By Nathan Butler
It is very easy in today’s racing world to immediately accuse one of the most depicted drivers in NASCAR history, but why should you? Twenty-Four hours after the big fiasco with Richard Childress and NASCAR driver Kyle Busch, and we are still debating who is at fault.
Most fans of this sport have their opinions of Kyle, and I would be willing to say most can’t stand him. I can’t really answer why unless it has something to do with his attitude, his consistency, or his no fear attitude. It is really obvious during pre-race introductions, when the boo’s for Kyle are much more amped than the cheers, never thought it would be so evident until I heard it for the first time. Majority of NASCAR fans can’t stand him, but this isn’t a reason to blame him for yesterday’s incident with Richard.
If you blame Richard for his actions yesterday, be careful as well. As in most cases, one can come up with an excuse for everything, and I can come up with one for Richard. RCR has had plenty of “not so nice” experiences with Kyle, dating back to last year with Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch went at it after a race. Richard’s patience with Kyle has been growing slim for quite some time. Think about it this way, Richard’s glass was sitting only half full, but when Kyle continues to have his tantrums at the expense of RCR, eventually that glass that sat half full will eventually begin to overflow. Several weeks ago in Darlington, Kyle and Kevin Harvick had one of “those moments” on pit road after the race. When Kevin got out of his car to confront Kyle, Kyle pushed Kevin’s car into the pit wall causing damage to the 29 machine that may not have had a scratch on beforehand. Richard told Kyle not to touch any of his cars again, which leads us to yesterday’s truck series battle.
Apparently, Kyle Busch did not like the tight racing from RCR NCWTS driver Joey Coulter was using during the final laps of the race. Kyle wasn’t afraid to let Joey know on the cool down lap by putting a donut on the side of his door. This was the final straw for Richard.
According to reports, as Kyle was walking to his hauler after the race, Richard took off his jewelry and proceeded to put Kyle in a headlock, and continued to punch Kyle several times, dropping him to the ground.
Richard was the one who will be held responsible for his actions, but there are two sides to every story. Should we have an opinion on the matter, or focus on one side over another? That seems to remain the question as we await Richard’s final punishment.
