Kyle Busch, Hot on the Track, Not With Fans.
By: Drew Hierwarter
Is Kyle Busch the most hated man in NASCAR right now? He just may be but it doesn’t seem to bother him as he keeps right on winning. His win Saturday night in the Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington came in spite of a pit road miscue and a brush with the wall that left the graphics on the right side of his car almost unrecognizable. It was his third Sprint Cup win of the season and the sixth straight weekend that he’s won a race in a variety of different types of race cars. Busch is the hottest driver in NASCAR right now and currently leads the Sprint Cup points, is second in Nationwide Series points, and sixth in Craftsman Truck Series points. But the fans still boo loudly every time his name is mentioned.
Most fans are still mad at Kyle Busch for supposedly wrecking Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and preventing him from winning the race last week in Richmond, although even Earnhardt himself has said it was just hard racing between two guys trying to win. It doesn’t matter to the tens of thousands of Earnhardt’s fans as they continue to think of Kyle Busch as the driver they most love to hate. And, to Busch’s credit, he’s okay with that. As a matter of fact he rejoices in it.
As he stood in Darlington’s victory lane, along with the shower of Gatorade and champagne, came the shower of boos. Does that bother him? “Not really,” he said. “I don’t care. I’m here to win. If I win, it just makes ‘em more upset and crying on their way home. By the way, somebody threw a beer can at me. Next time just make sure it’s full so I can enjoy it out there, all right?”
This was Busch’s most significant victory of his career. He is now the youngest winner on what most call the toughest track in NASCAR. Some of the best drivers in the business with Hall-of-Fame careers have never won at Darlington. His victory was also decisive as he cruised under the checkered flag a full three seconds ahead of second place Carl Edwards. Busch’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jeff Gordon was third followed by Earnhardt and David Ragan. Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, Travis Kvapil, Dave Blaney and Jeff Burton rounded out the top ten.
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The annual run up to the Indianapolis 500 has begun. The official start of qualifications for the Memorial weekend classic, known as “Pole Day” was this past Saturday. Thirty-two drivers made a run at the clocks trying to win the $100,000 prize that goes along with the honor of starting the Indianapolis 500 from the first position. And when it was all over, New Zealand’s Scott Dixon driving for the Target Chip Ganassi Racing team was the man on top. It’s Dixon’s first pole in five previous starts at Indy. Starting next to Dixon in the May 25th classic will be his Ganassi teammate Dan Weldon, and next to him will be Team Penske driver Ryan Briscoe, completing the front row. It was a dominant day for the powerhouse teams of the IRL with two time 500 winner Helio Castroneves qualifying fourth, Andretti-Green Racing’s Danica Patrick in fifth and Tony Kanaan next to her in sixth.
Saturday’s runs locked in the first eleven starting positions for the 500. Rain washed out all on track activities on Sunday so the remainder of the field will qualify next weekend.