June 13, 2011
By Matthew Pizzolato
Matthew Pizzolato
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The conflict that occurred last weekend after the Camping World Truck Series race at Kansas between Richard Childress and Kyle Busch has generated a media storm and a lot of discussion over the last week. One of the topics being discussed is if the one-sided fight was good for NASCAR.
According to reports, Childress struck Busch. The two were briefly separated and then Childress put Busch into a headlock and struck him several times before they were once again separated. After the fight, it was reported that Childress had warned Busch after the Darlimngton race, not to wreck any of his cars.
Some people believe that the incident is a black eye for NASCAR. Quite frankly, those people are wrong. With recent downtimes that NASCAR has suffered through, the sport needs every bit of media exposure that it can get.
Regardless, the simple fact is that Kyle Busch had it coming.
At a recent press conference at Pocono, Busch was asked if he knew why Childress was mad.
"Me giving a congratulatory bump to Joey Coulter is what tipped him (Richard Childress) over the edge there," Busch said. "I don't recall anytime -- face-to-face conversation where Richard did tell me that, 'If you touch another one of my cars I'm going to come find you.' I don't know if it was ever said in the media, but it was never relayed to me."
Last Monday, Richard Childress was fined $150,000 for violating Section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing -- involved in an altercation in the garage area) of the 2011 NASCAR rule book and placed on probation until December 31st. Kyle Busch was absolved of any wrong doing by NASCAR.
As soon as news of the fine broke, people began sending money to Childress to help him pay it. This weekend at Pocono, Richard Childress spoke briefly at a press conference regarding the incident.
“Here is the deal. I am going to make one statement on this deal. I appreciate everyone’s patience during the last week when I couldn’t talk to everyone. The main thing is I take all the responsibility for my actions last week. I am very passionate about this sport. I am passionate about my race teams, our fans and I let my emotions get... come in front of my passion. But that is behind us.
“I guess the next thing is the fine that was levied against me, I’m going to pay it personal. I agree that NASCAR should have done something with me. I don’t agree that they didn’t handle the situation that happened on the cool-down lap.
“With that said, we had a lot of fans to send in donations last week toward our fine, I am going to pay it personally. All that money that has been sent in, that is still coming in, we’re going to take and donate to the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma. At least in every bad situation, something good will come out of it.
“Hopefully Kyle (Busch) and myself will both end up learning something from this. Thank you all very much. Talk to you later. That’s it.”
It's not as if such things are exclusive to NASCAR. There are brawls in baseball when a batter charges the mound. There are fights in the NFL. A lot of people attend fights just to watch the hockey games that break out.
This is America and this is NASCAR. Disputes have always been settled mano a mano. It was a fist fight at the Daytona 500 in 1979 that launched NASCAR onto the national stage. That's the way it's always been and the way it always will be. If officials try to regulate the human emotion away from the sport, it wouldn't be NASCAR anymore.
Richard Childress isn't the only person in the garage that has had to deal with Kyle Busch and his infamous attitude. The difference is that Busch finally met someone who just wouldn't put up with it. Hopefully, Kyle Busch learned his lesson.
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