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In life, there are some basic rules that most people with a hint of common sense understand. A few of these would be that you don’t mess with someone who wears cowboy boots, who has survived for years in the rough and tumble world of NASCAR and who hunts big game in his spare time.
Kyle Busch knows this now.
It will be interesting to see if the attitude adjustment he received from Richard Childress on Saturday has any effect. It will also be interesting to see if the penalties levied against Childress will have any effect on the team owner’s attitude toward Kyle or other drivers who offend the Childress camp.
When I first read the breaking news about the altercation between Busch and Childress, I couldn’t help but think that this wasn’t an irrational, heat of the moment action by Childress. What if the team owner’s actions were more deliberate in nature?
I think it’s possible that Childress, fully aware of what the consequences would be for roughing up Busch, decided that he and others had put up with enough of Busch’s antics. Maybe the team owner had decided that he wasn’t willing to accept one more bent fender or fuming driver at the hands of Busch. Maybe he decided that it was time to send a message that his people and equipment won’t be disrespected without consequences. Maybe he believed that it was time for someone to teach Busch a lesson. Maybe he decided it was time for a little old-school justice.
I found if quite interesting that Childress reportedly removed his jewelry before he tangled with Busch. It was a smart move since it left Busch’s face unmarked, thus removing any possible sympathy factor a bruised Busch could have received during Sunday’s pre-race interviews.
It’s also interesting that in this day and age when everyone has video and photo capabilities on their cellphones, that there isn’t any known images of the incident. Childress must have chosen his rendezvous point carefully.
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Now the owner of Richard Childress Racing will have to pay his $150,000 fine and be on good behavior during his probation. But I doubt we’ll see Childress act out again. He doesn’t have a reputation for acting this way in the garage.
As for Busch? He has handled the situation well by remaining calm and understated in his television interviews. But I’m sure that drama will continue to follow him, no matter what.
I'm not a fan of violence, but I have to salute RC's play. Choosing to confront KyBu in the owner's motor home area (both RC and KyBu are Truck Series owners) was the best spot. It put both on an even playing field (think old frontier Main Street gunfight) in a highly protected environment (Na$car's equivalent of the MGM back lot).
As for removing bling before the fight, I think RC cut KyBu some slack. No cuts, no brass knuckles. Besides, fixing his Rolex and Championship rings could cost upwards of $150K...I hope Jeff Bridges plays him in the movie version.
Unlike Na$car's death sentence it gave to Carl Long (for the .007 infraction) and those lifetime banishment's for foreign substances (only the ones that show up in the bodily fluids, not MWR's carb, RC should be able to pay his fine from the proceeds of a few cases of his fine wines.
Cheers!
Childress has no problem when Harvick wrecks/wrecked cars.Watch last race of 2010.Harvick has wrecked more cars than Busch ever has.Childress also had no problem when SR(3)wrecked anyone he could not pass.Now it is coming back to him,he gets mad.As far as hiding behind a trailer and grabbing someone from behind He is a wuss!He should not be allowed at the track,he also should be charged with assault.Listen to Bowyers comments from 2 weeks ago,they are just tired of losing to Busch in all 3 series.
Busch needs to step out of the minor leagues and let the series make it's own stars. Some of us longtime race fans are sick of Busch (also Edwards, and others) bringing their high dollar equipment and "winning" against less experienced drivers. Nascar should limit them to say 5 or 10 races a year. And once the chase starts, no chase driver should run the lower series. To boast of all those "wins" is no different than if the Yankees played against minor league teams to pad their win totals. Busch fans will say "you're just jealous". No I'm not, my favorite driver has 54 cup wins and 5 cup championships (exactly 5 more than Busch). Childress probably considers the 150k as "money well spent".
Unless Busch concentrates on cup, (where he is already a star), he will not achieve anywhere near the same greatness as Johnson, Earnhardt, Petty, etc. Leave the lower series to those still working toward that stardom. Once upon a time, those series made their own stars (Craven, Nemechek, Sprague, etc.).
hey they dont call it neck car for nothing
Childress knew Busch wouldn't respond with his fists because he's already on probation with NASCAR.