Kyle Busch went from NASCAR’s resident wiener to the Sprint Cup’s Most Wanted all in one lap Saturday night. The Las Vegas-native started a rivalry with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and almost every fan who watched the final laps of the Crown Royal 400 at Richmond International Speedway.
In the waning moments of the race, Busch battled Junior for the lead. With Junior holding the high line, Busch screeched under Mr. Popularity, supposedly got loose and put a Sean Avery-style body check on Junior, causing Junior to wreck. Clint Bowyer sped through en route to the win while Junior was relegated to a 15th-place finish. The massive crowd in attendance that were hoping to see Junior win for the first time in 71 events instead left with the bitter taste of Busch. And Junior’s winless streak increased to 72 races.
Busch, who finished second and took the series points lead, certainly wants to hold the bad-boy of racing tag, especially with Hendrick Motorsports. He’s already started bad blood between him and his former team, which is now piloted by Junior. He won’t admit to it, stating that racing is racing, though several of Junior’s crew members and fans displayed their disgust of Busch. One of Junior’s crew members that got in Busch’s face was on Busch’s team last season. And Busch’s carefree attitude continued.
During the post-race press conference, Busch said, “Dale Jr. may have got a win tonight, quote on quote (mimicking quote marks)…It’s unfortunate for me because I have to deal with it.”
He’ll certainly get booed at coming events and he may be a tad right. Racing is racing. And he was racing for the win. But from the naked eye, Busch was in the wrong. He didn’t hug the bottom line attempting to make the pass. And you could see Busch’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Toyota riding up into Junior. Junior did acknowledge that it was racing. But he remained very disappointed.
“Whether it is fair or not, (Busch) is going to need some security,” Junior said in a live FOX Sports interview minutes after the checkered flag. “I haven’t seen the replay. Tony (Eury) Jr. (Earnhardt’s crew chief) said it looked like Kyle got loose underneath me. That happens.”
Perhaps. But with Busch’s antics, he’s definitely a marked man now.
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