Busch Keeps Getting Better

BRISTOL, Tenn. – The legend of Kyle Busch continues to grow.

Entering Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, the 23-year-old Las Vegas native had won 13 won Sprint Cup races at 13 different tracks.

Busch broke that string Sunday with his second victory at one of the most demanding tests in motorsports, then was greeted with a hearty chorus of boos and jeers.

It’s a shame that fans fail to appreciate this speed demon. No matter the track or the vehicle, Busch manages to weave and work his way to the front of the pack.

It’s way too early to reserve a wing in the NASCAR Hall of Fame for Busch, yet this kid has all the essentials of a champion. Instincts, guts, guile, talent – Busch possesses all that and more.

About the only thing that Busch lacks at this point is a willingness to accept defeat. Call it a lack of humility if you want.

Take Saturday’s Nationwide race at BMS as an example. After a botched pit snap ruined his chances for a victory, Busch chastised his crew via the scanner and then stormed from the track seconds after the finish.

Busch was asked about latest temper outburst following Sunday’s triumph in the Food City 500. “That [Nationwide] trophy is at Kevin Harvick’s house and not mine,” Busch said. “We put that behind us before today’s race, and thought about not having to make those mistakes again.”

Steve Addington, the crew chief for Busch in Sprint Cup, has come to accept the perfection-or-bust mentality of his driver.

“You’ve got to have a tough skin in this business or you need to be doing something else,” Addington said.

“Kyle does an awesome job in that race car. I know he’s out there trying to win, and he just wants to be that way.”

According to Addington, there is no secret to the success of Busch.

“He’s young and has a ton of talent,” Addington said. “I mean, that’s it. Kyle Busch is Kyle Busch.”

Increasingly, Busch has drawn comparisons to the late seven-time NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt. A student of the sport, Busch downplayed that talk Sunday while paying homage to Earnhardt.

“We all know who number one is and forever will be,” Busch said. 

With his confident, and even cocky manner, longtime fans feel that Darrell Waltrip is a more fitting comparison to Busch.

Counting the qualifying events at Daytona, Busch has now won one race in all five NASCAR Sprint Cup weekends. Fans have followed each conquest with more boos

“I don’t think I would enjoy having the most fans,” Busch said. “I enjoy the way I am and role I portray.”

Busch claimed that he doesn’t channel the negative response of fans into motivation.

“I think it’s cool it works that way, but I don’t use it,” Busch said. “What I use is the car in front of me.

“There’s always some motivation to go forward.”

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