August 30, 2010
By Matthew Pizzolato
Matthew Pizzolato
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Last weekend at Bristol, Kyle Busch accomplished something truly remarkable. He swept all three of NASCAR's top series, becoming the first man to ever do so. There is no question that he's a phenomenal racecar driver; he has proven that he can win in anything with wheels on it.
Yet, despite his natural talent, most fans simply do not like him. At times, he has proven to be a sore loser and not a very gracious winner, which are both qualities that rub some fans the wrong way.
Sometimes his post race antics leave people scratching their heads and wondering what he was thinking, such as his guitar bashing incident last year after he won the Nashville Superspeedway race in the Nationwide Series.
It would appear to the casual observer that Kyle Busch has an exaggerated opinion of himself and his abilities behind the wheel. Yet, there are those in the media who contribute to his swollen head syndrome. Take for instance his win total.
After Busch won Friday night's Truck race at Chicagoland Speedway, it was announced in some media outlets that he has 17 NASCAR wins on the season, which brings his all-time win total to 79 for his career.
Wrong.
On NASCAR's all-time win list (in the top division), the great drivers at the top of the list are only accredited with the number of wins they've had in the Cup division. A big deal was made a few years ago when Jeff Gordon passed Dale Earnhardt for wins, yet both drivers, for purposes of an all-time win total, achieved all of their victories in the Cup Series.
Seventy-nine wins would put him in sixth on the all-time win list (in the top division), ahead of Dale Earnhardt and place him in the company of other NASCAR legends: Richard Petty, David Pearson, Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough and Jeff Gordon.
Kyle Busch has a long way to go before he achieves that status.
Truth be told, he only has 19 victories in Cup level competition. While he has the ability to win, he lacks the consistency needed to win championships, something all of the above mentioned men have done. It will be awhile before he joins that hallowed company, if he ever does.
On the season, Busch has 17 wins across all of NASCAR's divisions, not 17 Cup wins, of which he only has three. Ten of those victories came in the Nationwide Series against drivers who are still developing their skill set, which for a man of his talents is like taking candy from a baby, and four in the Truck Series where competition is a bit stiffer but still not at the level of Cup.
While winning in the Nationwide and Truck Series is quite an accomplishment, both divisions are developmental series, so the competition level there is not as high as it is in the Cup Series.
Throughout his career, Busch has always been held to a different standard than the rest of the drivers. His wins across all of NASCAR's divisions are always tallied and everyone talks about what a phenomenal driver he is.
Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick all compete in the Nationwide series as well as Cup. All of them have won races this season in the Nationwide Series, yet their win totals across all three of NASCAR's divisions aren't announced. Why?
There's nothing wrong Busch winning in the developmental series, yet not all of the top drivers compete in all three series. If they did, more of them would have victories across all three divisions.
So, if Kyle Busch has an over-inflated opinion of himself, it's not his fault. Nothing ever is.
If you would like to learn more about Matthew, please check out his web site at matthew-pizzolato.com.
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