Kyle Busch (not dead)

May very well be a jerk, but he is a supremely talented jerk.  We went down to the Howie Lettlow Memorial race in Milwaukee for the Midwest Your late model race a few years back, and he put on a clinic among the very best SLM guys in the game.

He has now won on every track that the Cup series runs on.  That is a very, very impressive feat.

Based on just a name in the title, the person is usually dead.

So...Kyle Busch isn't dead?

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

Lol. This is like tiger woods going to the little leagues and beating the pants off everyone. Who cares? Even the worst pro is still operating at a level above the minor leagues. 

There have been other people in various sports (and in life I suppose) that I have loved to hate, sort of like a longtime nemesis. And then when they're gone (retired or dead), I feel some sense of loss, and kind of miss them as an opponent or adversary.

I don't see that happening with Kyle Busch though. This guy is thoroughly unlikeable. 

You can't deny that he is a damn good Nascar driver though.

I like him.  If I owned a car he’s the type of driver I’d put in it.  He’s going to win or bring back a smoldering heap.  I think the jerk title is a bit unfair.  He was really the first talented young driver to have cameras on him 24/7.  People seem to forget how aggressive and moody young Dale Earnhardt and young Tony Stewart were. They had the benefit of less coverage of their tantrums.  A few years ago I went to a series of fundraisers for the Saratoga auto museum with Bobby Allison, Richard Childress, and Kyle Busch.  Of the three Kyle’s was by far the most fan friendly and he was the most personable of the three spending plenty of time with all of the kids that came out.  

I saw one of them at Walmart Store 100 once about 15 years ago.  I think it was Kurt.  He looked 17.  I remember thinking "Man, this kid must be really good AND have a rich daddy."  He was personable and didn't come off as a jerk, sitting in front of a Walmart in Arkansas with his car signing pictures. 

Kyle is very determined to do well (read that as win) in just about everything he does. That attitude has given some people the impression that he is a jerk, but it is single mindedness that is coming through. The 600 race last night allowed some of his drive to show through in the post-race interview. His effort is even more on display when he does not have dominant car or there are race issues that put him at the back of the field and he has to drive back to the front.

Disclaimer, I may have some association...

In reply to Trackmouse :

I don't think it's the equivalent of that at all. In motorsports, you need money as much as talent anymore to progress and I think a lot of guys seem to just stop wherever their budget caps out. Plus, I think here's something to be said for jumping in a totally different car you might only drive a few times a year and competing against guys racing them sometimes 2-3 times per week. Thats actually one thing I like about NASCAR is that you still see guys doing this kind of stuff.

I'm not as familiar with late models, but I saw Kasey Kahne run with the World of Outlaws sprint cars at Williams Grove last year, which are always a mix of the local hotshoes and guys on their national tour anyways. The apparent difference in skill between the best of the best local guys, the top guys on the tour, and a NASCAR driver was amazingly small in cars weihing less than half what a Cup car weighs, with comparable power, running on dirt. IIRC Kasey won his heat handily, but finised like 4-5th in the feature.

Back on topic, I thought it was Kurt that was supossed to be the bigger shiny happy person?

Google confirmed he's not dead yet, title updated to avoid further confusion. 

In reply to Woody :

Isn't that like being a very good professional wrestler?

In reply to markwemple :

We get it. You don’t like NASCAR or anyone involved in it.  

In reply to Furious_E :

That’s what I’ve seen most of the time as well they get a couple NASCAR drivers at Lebanon Valley almost every year and the only one I’ve ever seen run away from everyone is Tony Stewart.  Usually the do well but nothing spectacular.

Furious_E said:

Back on topic, I thought it was Kurt that was supossed to be the bigger shiny happy person?

Yeah, both Busch boys have that reputation, but I think Kurt has mellowed some with age.

I don't like Kyle, either, but there's no denying that he's probably the most naturally talented driver to come to NASCAR since maybe Jeff Gordon. Would have loved to see what he could have done had he chosen the open-wheel path to Indy or F1.

Trackmouse said:

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

Lol. This is like tiger woods going to the little leagues and beating the pants off everyone. Who cares? Even the worst pro is still operating at a level above the minor leagues. 

Not at all.  Show up to a Midwest tour race, you will likely be racing against some Sauters, a couple of Wallace Bros, maybe Matt Kenneth or his son.  Then you add guys who run their late models 150 nights a year.  It is a very talented group of drivers, limited by budget and the number of high end rides available.

75 cars, and the middle 2/3 will qualify in a .200 window. Had we picked up a tenth on the Mile, we would have picked up about 30 positions.  Kyle had about .300 on the field.

markwemple said:

In reply to Woody :

Isn't that like being a very good professional wrestler?

Juan Montoya/ Kyle Larson.