Oct 26 2007
The controversial Busch boys
What is it that makes the Busch brothers, Kurt and Kyle, such controversial figures in the world of NASCAR? Are they really bad, or do we fans have a need for someone to boo and blame?
They have a lot of good things going for them. For instance:
- they are both with top-tier teams, Penske and Gibbs;
- they are both good drivers, with a strong showings in the Win column;
- both are in the Chase;
- other drivers, their competitors, claim to be their friends; and,
- each has a reputation for charitable giving.
The Good Brothers
Jeff and Ward Burton make a great example. Jeff is known as the hard-working, professional, nice-guy driver who is always just a step shy of major success. Brother Ward talks funny, but the fans love him. He may be the driver that fans most wish would get a good ride and enjoy some quality career time.
Other top-tier racing sibs include:
- Earnhardt – Dale, Jr. is the most popular driver in NASCAR. He has retained that crown, even while leaving his father’s business and waging a publicity war with his dad’s widow. Half-brother Kerry gets the outpouring of applause from the fans when he runs, though he has had virtually no success on the track. He seems to have found a home helping take care of business at DEI.
- Waltrip – Darryl has three championships and a storied, though sometimes contentious, career. Fans generally seem to like his style when calling races for Fox TV. Michael is one of the most notable sponsor spokesmen in the sport. In spite of a very rocky season start, primary sponsor
- Labonte – Terry and Bobby are both likable, easy-going, white hat guys. Terry earned two championships and moseyed off to retirement as one of NASCAR’s all-time good guys. Bobby, also a champion, is doing a good job driving the King’s ever-popular #43.
- Other notable racing brothers include: Glen and Leonard Wood, Bobby and Donnie Allison, Davey and Clifford Allison – not a bad-boy reputation in the bunch.
The fans want to know…what’s with these guys? I took a mini-poll – and here are some of the answers:
- They hail from
- It’s the Gordon/Johnson syndrome: polished, professional and too successful, too quick.
- Phony-sounding, over-rehearsed, sculpted speech.
- They wrecked each other and didn’t resolve it themselves. Then they took their differences to the media.
- They’re bad – that’s it, they’re just bad.
I’d like to add some comments to this article.
My wife and I followed Jeff Gordon since he was a kid. I mean a young kid racing grownups, established champions and racing heroes, and eventually taking their championships away from them, in whatever division he raced.
When we heard Gordon was coming to the Busch under Hendricks wing, we couldn’t wait to see what he could do.
Sure enough, he spent a year over-driving about every way a rookie could, and tearing up lots of equipment, yet there were no Boos from the crowd.
Then, he started winning.
“What? That kid can’t beat my driver !”
“He’s so cute!” , the gals said. Uh-Oh! Now you’re makin’ me feel a little jealous!
And he kept winning, and made it look easy !
“I ain’t gonna stand for it ! He’s kickin’ my drivers butt, and he hasn’t earned the right to kick my driver’s butt ! Hell, he doesn’t even know how to talk like a race car driver !”
Here came the Boos.
The rest is history.
Jeff Gordon probably single handedly made owners start looking deeper in the field for the next generation of champions. Not just to the Busch drivers, long established with years of failures and wins, but deeper down the ranks.
English became the official language of Nascar, even Larry McReynolds stopped saying ‘iregardless’. Today, the youngsters in the Goody’s and Hooters divisions are polished spokesmen in front of the cameras. Sponsors and manufacturers names roll off their lips like they’ve been racing and being interviewed for years. You know its not so.
And the fans still Boo.
The Busch brothers are just more of the same young school.
When they started out, busting into Nascar, they were the darlings of the media, and fans.
First came Kurt.Then Kurt started winning, and racing like Earnhardt, bumping slow cars out of the way to improve his position, AND NOT APOLOGIZING ! BOOOOO!
Can’t have that ! Only Dale gets to do that. He earned the right !
” Get that idiot off the track !” The signs said,” Free Jimmy Spencer !”, at the Bristol spring race right after Kurt and Jimmy had their incident the week before. Kurt, the Sharpie driver won the Sharpie 500. BOOOOOOO!
Then came Kyle, who won even quicker than Kurt. And, even worse, he acted like he deserved to win, just because he was faster. More bumping and NO APOLOGIZING !
When was the last time you heard Dale Earnhardt apologize for bumping anyone out of the way to better his position, or win a race? “THAT”S RACIN’!”
The Busch boys are good. Too good , too soon, by some people’s standards. However, winning races doesn’t come easy, and winning lots of races takes one main thing, talent.
When Jeff Gordon asked Dale Earnhardt how he handled the Boos, Dale just smiled and told him ” Don’t worry about the Boos, worry about when there aren’t any Boos. That means you aren’t winning.”
So Kurt and Kyle, enjoy it while you got it. As long as the fans Boo, you got them worried. In a few short years, someone else will be bearing the Boos during the introductions, and you might be getting respectful applause, even worse, silence.
MoHo-40,
Thanks for your comments. You make some very good points…would love to hear more from you in the future!
–RaceBud