Richard Childress Tries, Can't Convert Kyle Busch Into Sympathetic Figure

Let's recap these events.

Kyle Busch is notorious among drivers and fans for a hot temper on the track, but also has a reputation for being one of the most charitable men in his sport ... almost always willing to help out other drivers' causes, as well as his own. Despite that work off the track, Busch is far and away the most disliked driver in the sport. It's not even really close.

Richard Childress, a 65-year-old man who owns vehicles in NASCAR's major touring series, is perhaps best-known as the man who was Dale Earnhardt's friend and car owner and now owns cars driven by the likes of Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer. He's also one of the most respected figures in NASCAR.

So when worlds collide, and Childress is the one allegedly instigating a physical altercation with Busch, what's a guy to think?

After Saturday's Camping World Truck Series race at Kansas, it was indeed Childress going all Nolan Ryan on Busch, who unwittingly was set to play the role of Robin Ventura.



We can't confirm that things went down the same way Saturday. In fact, it seems it was Childress who did all the work.

According to reports, the 65-year-old Childress approached the 26-year-old Busch in the garage area after the race, took off his watch, punched Busch in the face and then put him in a headlock.

NASCAR did their part to make it clear that Busch, who is on probation after trying to kill Kevin Harvick (possible exaggeration), did nothing wrong Saturday.

"We concluded that the driver of the 18 truck, Kyle Busch, did nothing to provoke or to cause the reactions, that in our opinion, would violate the probation," Helton said. "He did nothing that warranted the actions of Richard Childress."

Again ... Kyle Busch did nothing wrong. Nothing. Notta. He was the race-car-driver-gets-punched-in-the-face-by-old-man equivalent of an innocent bystander.

And yet people tweet stuff like this.

Oh, wait. That's me.

You get the point.

Busch is not the sympathetic figure here, even though NASCAR wants you to know he was attacked.

By a 65-year-old man.

And Childress knew what he was doing. This wasn't a heat of the moment thing, or he wouldn't have thought to take his watch off.

Yet Busch is still a jerk in the eyes of most NASCAR fans. If this can't cure it, nothing will.

KYLE BUSCH MAKES MORE WAVES

After dominating a long stretch of NASCAR Nationwide Series races and getting zero wins to show for it, Kyle Busch finally cashed in on his run of great racing Saturday night.

When he did, he decided that he didn't like the trophy -- a Gibson guitar -- very much. Or so it seemed.



Busch's smashing stunt made for some more controversy around the sport, as pundits weighed in on his celebration.

It seemed that Busch didn't have a lot of allies in the media. He was asked Sunday on pit road about this "controversy", and he seemed genuinely surprised that there was any talk about it.

Busch said the Gibson people seemed to get a kick out of it, and he (Busch) ordered two more guitars -- one for him and one for crew chief Jason Ratliff. He said the broken guitar was going to be chopped up, with pieces given to all the crew members. Busch noted that the crew doesn't get to share in a celebration like that normally, so he wanted them to have a piece of the trophy.

Wow. What an enormous jerk he is for doing something like that.

I apologize if I'm supposed to fake outrage over Busch's actions. I get that he's the spawn of Satan, put on this Earth just to torture NASCAR fans, especially those of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. That, however, doesn't mean that Busch is wrong in everything he does, or that Junior is always right.

In this case, Busch found a rather unique way to celebrate a race win. While he may have been doing it to be a "HEY LOOK AT ME!" kind of guy at the time, he found a way to spin it into a positive.

Not only that, but I'm sure guys like Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson appreciate the diverted attention.

ADMIT IT, JUNIOR NATION: BUSCH IS RIGHT

It's okay. I know it kills you. It probably kills three-fourths of NASCAR fans, none of whom are capable of admitting when Kyle Busch does something awesome on the racetrack. They're sure as hell not going to admit when he's right about something off the racetrack.

It's a tough argument to back Busch on something. He is probably the most talented race-car driver on the planet, but he also has many faults. Among them is his obvious immaturity, a trait that sends him scurrying away from the cameras whenever something goes wrong, and has led him to making dumb remarks over the radio when things aren't happening the right way for the 18.

Busch also has a penchant for only talking to reporters when he feels like it. He felt like it Friday, and he now has millions of fans who back Dale Earnhardt, Jr., wishing he (Busch, that is) would suffer a debilitating injury or worse.

"It's never Junior; it's always the crew chief," said Busch, who fired the opening shots when asked about team owner Rick Hendrick's dismissal of Tony Eury Jr. as Earnhardt's crew chief a day earlier.

... "He's [interim crew chief Lance McGrew] got his hands full, I guess, having to deal with what's going on," Busch said. "And if Junior doesn't run well, then he [McGrew] is going to be the 'problem' again."

A somber Junior himself addressed Busch's comments, starting with a bit of a defensive tone, but later seeming to admit that Busch has a point.

"Like Kyle said, most people have always been on Tony Jr.'s case and never really pointed the finger at me …"

I know it probably sucks to admit it, but Busch has more than a point.

I understand the frustrations of Junior and all his supporters. After all, none of this is any of Kyle Busch's business. He probably shouldn't have said anything.

That's not Kyle Busch. Like him or not, he's going to be honest. He felt like talking Friday, a reporter asked him a question, and he was honest in his assessments.

Earnhardt has never been blamed for his problems behind the wheel. When he struggled at DEI and missed the chase, it was his evil stepmother's fault for not giving him anything to run competitively with. Upon signing with Hendrick Motorsports, he persuaded the boss to bring Tony Eury, Jr., with. They could no longer blame a lack of success on the equipment, as Hendrick has some of the best stuff in the business.

When the pair ran out of excuses, someone had to go. For now, it's easier to fire the crew chief. However, Junior has to be careful, because there will come a time where owner Rick Hendrick gets sick and tired of blaming the crew chief.

Surely, this tickles Kyle Busch, even if only a little. After all, he was the guy Hendrick dumped to bring in Junior. He has an 11-1 lead in race wins since, and there's no reason to think the gap won't widen as the season wears on.

Junior lovers will certainly bring more Kyle Busch venom to the racetrack. But are they mad at Busch for taking a cheap shot at their favorite driver, or are they mad at him for telling the truth?

KYLE BUSCH: AN APPRECIATION

The list of people who want to take a shot at Kyle Busch is probably quite impressive. Especially if you include NASCAR fans.

He's simply not popular the way Dale Earnhardt, Jr., is. He's also not popular the way Jeff Gordon is. There are legions of NASCAR followers who actually like Gordon.

Practically everyone on the planet despises Busch, to the point that I'm curious if anyone would even dare wear anything with the M&Ms logo to a race.

As universally-booed as Busch is, there is no denying three fundamental facts about the young man:

1. He enjoys the notoriety. There's no such thing as bad publicity, and Busch knows the attention he's gotten this season is good for his career, as well as the sponsors whose logos adorn his race cars and firesuits.

He plays the villain role well, akin to classic "bad guy" pro wrestlers like Ted DiBiase and Ric Flair. Like those WWE/WCW legends, Busch isn't afraid of getting booed. In fact, he seems to get a kick out of it.

2. He's a damn good race car driver. Probably the best in the world right now. Busch drives trucks well. He drives Nationwide cars well. And he is the Sprint Cup points leader. Oh, and he's barely old enough to legally drink.

Not only is he really, really good, but he's also got the prime of his career about ten years away. Isn't that scary?

3. He loves to drive. Yes, there is some ego involved. All these guys have egos. However, for Busch to take on the schedule he had this past weekend, he must love to drive. For once, I believe a competitor when they say something like this:

"I just like to race, that's what it's all about," Busch said. "I don't need to test myself. I don't have anything to prove. I'm just out there trying to race races and win races."

He's right on all counts in terms of what he has to prove. He's won in every major NASCAR national series, and he's done it driving for different race teams. For all his faults, he shows tremendous passion for his craft.

Evidently, however, this isn't enough for some NASCAR media mainstays. Terry Blount writes that Busch shouldn't have been allowed to attempt the three-races-in-three-different-cities stunt this past weekend.

The blame lies with the men calling the shots at Joe Gibbs Racing, Joe and J.D. Gibbs. They shouldn't have allowed Busch to do it. Too much is at stake on the Cup side.

Everything about the trifecta weekend had a downside. Busch finished an impressive second in the truck race at Texas after starting in the back but later whined about how bad the truck was.

I can't agree. The dude's a racer. He's a really good one. Why shouldn't he push himself and try to get better?

One of the topics brought up during ESPN2's coverage of Saturday's Nationwide series race was how other drivers wished they could do what Busch did. Carl Edwards was one of the names mentioned. I'm sure Jack Roush was thrilled.

Not only that, but Blount forgot about the racing many drivers, including Busch, took part in on Wednesday, when Tony Stewart hosted his annual Prelude to a Dream event at Eldora. Maybe everyone should back out of that event, too. After all, you wouldn't want their focus to strain from Cup racing for more than ten seconds.