In My Opinion: Kyle Busch

The Media just loves Kyle. The fans just hate him. And Kyle just loves being hated. Okay, he can drive. But is he as great as the Media makes him out to be? In my opinion, definitely not. Yes, he wins races. Last year, in his fourth year in the Sprint Cup Series, he had eight wins. Is that a lot? Sure. More than some, but not as many as some. Carl Edwards had nine wins the same year. Jeff Gordon won his first Championship in his third full year in Winston Cup with seven wins. Kyle had only four wins in his first three years. I’m sure the Media noticed that at the time. They must have forgotten, though.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. once spun out into the infield at a track, and when he got out of the car, he bowed to the fans to show that he was alright. Kyle took that bow and made it his own when he wins. Carl Edwards does a back-flip from the car when he wins. He doesn’t tell you he got that from another driver. But he made it his own. I guess Kyle can’t do a back-flip, because he didn’t take that from Carl.

Kyle Busch decided he was going to prove to the masses that he is the best driver ever. And the Media jumped on the bandwagon. But he wasn’t going to do it by winning all the races in Sprint Cup and collecting Championships in that Series. No, he will enter as many races as he can in the lower Series. So, as a Pro in Cup, he will race against the amateurs in the Nationwide Series and the drivers who couldn’t win in Cup, competing in the Camping World Truck Series.

Does that make him a better driver than, say, three-time Cup Champion, Jimmy Johnson? Or four-time Cup Champion, Jeff Gordon? Hardly. It only proves he’s better than the drivers who never made it in Cup. Yes, he amassed many wins last year in the three NASCAR Series. And the Media quickly picked up on that, saying he could get into any car or truck and win. But does that really prove that he is a great driver? In my opinion, no.

Kyle doesn’t know how to loose. The Media says that’s because he’s the ONLY one who wants to win. I beg to differ. EVERY driver out there, in all Series WANTS to win. They wouldn’t be racing if they didn’t think they could win. Kyle needs to grow up. It was cute when he started out as the youngest driver to win certain races. And pouted and stormed off when he didn’t. But he’s 24 now and still runs away from the fans and Media when he doesn’t win. He’ll never be a great driver until he can own up to not winning.

See, you can’t win them all. No one can. No matter how much you may want to. And, in my opinion, Lady Luck has a lot to do with winning. Kyle snubs her every time he bows. And look at what happened in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup last year. He won eight races in the regular Season. And fell on his face during the last ten races of the Chase.

Can he drive? Sure. Is he the best driver out there? Definitely not. Collecting wins in the lower Series doesn’t make him a better driver. It just makes him better than the amateurs. Big deal. Maybe one day he’ll grow up and realize Cup is where he wants to race. And where he wants to do well. And that you have to take the wins along with the losses. And not be an idiot on and off the track. But I doubt it.

He wasn’t in the Truck race in Texas because he was in Pocono. He attempted the triple-header last year and fell flat on his face. But that Truck race was great. Maybe because it was Truck drivers competing with each other. And no Kyle in the line-up. And the announcers were talking about the Truck drivers instead of Kyle Busch. (They say his name with capital letters.) The Nationwide race wasn’t as wonderful. Kyle was on the pole. Anyone can lead from the pole and pull away. It should have been a great race because it should have been all Nationwide drivers, as Cup drivers were in Pocono. But Kyle and Carl had to ruin a good race. In my opinion. The idiot even smashed the guitar trophy! Talk about immature!

Grow up, Kyle. Driving “three-wide all by himself”, as the Media says, more often than not will only cause a crash. Not make you a better driver. In my opinion.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley. See you after the Pocono 500.

NASCAR’s Top 12

Finishing the 2008 Season in second place is Roush Fenway Racing’s #99 Carl Edwards. Carl was the only driver who really gave #48 Jimmy Johnson a run for The Chase for the Sprint Cup. Carl ended the season 69 points behind Series Champion Jimmy Johnson. Heading into the last race at the Miami-Homestead track, Carl was the only driver that had a chance to beat Jimmy. Carl also finished second in points in the NASCAR Nationwide Series behind Champion Clint Bowyer.

Carl is good at the 1.5 mile tracks. He won at Las Vegas, Atlanta and twice at Texas. (After the race at Las Vegas, he was penalized 100 points, his crew chief was suspended and his win didn’t get five points for the Chase, because of a rules violation.) Carl also won at the 2 mile tracks of Auto Club Speedway in California and Michigan. And he won at he 2.5 mile track  at Pocono. He also won at the .533 mile track at Bristol. He does his signature flip after winning a race.

Carl came into the Chase second in points with six wins, five of which counted. He went on to win at Atlanta, Texas and Homestead in the Chase. Carl had top fours in eight of the ten Chase races. However, at Talladega he took out team mates in a crash and finished 29th. And at Lowes he had a parts failure that left him finishing in 33rd place.

Carl finished third in points in his first Chase in 2005. Actually, tied for second. But he missed the Chase in 2006. In 2007 he finished in ninth. In the end, he had to hope that Jimmy stumbled so he could win the Championship. And, of course, Jimmy didn’t stumble. Look for him in 2009. He had 27 top ten finishes and 19 top fives.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley

Visit my site: http://www.ilovemynascar.com

For NASCAR news visit: http://www.blitzcorner.com/index.php?category=NASCAR

Race Review

Bank Of America 500

Lowes Motor Speedway

Concord, NC

Welcome race fans to the thirty-first race of the season and the fifth race in the Chase. This race takes place at most everyone’s Home Track. Qualifying was rained out on Thursday, so the line-up is by owner points. Three drivers were to make their Cup debut, but since their cars had no owner points, they had to go home. Those failing to qualify were: 40 Bryan Clauson, 25 Brad Keselowski, 82 Scott Speed and 175 veteran Derrike Cope. In this race, 84 is Mike Skinner from the Craftsman Truck Series. 21 is Bill Elliott, in with his 1988 Champion provisional. 00 is AJ Allmendinger, vacating the # 84, using the car’s qualifying attempts. 77 Sam Hornish, Jr. gets in on past owner winner in 2007. 96 is Ken Schrader, in with owner attempts. 10 is Mike Wallace from the Nationwide Series, getting in on owner attempts, replacing Patrick Carpentier. 45 is Chad McCumbee from the Craftsman Truck Series, in on owner attempts. 70 is again Tony Raines.
9 Kasey Kahne  won at Lowes in the Spring, and the All-Star race here. (He got into the race with the fan vote and won!) He is going for the only person to win all three races in a season. Let’s see if he can pull it off. This will be Kasey’s 175th start in the Cup Series. He is also the in-car reporter.
So, here we go! 24 scrapes the wall on the first lap. 48 Jimmy Johnson, the points leader leads the first lap. 77scrapes the wall. 24 again gets into the wall and says over the radio “We’re in trouble”. 20 Tony Stewart gets by 29 Kevin Harvick for sixth. 24 is pitting. 20 gets by 16 Greg Biffle for third. 20 gets by 99 Carl Edwards for second. 20 takes the lead. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. gets by 31 Jeff Burton and 16 for third. 31 and 16 battle for fourth. 31 gets by 16. 99 and 16 get back by 88.
The first caution comes out during the commercial when 78 Joe Nemechek blows a tire and gets into the wall. 77 also had a flat tire and got into the wall. 20 has a long pit. 78 goes to the garage for repairs. 99 stays out to lead a lap and then pits by himself. The second caution comes out when 00 gets into 01 Regan Smith. 01 smashes hard into the wall, spins and backs into the wall. 24 Jeff Gordon is the Lucky Dog, and gets his lap back. 99 is a lap down. He had to back up to get out of the pits.
The third caution comes out when 84 Skinner and 96 Schrader get together. 55 Michael Waltrip goes into the grass, and back up the track into 84. 99 is on the track and can’t get the car started. They have to wave yellow for one more lap while an emergency truck pushes 99 into the pits. The crew has the hood up to try to figure out what is wrong. The Green flag comes out on lap 71. 20 takes the lead. 18 Kyle Busch gets by 16 for third. 99 is back on the track, sixteen laps down. The fourth caution comes out when 88 blows a tire and gets into the wall. 17 Matt Kenseth stays out to lead, then pits. 48 drives by 20. 20 is falling back. I guess he didn’t like that set of tires.
The fifth caution comes out when 10 M. Wallace spins by himself. 31 gets fuel only. 12 Ryan Newman stays out to lead. 12 and 48 battle for the lead. 83 Brian Vickers gets 18 loose to get by. 12 and 48 battle for the lead. 48 finally takes the lead. 83 gets by 12 for second. 48 and 83 battle for the lead. 83 takes the lead. 18 gets by 12 for third. 88 is back on the track, four laps down. 6 David Ragan is catching 18. 44 David Reutimann gets by 2 Kurt Busch for tenth. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya pits to start Green Flag Pitting. 6 and 01 are too fast. After all the pitting, 83 is back in the lead.
The sixth caution is for debris on lap 187. 9 Kasey Kahne is the Lucky Dog. There are twenty-one cars on the lead lap. The back of the pack make pit stops. 16 and 83 battle for the lead. The seventh caution comes out on lap 194. They were three-wide off turn four. 15 Paul Menard got into 21. 21 spins 70. 28 Travis Kvapil and 17 get together. 45 has damage. His front splitter is stuck in the grass, pointing up. 21 and 15 get by. 9 manages to get by. The leaders all pit. 31 again gets fuel only, and is first out of the pits. But 1 Martin Truex, Jr. stays out to lead. 17 slowed down to avoid the wreck, but the driver behind him didn’t, and he got wrecked. 6 and 7 Robby Gordon are ahead of the leader, the last cars on the lead lap.
1 and 24 battle for the lead. 24 takes the lead. The eighth caution comes out when 48 gets sideways and 43 Bobby Labonte and 55 spin together. Perhaps there was something on the track. 6 and 7 stay on the lead lap. 41 Reed Sorenson is the Lucky Dog. 15 is in his pit stall with the hood up. 45 is back on the track after pitting and his hood flies up onto his windshield! He can’t see a thing. 66 Scott Riggs was in front of the leaders and stays on the lead lap.
8 Mark Martin and 24 battle for the lead. 8 gets loose and under 24. 24 stays in the lead. 8 and 1 battle for second. 8 keeps second. 16 and 8 battle for second. 16 takes second from 8. 44 and 20 battle. 20 and 48 battle. 20 gets by. 07 Clint Bowyer gets into 11 Denny Hamlin to get him loose and into the wall. There is no caution. 83 and 44 battle for eighth. 24 pits to start another Green Flag Pitting. 16 leads when 24 pits. 15 gets Black Flagged for a loose back panel. 83 gets into the wall and can’t turn the car. He has a flat right front tire and heads for the pits. 31 leads when 16 pits. 20 leads when 31 pits. 44 slides sideways into the pits. 6 leads. 18 was too fast entering the pits. 7 leads. 7 blows a tire.
The ninth caution is for debris from 7. He had trouble in the pits with the air gun and only changed right side tires. The left side tire blew. 6 David Ragan is the Lucky Dog. 16 leads at the restart. 16 and 31 battle for the lead. 31 finally takes the lead. 07 gets by 16 for second. 26 Jamie McMurray and 48 battle for fourth. 70 goes to the garage. The tenth caution comes out when 42 gets into the wall, after contact with 2. Thirty-seven laps to go.
31 gets fuel only. 24 and 16 get four tires. 48, 12 and 9 take two tires. They restart with thirty-three to go. 31 and 48 battle for the lead. 31 keeps the lead. 16 and 26 battle. 2 and 9 battle for third. 9 takes third from 2. 18 gets by 26 for fifth. 9 and 48 battle for second. 9 gets by 48 for second. 2 gets into 48 for third. 18 and 48 battle for fourth. 18 gets by 48 when 48 gets loose. 26 gets by 48 for fifth. And 31 Jeff Burton wins the Bank of America 500. The top ten are 31, 9, 2, 18, 26, 48, 16, 24, 8 and 6. This race moves 31 up two spots in the points to second and moves 99 down two spots to fourth. 18 Kyle Busch moves up two spots to ninth and 17 down two spots to eleventh. Jeff Burton is sixty-nine points behind the leader Jimmy Johnson. Greg Biffle remains in third, eighty-six points behind. It looks like a three car race for the Championship, with five more races to go.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley

Visit my site: http://www.ilovemynascar.com

Race Review

Pepsi 500

Auto Club Speedway

Fontana, CA.

Welcome race fans to the twenty-fifth race of the season. 48 Jimmy Johnson starts on the pole with a speed of 180.397. 84 AJ Almendinger will start second. 8 is Aric Almirola, 96 is Ken Schrader, 00 is Mike Skinner from the Craftsman Trucks, 21 is Marcos Ambrose from the Nationwide Series and 08 is Johnny Sauter. 70 Tony Raines had to go home. That seems a little pathetic to me, as this is a two mile track and NASCAR certainly could have filled the final row. 17 Matt Kenseth is in a gold and green R&L Carriers car. 20 Tony Stewart is in a yellow and green Subway car. 99 Carl Edwards will be the in-car reporter.

So, here we go. At the start 48 and 84 are side by side around the track, with 84 leading the first lap by just a little bit. 48 takes the lead by lap two. 26 Jamie McMurray has a left front tire going down, which brings out the first caution on lap five. We go back to green on lap eight. 44 David Reutimann and 22 Dave Blaney battle for ninth. 16 Greg Biffle and 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. battle for position.    The second caution comes out when the caution lights come off the pole! Someone had gotten into the wall, and with the speeds they were going, and the wind, the lights ended up on the track. I have to wonder what kind of set-up Auto Club Speedway has for these lights if they fall off onto the track. 26 Jamie McMurray is the Lucky Dog and gets back the lap he lost with the flat tire. Everyone comes into the pits. It’s light out in California with blue skies and dark here on the East Coast, so this race feels like it was previously taped.    19 Elliott Sadler and 6 David Ragan battle for position. 84 gets by 9 Kasey Kahne for second. 9 and 83 Brian Vickers battle for third. 11 Denny Hamlin and 18 Kyle Busch battle. 11 gets by. 29 Kevin Harvick gets by 18. 11 and 29 get by 88. 88 gets back by 29 by going way up high. 83 gets by Team mate 84 for second. 84 gets back by 83. 16 gets by 83 for third.

The second caution comes out when 2 Kurt Busch blows a tire. The tire cap comes off and onto the track and 12 Ryan Newman runs into it. 2 had gotten into 1 Martin Truex, Jr. to cause the tire cap to come off.  The top ten are 48, 16, 84, 83, 88, 9, 29, 11, 17, and 20. 17 Kenseth started  in thirty-seventh. 55 Michael Waltrip and 96 were caught speeding on pit road. 29 and 84 battle for fourth. 44 gets by 18. 18 and 88 fall back to thirteenth and fourteenth. 88 gets by 18 for thirteenth. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya, 20 and 31 Jeff Burton get by 18.    The fourth caution comes out on lap 69 when 78 Joe Nemechek gets loose, tries to save it and ends up into the wall.Out of the pits, it’s 48, 16, 11, 29, 17, 99, 44, 9, 88, and 84. 19 is repairing the car. 83 had a lug nut issue. 16 and 48 battle for the lead. 08 Johnny Sauter was the Lucky Dog. 88 and 24 Jeff Gordon battle. 17 gets by 9. 20 and 31 get by 18. 83 gets by 9 for fifth. 44 and 42 battle. Lots of drivers are getting sideways, nearly into the wall. Green Flag Pitting begins with 26 and 7 Robby Gordon on lap 110. 16 leads when 48 pits. 17 leads when 16 pits. 24 leads when 17 pits. After all the Green Flag stops, 48 is back into the lead. 1 has to go back into the pits with a loose wheel. 84 is wabbling all over.    6 brushes the wall.

The fifth caution comes out during the commercial for debris. 12 Ryan Newman is the Lucky Dog, and is back on the lead lap. The race is restarted with ninety-eight to go. The sixth caution is also for debris. 16 and 99 take two tires. 12 takes two tires and gains fourteen spots. 48 gets by 83 and 22 at the restart. 48 catches the leader 16, and takes the lead.

The seventh caution is for  7. He spins out onto the grass and there is turf all over the track and on his splitter. In the pits, the jack man for the 48 gets tangled in the air hose. 44, 16, 99 and 29 take two tires to come out ahead of 48 who takes four tires. 83 looses control of a tire in the pits. 43 Bobby Labonte is the Lucky Dog. 16 takes the lead from 44. 48 takes the lead. 44 and 99 battle for fourth. 99 gets by 44. 9 gets by 18. 18 battles back. 83 and 31 battle for position.

The eighth caution comes out when they were needing to make pit stops under green, for debris from 21 when he got into the wall. 1 Martin Truex, Jr. is the Lucky Dog. 16 is leading, followed by 48, 11, 99, 29, 17, 18, 9, 44 and 07 Clint Bowyer. 48 takes the lead. 99 is falling back. 29 and 17 get by him. 99 and 17 battle. 42, 24 and 84 are three wide. 24 backs out of it. 88 gets by 12. 83 gets by 88 and 12. 16 has trash on the grill and it seems to be making him go faster, getting closer to the leader 48. But the trash falls off, and so does 16. 84 gets by 6 for thirteenth. 18 gets by 9 at the line. 48 Jimmy Johnson wins the race after leading the most laps, from the pole. This has never happened in the sixteen years NASCAR has been coming to Southern California.

Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jimmy Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Jeff Burton and Greg Biffle are all locked in The Chase. The remainder of the twelve will be locked in at Richmond, the final race of the regular season. Kasey Kahne deserves to be in the Chase with his three wins, but is 48 points out of it. Richmond, under the lights should be an exciting race.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley

Visit my site: http://www.ilovemynascar.com

NASCAR Nationwide Series, formerly Busch Series

Yesterday I mentioned more on the Nationwide Series. So, here’s my take on the new Series. This second tier of NASCAR has been around for twenty-six years, all of those years, Sponsored by Busch beer. Next year Busch will no longer Sponsor the Series. It wasn’t really clear (at least to me) why they were bowing out. But the highlight of the Season was finding a new Sponsor.

Subway Restaurants was the front runner most of the year. But there was the “exclusivity clause” that got into the way. See, the Sponsor of the Series is supposed to have exclusive rights to any and all advertising. That means Subway would be the only fast food chain that could have logos on the cars in the Series. And there were too many fast food chains already on cars in the Series. So to make Subway exclusive, all the other fast food chains would have to go. But Nationwide Insurance came along to Sponsor the Series. And there was only one other car out there Sponsoring an insurance car. That being the 7 car of Mike Wallace. Whose car is Sponsored by GEICO. The 7 car can have Geico as a Sponsor only next year. And then they will have to find another Sponsor.

So, the Busch Series is still alive with Nationwide as the Sponsor. I’m glad that’s all taken care of. But in my opinion NASCAR needs to take another look at this series. It used to be a Series where newcomers learned how to drive these big stock cars. There were Series regulars racing every week. And there were up and coming drivers headed for Cup racing. Until last year, a Series regular always won the Championship. If something isn’t done, no Series regular will ever again win the Championship. Making Martin Truex, Jr. the last of the Series Champs in 2005.

Last year there were seven Cup regulars who ran both Series all year. And, of course, a Cup driver won the Championship. Kevin Harvick won last year. This year Carl Edwards, a Cup regular, ran away with the Championship. I say no duh! A Cup driver and crew will always do better than a Busch driver and crew. But this will be the new Nationwide Series in 2008. I say if you want your car to win the Championship, get yourself a Nationwide Series driver. Drivers shouldn’t be allowed to go for both Championships.

The Nationwide series is supposed to be the second tier of NASCAR racing. And Cup drivers should be allowed to compete in some races. It’s good for the tracks and fans. Cup drivers draw fans to the track. Nationwide drivers get to compete with the Big Guys. Cup drivers get to go out and have fun trying to win the few races they enter into. But putting a Cup driver into a Nationwide car for every race defeats the purpose of the Series. In no other Sport do players go back to the Minors and compete in all the games.

So now NASCAR wants to not give points to drivers in the top 35 in Cup points. And I agree with that. Tony Stewart maintains he should be allowed to race in any Series of his choosing. And while that may be valid, I have to wonder if maybe he’s getting a little rusty and needs to maybe prove to himself that he can still win. That is what the Minors are for. To make you better so you can compete in the Majors. Right?

I’d like to take this whole thing a little further. Teams have Nationwide drivers in all their Nationwide cars. No Cup driver should be allowed to win the Nationwide Championship. Cup drivers can compete in select races, but not every race of the season. And in those races they decide to compete in, I say they should all start from the rear. They should qualify on time to get in and to get a good pit stall. But they should all have to start from the rear according to where they qualified. I say that would be a great race. Watching these Cup veterans race their way to the front.

So there’s my take on the new Nationwide Series. I hope it goes back to be a learning place and a Series with regulars competing every week. More like the Craftsman Truck series. Cup drivers compete every now and then, but it’s mostly Truck drivers competing in Truck races. And a Truck driver winning the Truck Championship.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley.

Visit my website. http://www.ilovemynascar.com