July 19, 2008
By Brenda Benedict
Did we observe genius at work last Saturday night at the LifeLock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway? Kyle Busch showed grit and determination and possibly genius to pull ahead of Jimmie Johnson in the final laps to collect his seventh win of the season.
Darrell Waltrip said in an article on Foxsports.com “Folks, I think last weekend at Chicagoland Speedway Kyle Busch proved to a lot people that he is for real. This kid is chock full of talent. He's in a league of his own. And I think Saturday night's Sprint Cup race especially proved that.”
The win at Chicagoland surprised even Kyle.
Kyle stated, “I did surprise myself tonight. Yes. Without that caution the race was over. Just judging by what was in front of me and what I knew at that given particular point, the race was over. Jimmie was going to lead us to the checkered flag without that caution. When the caution came out it kinda changed everything. The car stuck on the outside and I just drove it for all it was worth and gave it everything I had.”
Kyle showed patience in the race Saturday. After he was passed by Jimmie, he realized that Johnson had a better car. Kyle kept his aggressiveness under control. The final restart then gave him an opportunity to pass Jimmie and secure another victory.
Before Chicagoland, the media had been comparing Kyle to Dale Earnhardt Sr. Some have been saying that Kyle’s aggressive driving is similar to the Intimidator. After the amazing passing of Jimmie Johnson on Saturday to capture the win on the last lap, the comparison has now turned to Richard Petty and Jeff Gordon.
The NASCAR record for total wins in a season for a the modern era is held by Richard Petty and Jeff Gordon at 13 wins. Kyle’s pace of winning this year puts him in contention to tie or even break Petty’s and Gordon's record.
Genius is be defined as having a natural capacity to excel. Kyle Busch’s performance this year has excelled. His wins are not just in the Cup series where he drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, a top-tier team. He has fourteen victories in the three NASCAR series. Besides his seven Cup wins, he has racked up five Nationwide wins and two Craftsman Truck victories. He is first in the standings for the Nationwide Series.
Kyle is running for Billy Ballew Motorsports Toyota in the Craftsman Truck Series and has had 2 wins and 6 top-ten finishes in 10 starts. This may be evidence of Kyle’s talent as a driver who is able to win even when he doesn’t have the top team behind him.
I think it is too early to call Kyle a driving genius.
There are several reasons why Kyle might be enjoying so much success this year. Number one could be his departure from Hendrick Motorsports. Kyle was fired from Hendrick last season and he may have something to prove to Rick Hendrick. Kyle is outperforming all the Hendrick drivers including last year’s Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.
Kyle’s win at Chicagoland Speedway last Saturday by passing Jimmie Johnson in the final restart was a great driving moment that we will be seeing replays of for years to come.
Watching Kyle outdrive Jimmie Johnson raised my opinion of Kyle’s. He may not be a flash in the pan, but now I’m asking, “Is Kyle is the real deal?”
Another reason that Kyle is improving is that he is maturing. At 23, he is developing patience and self-control. We hadn’t seen that driving genius before because he did not have the patience to keep in the race without wrecking. We didn’t see the superb driving because his temper and emotions often took over and caused his driving to suffer.
Kyle had one victory in last year’s Cup series which he scored at Atlanta. In 2006 his lone victory was at New Hampshire. Kyle’s previous best season was 2005 when he had 2 wins and secured Rookie of the Year.
In a recent interview with Rowdy.com, Richard Petty talked about the ebb and flow of top racers in the world of NASCAR. He said that a team will be winning for a season or even several seasons and then another team comes to the front and becomes number one. This appears to be happening this year with the current end of Hendrick Motorsports domination.
It is too early to make predictions about Kyle’s future place in NASCAR. But we can say that his driving this year has excelled. After his performance at Chicagoland, we can even step out and say that we are seeing signs of genius.
Kyle will have to maintain this level of composure and self-control through the end of the season. Once the Chase begins, he will need to keep his aggression under control. Kyle’s behavior with Jimmie Johnson in Saturday night’s race will have to be repeated. Kyle, the hot-tempered boy, will have to be controlled by Kyle, genius driver. Only then can we really know that Kyle is the real deal.
The booing at Kyle will probably start to diminish because fans are realizing that in spite of a cocky, abrasive personality, Kyle Busch is the real deal when it comes to winning in NASCAR.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
