Kyle Busch captured his fourth win of the 2009 season by holding off a hard-charging Mark Martin in the closing laps. Busch continues his quest to reclaim a spot in the Chase for the Championship, and his sixteenth career victory did not hurt. He is only 34 points below the cutoff.
The Sprint Cup Series visits the Atlanta Motor Speedway on Labor Day for the next race.
That race is perhaps the most pivotal one in the race to the Chase, as the Chase contenders aim for a solid finish so they can head to
Richmond with some cushion.
Judging by Busch’s last visit to
Atlanta, he has quite a bit of fine-tuning ahead.
He finished eighteenth, three laps off the pace in March.
Of course, the Labor Day event is a night race, so the track conditions will be much different.
However, if you recap the last night race at an intermediate oval, which was at Chicagoland in July, Busch finished 33
rd and collected a DNF due to an engine failure.
Busch had a trying weekend at
Michigan.
Following his latest rampage directed at Brian Vickers, his image took another hit.
Once again, he acted like an irascible child.
Vickers even stated that ‘he felt sorry’ for the angry driver.
It is safe to say that when rookie driver Chase Austin perplexingly veered into Kyle Busch’s Toyota Camry while he was leading the Nationwide Series race, everyone was waiting for Busch’s response. How bad was he going to throw the young Austin under the bus? What insults would he hurl at the rookie driver?
Following the early incident, Busch swiftly headed for the team hauler where he was able to gather himself together.
A few months ago, he would have left the track without addressing the media.
On this night, he was composed enough to grant the media an interview regarding the wreck.
“You know, mistakes happen sometimes, I’ve made plenty, so we’ll go on and get them next week,” he said regarding lap 52 accident that ended his race.
While his Nationwide Series race ended in frustration, the main event was exactly what Busch had hoped for.
However, every time Busch wins, he is ecstatic.
This time, he repeatedly acknowledged that driver that he beat.
“Man, what an honorable race car driver Mark Martin is…I can’t thank him enough (for racing me clean),” he said.
Has Busch really matured, or is this an attempt to cover over last week’s outburst?
The media seems to think he has suddenly bypassed public relations puberty.
There is a surfeit of articles pointing to the maturity and class Busch displayed this weekend.
Let us not get carried away.
Kyle is still Kyle, and I seriously doubt that he has completely altered his demeanor overnight.
The media seems to jump on the Kyle Busch bandwagon as quick as they jump off.
When he is winning races, he is the next Dale Earnhardt, or the greatest driver in NASCAR.
On the other hand, when he struggles and shows his frustration, he is a petulant jerk.
In my opinion, he is a talented, ultra-competitive young man, who is driven to win.
However, unlike most other drivers, he is unable to handle defeat, therefore, he often acts like a child.
It is as simple as that.
Comments
first in the truck race and then in the cup race the camera seemed to pan away from kyle when he bows to the crowd. that is the best part!
I disagree. I don't think anyone is saying he's suddenly this gracious guy. What has happened is on Friday and on Saturday Busch displayed two examples of class behavior. It doesn't mean he's stopped being himself, so it's more case by case.
Kyle was gracious in victory lane, sure he was. Kyle has probably just graduated
Kyle Busch is a nice guy only when he wins. What do you think his attitude would have been if he had finished second or third? He is a very talented driver with a very childish way of handling defeat. He would be well advised to be careful with his tantrums because other children he races with might not play nice.
It seems like both Bush Boys grew up a little bit spoiled. The older one is trying to show a different side now, but was just like kyle when he was younger. Kyle needs to grow up. The attitude needs to change.
Yea, It seems some of the media is already saying how nice Busch has become even one of the reporters on Nascar.com is talking it up. How quickly they forget Michigan just what a week ago? Let me put it this way folks. What do you think would have happen if Busch had been second at Bristol on the inside of Martin with two laps left? I think we all know the answer to that and it wouldn't have been how Martin raced Busch Sat. Night. I strongly believe Busch would have "nudged" Martin or "accidently" slid up into him enough to get him loose so Busch could win. Then, you wouldn't being seeing all these stories about how "nice" he has become. Time will tell but I not buying this "Mister Niceguy" stuff yet. I still think you will see more of the real Busch before the season is over.
Take him for what he is and if you don't like him then don't watch NASCAR. The fans are as big a baby as they say Kyle is. Kyle is the best race car driver today and people never like a winner. Ric Flair says "To be the man you have to beat the man"
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