Taking in Kyle Busch's Big Weekend as a New NASCAR Fan

"You win some, lose some, and wreck some."

—Dale Earnhardt

Stock car racing thrills millions of fans. Its spectators relish pageantry. In a NASCAR event, there is plenty to enjoy. 

Besides the drivers in eye-catching racing uniforms and spectacular helmets, their teams dressed equally bold and brazen—there are the trucks themselves, ground-hugging, colorful, and emblazoned with sponsor art. The eye doesn’t know where to focus. 

They pray at the start of NASCAR races. Even so, they still make some poor sap sing The Star Spangled Banner—in this case Billy Ray Cyrus at the start of the San Bernardino County 200. I felt bad enough for Billy Ray after seeing him trip the light fantastic on Dancing with the Stars! 

Today did nothing to lower my pity meter as his microphone faded in and out. He did hit that high note, however. God knows how much that cost him.

The San Bernardino County 200 Camping World Truck Series at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California was my first NASCAR experience. There was much to see and learn during this baby step into the auto racing world.

The race was 200 miles over a two-mile track for 100 laps. What television cannot capture in a racing event are speed and noise—the two principal ingredients that appeal to racing fans. 

Although the camera work was admirable and you got a sense of the speed of these trucks at certain angles, true connoisseurs of the NASCAR Truck Series must feel the need to be sitting next to the track with ear plugs intact and sunscreen plentiful.

The premise is simple enough. You go faster than everybody else and you cross the finish line first. 

Anyone who engages in any kind of race knows this is simplistic. There needs to be strategy depending on who else is in the race and what that individual’s strengths might be. 

In auto racing, there is also the issue of pit stops—when you need to leave the track in order to add fuel or to change tires or make any other adjustments that are necessary.

New pit rules prohibit truck teams from taking fuel and changing tires during the same pit stop. That leaves the crew chief struggling with timing and priority decisions.  Obviously, the pit stop can make or break a team and its driver.

When you are accelerating on average at consistently high speeds and your lead is recorded in seconds, tires are critical because as they wear, they can bleed essential time from your speed. 

This 200 race belonged to Kyle Busch from start to finish. He held the lead for 95 out of 100 laps, relinquishing the top spot twice for pit stops. His No. 51 Tundra Toyota was readied by the Billy Ballew Motorsports Team.

"These guys made this truck drive so well," Busch said. "It's really a lot of fun to come out here and win two years in a row."

After some earlier disappointments this season, Busch was just too strong for the field and his truck was superlative in a definitive win. 

Todd Bodine finished second—over nine seconds behind Busch. Bodine had edged Busch out the week before at Daytona, so the victory was very satisfactory.

Nothing changed in the evening event—the Statler Brothers 300 where Rowdy Busch led 143 of 150 laps giving him his first Nationwide Series win of this early season. 

He described his victory as a “blast,” taking two championships in one day. His win was hard-earned, as he finessed his way to the finish line at the expense of Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick.

Busch was hoping to make it a three-peat by winning the coveted Auto Club 500 Sprint Cup Race on Sunday evening at Auto Club Speedway.

He finished third in a race dominated by the contest between Jeff Gordon and eventual winner Matt Kenseth. Kenseth’s pit crew proved to be the deciding factor in this essentially two-man contest.

Kyle Busch concluded, however, that it had been a great finish for him and his crew and that the weekend was a roaring success.

My first weekend as a NASCAR fan concluded and I remained struck by the activities at the conclusion of the 200. As the top finishers were interviewed, it was particularly fascinating to watch Busch pose with his trophy, changing sponsor hats time after time, and submitting to a new camera shot. 

All this making it abundantly clear that sponsorship is critical to success in auto racing—the world’s most expensive sport.  

At that same time it is the world’s most popular sport. It took some calculation to figure out why that is true. It is the pageantry, the noise, the speed, and perhaps the thrill of potential tragedy. 

It is also this: Not everybody has the capability to play football or tennis, but almost everyone can drive. Who can’t imagine sitting behind that wheel, crossing the finish line first?