The Bump Heard ’round the Nation
Written by Tiffany Ricardo · May 4, 2008
In the few hours that have elapsed since the “incident” of the closing laps of the “Guy Whose Name I Don’t Remember Anymore” 500 at Richmond, I have surmised quite a few things.
- I don’t even need to explain what “the incident” is. Everyone knows.
- It is really, really not wise to attempt to defend Kyle Busch.
- No one will remember that Denny Hamlin had the rest of the field crushed under his heel for ¾ of the race. People will only remember that he brought out “that” caution.
- Winning this race will sort of be like winning at Homestead when you are not about to become the Sprint Cup Champion. No one will remember who went to Victory Lane. Clint who???
All that being said, this was by far the most entertaining race of the season. We had poor decision-making, high drama, hurt feelings, outstanding plot twists, and most of all, crushed dreams. Did you see Dale Jr.’s interview with FOX after the race? I really thought he was going to fall weeping into Krista Voda’s arms. Once I got past the mountain man beard (what are these guys trying to say with the facial hair…?) my heart broke for him.
Jr.’s fans are without a doubt prepared to saddle up and invade Joe Gibbs Racing this morning. The call to arms went up around 11:45 pm last evening in Henrico County, VA and spread across Junior Nation like wildfire.
Before too much blood is shed, however, I would like to ask Junior Nation a loaded question:
What if the roles had been reversed? What if, in that racing incident, and it was a racing incident, in my opinion, Dale Jr. had come out unscathed and Kyle Busch had been the driver who ended up in the wall?
I’ll bet there would be a lot less bellyaching going on online this morning. In fact, I am willing to bet that the entire Richmond International Raceway (and living rooms across the country) would have erupted in utter ecstasy if the roles had been reversed last night.
However, isn’t what we saw at Richmond what racing is all about at its core? Being on top one week and being in the wall the next? Heroes and villains? Rivalries on the track? Drivers with - * gasp * - strong opinions and personalities?
Kyle Busch admittedly has fewer fans than other drivers because of his brashness on and off track. He simply rubs people the wrong way. Some people interpret his comments as snotty, immature, and egotistical. Others see it as a vast amount of self-confidence and the mark of a great racecar driver in the making.
Now, because he dared to try to take a position away from Dale Jr., Kyle has established himself as a villain for all time. It’s not a bad thing. NASCAR needs drivers like him as much as they need their Dale Jrs.
Regardless of how you feel about Kyle Busch and/or Dale Earnhardt Jr., this race won’t be forgotten for a long time as a result of their hard racing. Considering all the forgettable races we’ve seen recently, isn’t that a good thing?
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3 Responses to “The Bump Heard ’round the Nation”
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Kyle Busch is an absolute a**hole. When Hamlin had the tire go down and Jr. was leading, I turned to my wife and said, Clint Boyer is going to win this race.
I told her that Busch had a 2d or 3d place car, but he’d push it and take Jr. out of the race. Sure as s***, that’s exactly what he did.
When is NASCAR going to wake up to the fact that Kyle consistently drives the car beyond his ability. He needs to be docked 1000 points and set on the sideline for 5-6 races, or sent back to the Nationwide series for the year. He doesn’t belong in the Sprint Cup Series.
He may also want to try http://www.starsofkarting.com and start over!!!
Well Tiffany……..you ask “What If the roles had been reversed” ? my answer is there wouldn’t have been a wreck at the front of the pack as Jr. is NOT the dirty, careless driver that Busch is and would have made a CLEAN pass for the lead or waited till the last lap and showed him the front bumper and just moved him up and out of the way without spinning him out and Hamlin’s stunt of parking on the track until he got his teammate a caution would have had little impact. Kyle Busch has a vendetta to settle with Rick Hendrick and Jr. and will do anything to take them out and anyone including reporters that don’t want to acknowledge that are just blind and need to get out of racing alltogether. Look at what Kyle did fri. nite after the nationwide race by getting straight out of his car and going to wallace’s car to start a confrontation just because he was tapped in the bumper. It’s just racing when Kyle hits/wrecks someone , but when he just gets tapped he wants to fight about it. If Earnhardt Sr. were still with us he would give that punk a few driving lesson’s to show him that he’s driving beyond his current capabilities just as Jimmy Spencer had to show another Busch (Kurt) that he wasn’t going to put up with him either. Remember when Kyle took his brother out at Charlotte…… Kurt has learned from his mistakes and has become a better driver……..Kyle may not learn anything until NASCAR or his team owner decide that enough is enough. I can’t believe that Joe Gibbs would tolerate his win or wreck attitude when race cars cost so much. Rick hendrick didn’t and sent him packing !!!
Sorry for the late post,but, having heaved my Bud across the room at our home pub in anger I’m sure makes me bias, but I agree with bushwacker. Had Jr. been behind Bush, no incident, a ‘lil bump and run and it’s won.I’m not so fast to agree with the consperacy therory of “Bush is out to get HMS” because Kyle has been over driving his cars from day one, and thats what this was, to fast and hard into a corner with to little banking, only the next race will tell if bushwacker is right, for all of us as fans, I hope he’s not because that would mean that Nascar has once again turned a blind eye to the track for the sake of ratings and Brian France’s never ending obsesion of money befor racing.All in all, good race, but I think they will only get better……Good luck to all your drivers at Darlington, and I hope all they see is a Mountain Dew rear bummper……………………