Why’s Everybody Always Pickin’ On Me?

Remember that line, “Why’s everybody always pickin’ on me?” from the old song “Charlie Brown” by The Coasters? I wonder if Kyle Busch has ever heard it. If he has, then I have to wonder if he catches himself singing it when nobody’s around. It certainly would be appropriate if he does.

Who’s going to be down on Kyle this week? It’s like the blue plate special or the soup de jour at your local diner, it’s always changing. You got a problem with Kyle Busch? The line forms to the left and don’t forget to take a number!

Last Thursday a reporter, Tania Ganguli with the Orlando Sentinel, published the following comment from Jeff Burton: “Kyle, in my view, has never been a guy that wrecks other people. Honestly, he puts himself in some situations where you’re thinking, ‘I don’t know if he’s going to come out of that.’ On restarts he’s real aggressive, but I’ve never felt that Kyle was a guy that I looked at and said, ‘that dude takes a lot of people out.”

So what happens two days later at the end of the Coca Cola 600? You got it; Jeff Burton suddenly has an issue with Kyle and it’s all over the racing media.

In the same Orlando Sentinel article mentioned above, Mark Martin is quoted speaking of Kyle Busch: “He’s never breached my space on the race track. I haven’t had a lot of conversation with Kyle, but he is incredibly respectful although he may have done some things and had some actions that may have turned some people off.”

Is Martin next up on the “I’ve got a problem with Kyle Busch carousel”?

Okay, so let’s take a look at what’s perceived to be the upfront problem; Kyle Busch’s driving style. The moniker that’s been hung on Kyle is that “He’s just too aggressive.” We hear it over and over again, but is it really the problem?

You know there are as many driving styles as there are drivers. The prime means of measurement here is who wins, but it goes a lot deeper than that.

The story goes that when Kyle was just a little boy growing up in Las Vegas, he had to watch as his father doted on his seven years older brother Kurt. Dad was teaching the older son to become a race car driver. Understandably, Kyle wanted his father’s attention too. He became so persistent about wanting to learn to drive that, at the tender age of six, Kyle’s dad relented and allowed him to run a go-kart around the neighborhood where they lived. Since Kyle was too short to reach the pedals, dear ole’ dad set the kart’s engine to run at full throttle. He’d settle Kyle in the kart, start it up and turn him loose. Can you imagine a six year old running up and down the street in a go-kart going wide open? That was Kyle’s first learning experience behind the wheel. It was all out and (remember this) without brakes!

While Kurt began his organized racing career, Kyle’s need to be a part of the team led him to eventually become a member of his brother’s pit crew. He learned mechanics and by the age of 10 Kyle served as his brother’s crew chief. The younger Busch learned the racing business from the ground up, driven to excel while playing second fiddle to his older brother. By the time Kyle was 12 years of age, old man Busch realized he had two sons that were going to do big things as race drivers. At 13, Kyle was racing in The Legends series races in the “Bullring” also known as Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In three seasons he won 65 races and two track championships! At 16 years of age in 2001, Kyle drove in six events on the NASCAR Truck Series circuit but with cigarette sponsorship in big time racing, the rules were changed in 2002. A driver in NASCAR events, from that time forward, had to be at least 18 years old. So, in 2003, Kyle was back in NASCAR running in seven events in the then Busch Series. One year later Kyle made it all the way to the pinnacle in NASCAR racing, driving in six Cup events. Another year and Kyle was a full-time Cup driver.

I wanted to give a short rundown on how Kyle got to the “Big Time” to better illustrate the point about driving style.

In an article entitled “The art of driving: How NASCAR's stars use different styles to reach victory lane” written by Jeff Gluck, the author interviewed Jimmie Johnson. Johnson remembered looking at lap data in 2006, comparing how the various drivers with Hendrick Motorsports ran practice laps. It amazed JJ that his teammate, Kyle Busch, wasn’t using his brakes for anything other than to slow the car when entering the pits. It blew Johnson’s mind. He went on to describe Jeff Gordon’s driving style through the turns as being hard braking and yanking on the wheel. Then the author described JJ’s style entering the turns as a combination of brake and throttle, never giving up totally on the throttle so it’s easier to get back to full-throttle coming out of the turn. All three driving styles are vastly different and yet all are successful.

Now, remember how Kyle was first introduced to driving? No brakes.

Later in the same article Jeff Gordon makes the comment, “It’s just how our brains work, its how our motor skills work.”

It’s like everybody’s wired differently so they drive differently and a lot of it has to do with a driver’s early experiences. Some come from a NASCAR family background, others come from dirt track racing and still others come from open-wheel Indy and Formula racing, all different styles leading them to NASCAR Cup racing.

There has been another area that has drawn fire from Kyle’s competitor’s, the media and fans; it concerns Kyle’s psyche. He’s said to have an “attitude”. What exactly does that mean?

In my book, “attitude” when it comes to Kyle Busch means that he hates losing and he REALLY hates losing when he thinks the loss was caused by somebody else. It’s how Kyle responds. In the past he hasn’t been worried about what people think. He has struck out at other drivers and/or his pit crew, whoever he perceived to be standing between him and the winner’s circle. He’s been called childish, a cry baby, a menace, dangerous, ad nausea. All I’ve got to say is it works for him. It’s the old “me against the world”, “we’re going to the mattresses” response to adversity.

There has been a lot of discussion about the will to win. Some drivers appear to have a huge will to win while others simply don’t seem to be motivated.

In the final analysis, Kyle Busch does have an aggressive style of driving. It’s a style that doesn’t work well in traffic and maybe that’s why we see him trying to stay out front most of the time. And, I have to agree, Kyle has an “attitude”. He MUST win, and isn’t that the name of the game? If he ever becomes satisfied to simply be part of the club, trying to stay out of everyone’s way, happy to finish in 20th place race in and race out, consequently making the other driver’s fans happy, NASCAR will lose out. Given today’s economy, NASCAR doesn’t need to lose out.

Let’s face it, NASCAR is set up to allow the driver’s to bump and grind. They have divorced ultimate speed in favor of safe racing cars, all with a mindful eye on what has made their version of auto racing one of the most popular sports in the world, the bumping, grinding, get out of my way racing. Racing that is sure to spawn heated rivalries. Kyle Busch is a product of this system!

So, for many of you, here is your worst nightmare!

Resources: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-05-28/sports/os-nascar-charlotte-news-20100528_1_kyle-busch-read-tania-ganguli-nascar-nationwide

http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/print/The_art_of_driving_How_NASCARs_stars_use_different_styles_to_reach_victory_lane.html