Columnist Ron Kantowski: Bad-guy role good for Busch

Thursday, Aug. 28, 2003 | 9:32 a.m.

Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

There are some people -- usually fans of other types of motor racing or guys who drive BMWs and wear tasseled loafers -- who believe there is a fine line between NASCAR and professional wrestling and/or roller derby.

Much of that thinking is based on the notion that in all three, the participants and their personalities are more important to the success of the product than the final score or result.

I have to admit there are times I agree, especially when some guy from Wisconsin has a half-lap lead after 490 miles and they throw a yellow flag because there is debris on the track that Lt. Columbo couldn't detect with a microscope. What this does, of course, is bunch the field so somebody from North Carolina gets a second chance to win the race.

But I would also point out that in NASCAR, you can't "call off the jam" upon passing everybody on the track, like in roller derby. And in NASCAR, unlike in professional wrestling, foreign objects -- like drivers and cars -- aren't allowed.

However, if you don't think the sanctioning body in Daytona Beach isn't enjoying this little hissy fit between Las Vegan Kurt Busch and Jimmy Spencer, you're more naive than Christian Fittipaldi in thinking he'd find a drafting partner at Daytona.

That's why instead of trying to run away from being cast as the villain, Busch should embrace the role. It's good for business when NASCAR fans take up sides, and history will show that in the long run, it also will be good for Busch's career and T-shirt sales.

They talk about NASCAR's "gentleman's agreement" among drivers, where the one in the lead slows down when there is a yellow flag to allow those from North Carolina running a lap down to pass and get back on the lead lap. Again, this is good for business. More cars on the lead lap means more cars tradin' paint on the last one, and more guys cussin' at each other when it's over.

But there's also an agreement among fans, and it's that any whippersnapper who starts his career by winning races will not be accepted until he's old enough to run for president.

Just ask Rusty Wallace. Or Darrell Waltrip. "Jaws" is what Cale Yarborough called him. Those guys evolved into fan darlings, but not until they were booed from here to Watkins Glen. In fact, if memory serves, it wasn't until Wallace rattled Waltrip's roll cage in the 1989 Winston that Waltrip became popular.

Jeff Gordon still hears more catcalls than cheers, although it's probably because his hat is too white, rather than black. Even the late, great Dale Earnhardt was despised until that Yosemite Sam mustache of his became flecked with gray.

Let's do the math. Between them, those guys have polished 15 Winston Cups. Busch is in good company.

So if I were him, I'd quit apologizing and run with the idea of becoming the NASCAR equivalent of Rutger Hauer. I'd grow a goatee, put on a pair of those giant, dark Gargoyles like Earnhardt used to wear and get a posse. I'd start dating Shannon Doherty. And I'd have the crew guys take an axe to the No. 97 racing hauler, to "make it look mean," like the Charlestown Chiefs' bus in "Slap Shot."

The only other options are for Busch to start tanking races and become the next Todd Bodine, because nobody boos guys who finish 31st every week, or wait until somebody spins out Little Earnhardt on the last lap at Daytona.

Unless, of course, Busch wants to be the bad guy forever. Then he can just do it himself.