Busch Showing Hendrick The Back Of His Hand
Apr 27, 2008
CIA Stock Photo, Inc.
Here’s the decision to be made: Which guy do you let go of to get Junior? Well that seems easy; let’s get rid of the fire starter, the hothead, the brat. Hmmm...boy in retrospect, that seems stupid, seeing as that hothead, a.k.a. Kyle Busch, is the hottest driver in the series right now. But really, could they have made any other decision? Who would you have fired? Would you have fired anyone to get Dale Earnhardt, Jr.?
Looks like Hendrick Motorsport got caught in a catch-22. Let Junior go, who you have been trying to recruit since he was a teenager, or get rid of a young talent who has loads of promise but doesn’t fit in the button-down mold you have for your team.
Well, the die is cast and the chickens have come home to roost, and Kyle Busch is showing his old team they might have made the wrong decision. It was the best decision that could have been made for Kyle so he could have the stops pulled and he could run like wild all over NASCAR, which he seems to be doing.
Talledega: Chevy cars have won 18 of the last 19 races there. Last year it looked like Hendrick was the New York Yankees of NASCAR, spending all the money and getting all the drivers. This year, they have only one Cup win and they are suddenly very beatable. Kyle Busch may have been the lucky recipient of being at the right place at the right time, but he did come from a lap down to win. A twelve car pile-up on the last lap and he could have strolled across on roller skates. But that is what seems to be the story for the can-do-no-wrong Busch this year, and it was that kind of race. Eight drivers led their first laps of the season: Juan Pablo Montoya, Elliot Sadler, Paul Menard, A.J. Allmendinger, David Gilliland, Ken Schrader, Regan Smith, and David Stremme. Talledega has had some funny races and this was no exception. Kyle took advantage of a bad situation to get his second Cup win and fifth top-five finish, along with a third victory for Gibbs Racing this season.
So I ask you again, who would you have gotten rid of? I offer that no other decision could have been made, and it is too early to tell if this will last. But it sure does hurt for Hendrick now, which is just fine for Gibbs. At least he knows that he made the right decision.
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