I am very pleased that someone other than Kyle Busch won the Coca-Cola 600 Sunday at Lowes Motor Speedway. And here you thought from the title this was going to be a political post, hah, fooled you!!
I have observed lately that there are basically two kinds of NASCAR fans when it comes to Kyle Busch, those who love him, and those who love to despise him. Consider me in the latter category. You know it's bad when I actively root for a driver who is sponsored by a beer company to win over Busch. I NEVER support ANY driver who is sponsored by a beer company. That's why I am kinda glad that Dale Jr. switched teams and is no longer sponsored by Budweiser. Now I can actually be happy when he does well. Anyway, I digress.
Kasey Kahne who drives the number 9 car and is now sponsored by Budweiser picked up the win, and while I was not pleased because of who his sponsor is, I was glad to see it be anybody but Busch. I have nothing against Kahne personally or as a driver, he seems like a class-act for the most part, I just can't bring myself to actively support or pull for drivers or teams that sell out their sponsorship to beer companies. It's just a personal conviction of mine.
Kyle Busch seems like he will do anything, including spin other drivers into the wall, to win at all costs. That either comes from being young, immature, and inexperienced, or from a total lack of class altogether, or all of the above. What amazes me is that Joe Gibbs Racing would hire such a person. I always regarded and respected JGR as the class act in NASCAR, until now. Even though they say it wasn't a factor, I have to wonder if Busch's hiring was a main reason why Interstate Batteries has scaled way back in sponsoring Busch's number 18 car, once driven by former Cup Champion Bobby Labonte.
That was back in the day when JGR exuded class from top to bottom. Joe Gibbs was and is a class act. Norm Miller, President/CEO of Interstate Batteries is a class act, and so is Labonte. When Joe Gibbs steeped away from NASCAR to go back and coach in the NFL and turned the racing operation over to his son J.D, that's when things started to change dramatically. Some would say the changes were for the better, and some were, but not all of them.
Hiring Denny Hamiln to drive the team's third car was a stroke of genius. So was switching from Chevy to Toyota. Don't get me wrong, I share the same level of discomfort as many of you do about a Japanese manufacturer entering an American sport. There's something that just seems not right about that. But, from a purely racing standpoint, it was a brilliant move. The reason why is now JGR is in the top tier representing their manufacturer. None of the other Toyota teams have had anywhere near the level of success that JGR has had. If they had remained with Chevy, they would been 4th tier at best behind Hendrick, RCR, and DEI. But is winning really that important that you sacrifice class and integrity to do so? Personally, I say no.
Here's what I hope happens. I hope Interstate Batteries totally abandons JGR and Kyle Busch for 2009. The timing would be perfect. Lots of teams' sponsorships are up for renegotiation, and it is certain that many of them will change. It is already known that General Mills is leaving Petty Racing's 43 car to sponsor a new car for Richard Childress. That leaves the car owned and formerly driven by NASCAR's undisputed king Richard Petty without a primary sponsor in 2009. Since that car is now driven by Bobby Labonte who is currently working out a contract extension with Petty, wouldn't it just be the perfect irony and a bit of poetic justice if Interstate Batteries decided to go sponsor the 43? I think so.
So, for the rest of this season, and probably for many to come as long as I remain a NASCAR fan, I will root for anybody but Busch. Kyle Busch that is. I have nothing against his brother Kurt personally or as a driver, except that he is sponsored by Miller Lite and I think I have already made my position abundantly clear on that topic. Go fast and turn left guys!! Without hitting the wall hopefully.
Jim Chitty
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