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.
11 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Mike Zoran about 1 year ago
I disagree with you on Dale. He HAS shown that ability to take a wreaked car and keep it in the front. I can think of at least two Talledega wins where the whoel front end was taped on. Honestly you, I, nor anyone knows what happened to that car Sunday. Maybe we should find that out before we assume he just "gave up".
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Mike Zoran about 1 year ago
I really need to take a typing class
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Lauri about 1 year ago
Since his splitter was WEDGED under the safer barrier & the 11 car was WEDGED up against his passenger door, how exactly was he supposed to drive off? What a putz you are.....using Jr's name to get hits to your website....typical! Go Jr!
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Derek Harmsworth about 1 year ago
Jr. is a good guy, but I mean really, what has he done? No offense fans, but if it wasn't for his name, he wold be just another driver.
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B Brand about 1 year ago
Yep you're right. What the heck is wrong with Junior. Last year when all those engines were blowing up, he should have just picked up the car and carried it around the track. When the power steering failed he should have...no wait. Didnt Kyle have steering issues and crash his car this year? Guess he should have handled the car like Junior did last year....50+ laps without power steering.
Guess you werent watching the week before when he lost a tire, crashed into the wall and still came back to finish fifth.
There you have it...another hit to your site. I really hope you're a gentleman about it and thank Junior for what he's done for you.
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Mitchell Hall about 1 year ago
Lets really call out Jr's top 5 finish as a result of fuel mileage...
I am a Jr. fan like all the rest of you, I just wish he could drive more like Dale Sr., which is the real reason he is popular anyway. Please don't take me as anti-Jr, I am anything but that.
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Mike Zoran about 1 year ago
He IS NOT his dad and should not be compared to his dad. Just like Kyle Petty should not be compared to Richard.
What would you rather have, 1 win and the rest DNF and last in points, or what he has and third in points.
Jr. wants to win races yes, but the reason he left DEI is to win championships. He is having his best season points wise and people are dogging him for it.
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Connor Grieco about 1 year ago
Can we talk about other drivers please? Jr fans seem to be very good at making excuses.... best season yet?! He's now 74+ Cup races without a win!? Just like comments about McMurray, maybe we should consider having the most-hyped driver to do nothing step out of the arena.
Or, we could just call him the Michelle Wie of NASCAR.
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Connor Grieco about 1 year ago
Can we talk about other drivers please? Jr fans seem to be very good at making excuses.... best season yet?! He's now 74+ Cup races without a win!? Just like comments about McMurray, maybe we should consider having the most-hyped driver to do nothing step out of the arena.
Or, we could just call him the Michelle Wie of NASCAR.
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Jen Preston about 1 year ago
You made a really good point- points racing gets you into the Chase, but it hurts the racing. I agree with Connor about wanting to talk about other drivers, but the fact is Dale Jr., Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon... they bring in the money for NASCAR. And besides making the races boring with the COT, that's all Brianc France really cares about right now.
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Busch Whacker about 1 year ago
The article was about Jr. so we are talking about said driver...who did have two wins during speedweeks. Consistency wins championships and so far Jr. is having a lot of that with Hendrick. I don't like points racing either but you have to take what you can get when you don't have the best car and lately Hendrick has not had the best cars. If they did Gordo and Johnson would be winning some of these races so give the AMP/National Guard team some credit for having a great year so far...and remember Matt Kenseth won the championship in '03 with a single win.
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