Kyle Busch done for the weekend!

M&Ms will stay with Bush at Daytona, Interstate is covering his sorry a_s for the last two races. Denny is probably okay. Joey is shakey, JD needs to rework that situation.
 
I’ve watched the replay of the incident in the truck race that started all this. At first it looked like Hornaday just got loose, and in trying to save it, accidently got into Busch. After watching it a couple dozen more times (thanks SPEED!) it started to look more like Hornaday intentionally bashed into Kyle’s truck, which, by the way, isn’t so out of character with Hornaday either… If so, I have a teeny weeny bit more sympathy for Mr. Rowdy than before.

The motor-mouths on SPEED said something that got me thinking about what Cazz said in this thread, about Jr. Johnson loving drivers like KB. First, Darrell Waltrip said that he got a “wakeup call” like KB’s getting now, and for the same reason. I wonder if that was while he was driving for Jr. Johnson. He didn’t say. Hmm… Second, one of the other talking heads compared Kyle Busch with the drivers of yesterday in another interesting way. Evidently, if you’re a pit reporter, interviewing KB anywhere but in Victory Lane is a chore, and you’re likely to get some verbal abuse from the Spoiled One. Not that I’m too sympathetic to reporters of any sort, but this guy pointed out that Dale Sr., Richard Petty, Dale Jarrett, etc., none of those guys ever refused an interview, even when they were having a bad day, and were not making anywhere near the riches that Kyle and his peers are getting today.
 
The drivers of yesterday probably gave all those interviews, even on their bad days, because they were not paid that much and any publicity was good publicity. These days, with high priced contracts and endorsements, the money flows in and they don't have to be in front of the cameras and microphones. That may start to change in the current economy as big companies pull back on their sponsorships and we see more teams driving plain white cars or having two (perhaps even more) different sponsors during the season. Drivers may once again find that posing for the camera and giving interviews is a good way to keep their names and faces known.
 
Despite people who put Richard Petty down for all manner of dumb reasons he was the great ambassador for NASCAR.
I know, I know, "He never met a fan he didn't like and never passed up an autograph", which is why he was so good for NASCAR.
Almost the entire CART grid that used to run at Surfers Paradise were very approachable and very popular with people like me, unlike F1.
Our own V8 Series drivers are well aware of the value that comes from access to the public and work hard at being approachable.
"It costs nothing to be polite" as my father used to say, and he was so bloody right!
I suppose my antipithy toward the present crop of NASCAR punters is their apparant lack of courtesy, on and off the track, compared with the few 'Old Guard' drivers who remain polite and open.
:kilroy:
 
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