By ,
Published November 20, 2014
I just have to say it up front: Kyle Busch is a driving fool.
The 25-year-old driver sure can wheel anything he climbs into. If you don't believe me, go look at the tapes from Friday, Saturday and Sunday's races at Dover International Speedway. If it wasn't for a vapor-lock situation on his truck on Friday, Kyle could have made NASCAR history by winning all three events in a single weekend.
Kyle Busch is just something to watch behind the wheel. It's just incredible to see what he can accomplish. Sure, there are other drivers out there that occasionally race in all three series, but nobody does it as consistently and as successfully as Kyle. He just makes the transition from series to series look so easy that it mystifies a lot of people.
When he announced this past weekend that he would not drive the entire Nationwide season and contend for back-to-back championships, you could hear the disappointment in his voice. The normal school of thought is if you don't spread yourself too thin, it allows you to concentrate on the top goal. Jimmie Johnson is a prime example as he doesn't do much of anything outside of Cup racing - and he has dominated that series for the last four years.
In Kyle's case we just won't know the impact until the year is over. You have to consider however, in the last two years, where has Kyle Busch been in the Chase for the Sprint Cup? Well he's been a non-factor. Two years ago he stumbled after dominating the regular season and then last year he didn't even make the Chase. So conventional wisdom says something has to change to make sure you don't take your eye off the big prize.
Obviously the ultimate goal is the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship. That's what everyone targets and is going for. But again, we won't know if this is the right decision until the checkered flag waves at Homestead in November.
I think Kyle also served notice this past weekend that now there are two Joe Gibbs Racing cars running on all eight cylinders. In addition to that, second-year driver Joey Logano is not too far behind Kyle and Denny Hamlin. So you have to tip your hat to the Gibbs' camp. It has this new-model car and spoiler combination figured out and is looking really strong for the 2010 Chase.
One of the nice surprises on Sunday was the run by Kevin Harvick and that No. 29 Richard Childress Racing car. He started back in the back, but these guys just won't go away. Kevin had a nice run at Dover. He is proving once again that it's now how he qualifies but how he finishes that matters. The team is putting points on the board heading to September and the Chase. So that's going to be a team that is interesting to watch.
The other nice thing to see Sunday was the run by the Ford camp. Maybe the blue-oval boys are starting to figure something out. You had Kasey Kahne, his teammate AJ Allmendinger and three out of the four Roush drivers having a great race Sunday. It seems like when these guys are unloading on Friday morning, they are faster off the truck than normal. That's a real positive. That leads to better practices and also better qualifying. If that continues, more consistent race results will surely follow.
I also have to say I really hated seeing Jimmie Johnson get hit with the speeding penalty. I would have loved to see the end result of a head-to-head battle between him and Kyle. Jimmie was showing he is still pretty dang good at Dover. They didn't lose that race on the racetrack, Jimmie just made a mistake that he rarely makes.
That's why I think this weekend at Lowe's Motor Speedway will be so exciting. The NASCAR All-Star race is where everybody basically throws caution to the wind with setup, engine combination and driving style.
Trust me, the sparks are going to fly and it's going to be fun.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/kyle-busch-impressive-in-three-nascar-series