Kyle Busch in a verbal war with Dale Junior

May 29, 4:26 PMDetroit NASCAR ExaminerJosh Lobdell

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Young Kyle Busch has run off at the mouth again Getty Images/Sam Greenwood

I think we can all understand where Kyle Busch is coming from. While he was at Hendrick Motor Sports he was fairly successful winning four races in a little more than three seasons. Rick Hendrick then made the decision to replace Kyle with NASCAR’s most popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. starting with the 2008 season.

Now it can be said that Kyle landed on his feet with Joe Gibbs racing, and he sure has had a lot of success over there. However we must remember that this was really the second time the Kyle got screwed out of a ride with a Top Tier NASCAR organization. Kyle was all locked in to a Roush Racing development deal before NASCAR changed their age limit rules, and lost his ride as both Busch brothers fell out of favor with the Roush management.

If I were Kyle I would feel bitter about how his tenure at Hendricks ended but the results he has achieved since than make his comment Friday seem pretty silly, and ultimately unnecessary.

Busch had this to say about the crew chief change on the #88 team, "It's never Junior; it's always the crew chief." He continued, “He's got his hands full, I guess, having to deal with what's going on, and if Junior doesn't run well, then he [Lance McGrew] is going to be the problem' again. You've got to make the most popular driver in the sport competitive, so you gotta do what you gotta do, I guess,"

Now there is a lot of truth in what Kyle is saying. Dale Junior fans are unwilling to accept or look at Junior’s role in the performance of his team in 2009. However this is yet another public relations miscue by the younger Busch brother.

By saying this he only reinforces his reputation as a spoiled brat. Here he is driving for one of the premier NASCAR teams, having the kind of success that is totally unprecedented in this sport, and he takes a pretty cheap shot at the man who replaced him at his former team.

There is one thing Kyle is going to have to reconcile within himself, beyond records, success, or stats Dale Jr. is the most popular driver in the sport today. Regardless of what Kyle does this season or in the future that is going to continue to be the case. It isn’t fair, it isn’t right, it just is. I don’t like it anymore than Kyle does but he is damaging his own reputation and legacy taking a cheap shot at NASCAR’s most popular driver who is struggling right now.