win some races. Points racing might make the chase, but it has really hurt the racing.
Kyle Busch provides a much needed breath of fresh air to NASCAR by actually racing to win. We all owe the Gibb’s bunch a lot of thanks for removing the Hendricks reigns on this kid, and letting his show what he can do.
Anyway, back to Kyle.
Like a seasoned veteran, Kyle Busch was content to ride in the top five while waiting for the race to come to him. Just shy of 150 laps to go, Kyle made his move to take the lead, and stayed there for most of the rest of the race. At times his lead was over 6 seconds, but he was content with a 3 second margin of victory after his crew assured him that second place Carl Edwards couldn't catch him.
In other news… might be the end of the road for Jamie McMurray in the infamous fifth car from the Roush-Fenway stable. While every other owner in the garage has had to abide by the four or fewer teams rule, Jack Roush has managed to keep his fifth car citing driver and sponsor obligations as the reason he can't trim the fifth team away.
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