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2008 NASCAR Tickets & NASCAR Schedule
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Like Father, Like Kyle Busch Posted:0535hrs
By Greg Engle,Editor, Cup Scene Daily Although I jumped out of perfectly good airplanes thousands of times in my years in the military only once did I participate in something called a BASE jump. That’s a ‘sport’ where you jump from a fixed object such as a building, cliff, or in my case a very tall radio tower in Kansas.
I leapt and went through all the motions I was used to, and while it was a rush praying the chute would inflate and dodging a guy wire or two, I got on the ground, looked back up and said to myself, “I did what I had to do but I sure as hell will never do something like that again.’ It was a lesson learned the hard way. Sometimes we do what we have to do at the time knowing full well we will do it differently or not at all the next time. And so it goes with young Kyle Busch. Saturday night at Richmond Busch made contact with Dale Earnhardt Junior with less than five laps to go sending Earnhardt spinning into the wall and out of contention for the win. Dale Earnhardt Junior’s hope for an end to his long losing streak was dashed and the entire Junior Nation declared war on the kid who turned 23 this past weekend. It kind of reminded me of the time when Dale Earnhardt Senior spun Terry Labonte on the last lap of the 1999 Goody’s Headache Powder 500 at Bristol and went on to when the race. "I wasn't going to wreck him, I just got to him and turned him around,” Earnhardt said at the time all the while flashing his famous grin. “Didn’t really mean to turn him around, just meant to rattle his cage a little." Terry Labonte and Earnhardt Senior had a history prior to that night at Bristol. Labonte won the race there in 1984 and took the points lead from Earnhardt. Then in 1995, Earnhardt was black flagged for putting Rusty Wallace into the wall early in the race. As was his style, the Intimidator battled his way back through the field and was running second on the last lap with Labonte in the lead. He nudged Labonte going into turn 4, and then slammed him again on exit. Labonte’s car was pinned against the wall and Earnhardt pushed it across the line giving Labonte the win. These incidents provided some of the most exciting moments in the sport and also caused a lot of talk among fans. No one doubted that Earnhardt meant to shove Labonte out of the way, and some were even critical of NASCAR for not taking the win away from him. They didn’t and that’s a controversy still talked about in some circles even today. What happened between Busch and Earnhardt Junior Saturday night wasn’t something Busch meant to do. I don’t believe for one second that he went into the corner looking to spin Earnhardt Junior. One reason I believe this is Busch’s personality. In the few face-to-face dealings I’ve had with him, he always comes off as a bit arrogant. Maybe that’s just the way he deals with the media, maybe he’s a totally different person if you get to know him, but I go with what I know, and that’s that he carries an air of arrogance wherever he goes. One thing I’ve observed about people over the years is that those who are arrogant tend to avoid taking responsibility for their mistakes. And if they do own up to it, it takes a lot out of them. In other words, they really mean it when they confess their wrongdoings. "I apologize to those guys that the whole incident happened,” Busch said, in post race Saturday night. “I didn’t mean to do it on purpose. It was just something where two cars got together and unfortunately it was Dale Earnhardt Junior.” That doesn’t mean he was being honest, heck he may have simply been trying to get out of the racetrack alive, but I don’t think so. I think he really felt bad about what happened. And like my climbing a radio tower, I suspect Busch said to himself ‘I’ll never do that again’ and the next time he comes into that situation he’ll do it a whole lot differently. Should Earnhardt Junior be upset? Of course, anyone would. But should he think that Busch intentionally shoved him out of the way? Nope. All either one of them has to do is look back some of the historic finishes at Bristol to see how that’s done.
NOTE: I'm a one man show, not supported by anyone. If you wish to donate to help offset expense, it would be appreciated:
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