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A Chase without Kyle Busch would be a shame
Whether you like Kyle Busch or not, I think most of us can agree on one thing: Kyle Busch belongs in the Chase.
He has four wins, tied with Mark Martin for most so far this year in a season that has seen 13 different drivers take the checkered flag. Unfortunately for Busch, he had a horrendous summer stretch and tumbled out of the Chase a few weeks ago. Since then, he’s been playing catchup, and has just one more week to make his final move.
Busch is 37 points out of the Chase, and he needs to have a Richmond weekend similar to what Jeremy Mayfield did early several years ago: Win the race and claim the final spot in the Chase.
I’ve been pretty critical of Kyle many times, but I still recognize his tremendous talent and the excellent quality of his team. The #18 car is without a doubt one of the top-12 cars on the circuit and deserves to be in the Chase.
I think Kyle can knock either Greg Biffle or Matt Kenseth out of the top-12, and take their spot, but he’s also got to get past 13th-place Brian Vickers. Without a doubt, this Saturday will require perfection from Busch if he plans on racing for a title.
Both NASCAR and its fans should be rooting for Busch to make the Chase, as every title fight needs a villain. If I have to sit through another friendly Carl Edwards/Jimmie Johnson fight, or something even more boring, I’ll be very disappointed. I want to see big bad Kyle take on good guy Johnson. Or maybe big bad Kyle can take on his former teammate and former bad boy Tony Stewart. Kyle vs. anyone would probably be a decent story.
Bottom line is that without him, the Chase could be pretty bland. With him, it could be electric if he does well.
And mark my words: If it turns out that either Martin or Busch miss the Chase despite winning more races than all the other drivers, NASCAR will institute some kind of rule that allows the driver with the most wins to get an automatic bid to the Chase. It just doesn’t seem right that one or both of these guys might not make it.
Congratulations to Ashley Force Hood
It’s been decades since a female drag racer (Shirley Muldowney) made a significant impact on the sport, but Ashley Force Hood is changing that with her big win in the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis. This is one of the biggest prizes in drag racing, and her win is one for the history books as she is only the second woman to win at the event, and the first to do so in Funny Car.
I don’t really follow drag racing, but I watched SPEED’s “Wind Tunnel” show this weekend and saw a great interview with Funny Car legend John Force, Ashley’s father, that is well worth watching if you can track it down. It’s both powerful and informative.
In the lengthy piece, Force talks about how he dealt with the death of one of his drivers a couple years ago, as well as his own terrifying accident … and then goes on to explain how he used that information to improve the chassis and other parts of the car to make it safer for his other drivers, sparing no expense to keep his drivers safe.
He also said he’d love to see his daughter win the event this weekend … and it looks like he got his wish. Congratulations to the Force family. They’ve been through a lot in the past few years and a win like this is no doubt some great medicine.
https://twitter.com/MattMyftiu
He has four wins, tied with Mark Martin for most so far this year in a season that has seen 13 different drivers take the checkered flag. Unfortunately for Busch, he had a horrendous summer stretch and tumbled out of the Chase a few weeks ago. Since then, he’s been playing catchup, and has just one more week to make his final move.
Busch is 37 points out of the Chase, and he needs to have a Richmond weekend similar to what Jeremy Mayfield did early several years ago: Win the race and claim the final spot in the Chase.
I’ve been pretty critical of Kyle many times, but I still recognize his tremendous talent and the excellent quality of his team. The #18 car is without a doubt one of the top-12 cars on the circuit and deserves to be in the Chase.
I think Kyle can knock either Greg Biffle or Matt Kenseth out of the top-12, and take their spot, but he’s also got to get past 13th-place Brian Vickers. Without a doubt, this Saturday will require perfection from Busch if he plans on racing for a title.
Both NASCAR and its fans should be rooting for Busch to make the Chase, as every title fight needs a villain. If I have to sit through another friendly Carl Edwards/Jimmie Johnson fight, or something even more boring, I’ll be very disappointed. I want to see big bad Kyle take on good guy Johnson. Or maybe big bad Kyle can take on his former teammate and former bad boy Tony Stewart. Kyle vs. anyone would probably be a decent story.
Bottom line is that without him, the Chase could be pretty bland. With him, it could be electric if he does well.
And mark my words: If it turns out that either Martin or Busch miss the Chase despite winning more races than all the other drivers, NASCAR will institute some kind of rule that allows the driver with the most wins to get an automatic bid to the Chase. It just doesn’t seem right that one or both of these guys might not make it.
Congratulations to Ashley Force Hood
It’s been decades since a female drag racer (Shirley Muldowney) made a significant impact on the sport, but Ashley Force Hood is changing that with her big win in the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis. This is one of the biggest prizes in drag racing, and her win is one for the history books as she is only the second woman to win at the event, and the first to do so in Funny Car.
I don’t really follow drag racing, but I watched SPEED’s “Wind Tunnel” show this weekend and saw a great interview with Funny Car legend John Force, Ashley’s father, that is well worth watching if you can track it down. It’s both powerful and informative.
In the lengthy piece, Force talks about how he dealt with the death of one of his drivers a couple years ago, as well as his own terrifying accident … and then goes on to explain how he used that information to improve the chassis and other parts of the car to make it safer for his other drivers, sparing no expense to keep his drivers safe.
He also said he’d love to see his daughter win the event this weekend … and it looks like he got his wish. Congratulations to the Force family. They’ve been through a lot in the past few years and a win like this is no doubt some great medicine.
https://twitter.com/MattMyftiu
posted by Matt Myftiu at
1:34 AM
4 Comments:
i AGREE ABOUT kYLE.THIS WOULD PROVE, AGAIN, WHAT A JOKE THE CHASE IS.
I personally think he has it coming if he misses the chase...drive dirty long enough...it comes back to bite you in the A$$. Maybe this race will be where Vickers gets his revenge...would be nice to see.
a chase without Vickers; a chase without Martin; a chase without Jr.; a chase without Kenseth .... there are so many deserving drivers that lose any chance at the championship because of the stupid chase.
Why is rude, obnoxious, juvenile Kyle Busch any more of a loss than the others? Yes, he has talent, thus he is competing in the top division, but talent means nothing without humility, and that he sorely lacks.
Maybe when he grows up he might deserve it, but right now he is not champion material. Way too immature.
I'got to put in my two cents worth on this one...mainly because I'm getting sick of the Busch bashing bandwagon. To Anonymous - Exactly which dirty driving incident are you refering to. Did you mean the Bristol race a couple of weeks ago where Busch gave Mark Martin room to race cleanly for the win. Or maybe your're referring to the July 4th race at Daytona, where he tried to block to protect the lead and end up destroying his race car, and losing the race. Maybe you're talking about the the season opening Daytona 500, where he had the dominant car and was taken out by the Vickers-Earnhardt blocking nonsense. Maybe you mean the Brickyard 400 where he was racing by himself and blew a tire and went into the wall and ended his day. Oh, you meant his dirty driving in the Nationwide series, especially at Watkins Glen, were Busch got forced out of the way by Marcos Ambrose on the final lap, or was it the most recent Bristol race when he was clobbered by rookie Chase Austin as he made the pass for the lead. I'm not claiming the guy is a saint (although his charitable contributions are as much or more than most other drivers,) but I do think he races as clean as any other driver, it is just much more fashionable to piss and moan about Kyle Busch because he is "new" to the Nascar scene by "old timer" standards and has won way to much for his age. You need to get a grip on reality and stop being a lemming. As for JayDee009, a chase without Vickers and his one Victory being a shame is a bit of stretch, but I'll let you have that one. I agree that Mark Martin does deserve to be in the Chase with his four victories. But Jr.????? How in the hell does two wins in the last 4 years qualify you for anything but being replaced by a younger, smarter, faster driver. Erik Darnell has sponsorship money, Jr. might ought to be looking over his shoulder. Might point is that as fans you people need to start thinking for yourself. Don't let one writer say that this driver is a spoiled brat and then take that as fact, especially when the lemmings, I mean writers, starter repeating the same line over and over again. As for the writers, it is not their fault either, honestly, how many Jimmy Johnson stories can you write and expect to keep your job. The one childish and immature thing that Kyle Busch has done all year is smash a guitar at Nashville. I admit it was over the top, but if Tony Stewart or Earnhardt Jr. had done it, it would have been considered one of the best Victory Lane celebrations in racing history. As for dirty driving, Kyle also has one major guilty moment and that was during the NCWTS race at Richmond earlier in the year, and Nascar penalized him during the race for it, taking away a probable victory. He has been victimized many more times than that by other drivers "dirty" moves this season alone. You can keep riding the bandwagon if you like, but do all of us a favor and hang on tight when it goes off a cliff, the gene pool could use a little cleansing.
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