Kyle Busch Needs to Tone it Down

Its apparent and has been apparent for a few years that Kyle Busch is a supremely talented driver. As far as just pure driving talent and ability I would put Kyle Busch right up there with Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon. Its difficult to put him ahead of them based on the success they have had through the years as well as the wins.

The problem that I personally have with Kyle Busch is that he drives like a damn fool too often. For example this past Monday when the race was rain delayed you knew he had a fast car and I know the track is wide. But, there isn't the need to go 3-wide as often as he did. Watching it on TV and NASCAR.com there were at least 3 times that he was 4 wide. There is no real reason for that. The reason that I initially became a non-Kyle Busch fan is because of his mouth. Just like his brother Kurt(who seems to be a lost cause at this point) he doesn't know when to shut up, how not to be cocky, and how not to whine. There are a lot of NASCAR drivers that seem to whine. Is it there high pitch voice or what? I'm not sure. But Dale Earnhardt was always able to voice is opinion without it coming off as whining as is Tony Stewart about half the time and Dale Jr.

For example his comment Sunday night during the rain delay when asked if his car was a rocket ship and he responded "No, well I was going to say it was just the driver, but that would be cocky." Why hell yes its cocky Kyle. The New NASCAR fans may love that shit, but the fans that drive this sport and who will be there when the fad fades out don't. Not only that, but you alienate your crew. There is a reason that Rick Hendrick got rid of Busch, he was simply looking for an excuse and used the agent as just that. There is no way a sane person would think that Cassey Mears is a better talent than Kyle Busch. A lot would argue that Busch is better than Dale Jr.

I'll close in saying this. I really do want to pull for Kyle Busch. He is a helluva driver and probably a nice guy, but he comes off way to arrogant and just a general disrespect for fellow drivers. All race drivers have a bit of arrogance but most channel it. The disrespect that he seems to have for his team and fellow competitors is really troubling. Thats not something a PR guy can fix, thats a complete attitude adjustment. His brother Kurt has been punched at least twice by fellow drivers and that hasn't seemed to work with him. For the time being I'll pull against Kyle Busch every chance I get, but I suppose at one time Darrell Waltrip was a guy every fan loved to hate, but his last 10 years in the sport he got a standing ovation anywhere he went.

Get with it Kyle for your sake.

Backlash towards Bobby Labonte if he Leaves Petty?

I had intially posted this on the Bobby Backers Message board, but it seemed to be a good start to a blog as if anyone cares, but hey whatever! I need to VENT!!!

This is LONG so go get you a snack and something to drink if you want to read it Its semi-rant and just my opinion on everything after I’ve had a chance the digest things over the weekend.First off any Petty fans that venture here and read this be forewarned this is from a Bobby fan that will follow him wherever he goes or remain with him if he stays.

I can’t help but wonder what the backlash will be AT Bobby if he does decide to leave Petty. I can’t honestly believe the cheers he gets at races now. It’s a much better applause than he got 8 to 10 years ago when he was winning races. Maybe some of the new fans are his fans or maybe some of the “old school” fans have made him one of their favorites. But, I can’t help but think that a lot of his new found fan support is because he drives the famed 43 car and the legions of fans that have followed the king through the 70’s and remained fans even when Jeff Green drove the car.

Some of the things I’ve read on Petty message boards you’d think he was the second coming of Hitler. There are many that are ready to boo him worse than the reaction that Jeff Gordon or the Busch Brothers get. I’d venture to guess it would be more of a hatred boo than the jeering that happens with Gordon anymore. I wonder if Bobby is ready to deal with that. I have no idea to what extent this will even happen. It may not. But, based on traffic to message boards the Petty Fans message boards are so much more active than the Bobby board is, so it makes me think there are many more car 43 fans than there are Bobby Labonte fans. I might be wrong, but the regular posters on those(Fans of Petty) boards seem to be between around 50 where as this board(Bobby Backers) it seems to be closer to 10 or 15. I just counted the visitors the Fans for Petty message board in the past 24 hours and quit counting when I got to 120 there was easily another 50 or so. Granted not all of them post and some of them are Bobby fans like myself. I have no idea how to see how many different people of logged onto this board. Just going on internet only sites, how much stock can you put in that? Just food for thought. I can say that I never remember Jeff Green or John Andretti getting the reception that Bobby does, but that was several years ago too.

I know not all Petty fans feel this way. Reading some of their thoughts it would be as if many of them think Bobby should be paying money to be driving the 43 that it is a privilege. And, while I’d be a fool to tell you that the 43 isn’t something special and important. This is NOT the same car that Richard Petty drove to 200 career victories and won 7 Daytona 500’s with. Not even close. They need to get over themselves to a large degree. I’m sure Bobby is honored to drive the 43 car, but he is also a race car driver. Winning is going to trump nostalgia. This isn’t 1978 it is 2008 and the 43 car hasn’t won since 1999 and there is a reason for that. Heck the organization as a whole(counting the 43, 45, etc) hasn’t had but 5 top 5 finishes since 2000 and only 26 top 10 finishes. It’s a tough Pill to swallow when you think about it, I had to recount 3 times even I couldn’t believe that. Proof is in that pudding for certain. Of the top 5’s 3 are Bobbys and of the top 10’s Bobby has 11 of those in only 2 seasons.

If General Mills does follow him as the rumor suggests I’d expect the backlash to be that much worse. I’m not sure what their buck for the buck was before Bobby or since Bobby. It’s not like they have been with the Petty’s since the 80’s. As far as I can tell Cheerios has only been the primary sponsor since 2000. I do know as a Bobby fan I go out of my way to buy GM products particularly breakfast items, sorry but Totino’s is just not a good product and not a big fan of bugles. I never got a chance to support Bobby’s sponsor Interstate Batteries when he was at JGR simply because it’s an impossible product to find and when you need a battery you need 1 today and it’s much easier to go to Advanced or Napa and get one put in. So, I go the extra mile with General Mills where I used to by generic breakfast cereals and never paid attention to who made anything. I venture to guess I’m not alone in this. So it does make some sense to me that GM would follow him, however they will suffer some backlash I’m sure too since this would be a very crippling blow to PE.

In my opinion it makes every since in the world for Bobby to make a move to RCR. There was that rumor out there last year about him going to RCR this year. Probably a good idea that he didn’t based on the Penske swap, but I’d expect JGR to do something very similar with Joey Logano with Tony Stewart if things work out and he is ready to go cup racing next year(the age rule will not effect him I don’t think). It would be very critical that if he does go somewhere without points that whoever it is can go fast at Daytona for qualifying, you do NOT want to depend on the twins to get yourself in the race. It would be a shame to miss the opening race of the season, but a very likely thing that could happen. But, let’s be honest about it, Bobby is no spring chicken. At most he has 5 years left in him and at worst he still has 2 or 3. I just don’t see him racing into his 50’s, but who knows. Other than Harry Gant and possibly Rusty Wallace every driver lost quite a bit between ages 40 and 45. Bobby hasn’t won since 2003 which has got to take its toll on him and have him questioning his own abilities, it’s only natural. Leaving PE and going to RCR does not guarantee a race win or even making the chase. They did place all 3 drivers in the chase, but they are not nearly as strong of an organization as Hendrick, Gibbs, or even Roush(wouldn’t wish them on any driver though). RCR is turning the corners and that was evident last year. If Bobby feels that he is not going to win a race anytime soon at PE, then I don’t see where he has a choice.

In my opinion Petty since a strong and clear message last year when that declined any form of merger with GEM. They were in discussions so there had to have been some interest even after the Bud sponsorship which I know a lot of Petty fans claim to be the reason if fell through. Maybe it was or not, but it sent a clear message that old school is always going to win out. They did move their shop to Mooresville, but that was the only option they had to survive past a couple of years. Look at the Wood Brothers who are near extinction because they waited so long or Morgan-McClure who is no more because they never made the move. The move to Mooresville is a slight compromise in my opinion to at least remain a racing organization beyond 2010. Look at all that has happened since they last won a race. RCR has 3 cars now. JGR has 3. Hendrick now has 4 competitive cars and Roush has 5. It’s no coincidence that that all the expansion started about the same time PE started getting few top 10s and even fewer top 5s. Petty has 2 cars, but only 1 is semi-competitive and some weeks even it isn’t. I think they did make some positive moves in the off-season, but I still see the GEM deal not happening as a snapshot of the future. I will also add that once Kyle falls out of the top 35 and starts missing races it will hurt the organization more than anything they did in the off-season did to help it.

All in all I still have pretty mixed feelings about the whole thing. I’d love to see Bobby win races and make the chase in the 43 car, as weeks pass that is less and less likely. Going to a team with no points is a HUGE risk especially with the way you qualify at Daytona. I’m not nearly as worried about the other tracks simply because at those Tony Stewart or Kurt Busch will stand a good chance at qualifying there as well as Bobby if there is a points swap again next year. Would missing 1 race at Daytona be worth the risk of going to a brand new team? Ultimately I think that’s what this comes down too. Could very easily have a Dale Jarrett situation and that is something that needs to be considered.

Rant is officially over!!