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Kyle Busch ... Date published: 5/4/2009
BY ADAM HIMMELSBACH
RICHMOND-- After Kyle Busch won the Crown Royal 400 at Richmond International Raceway late Saturday night, he joined team owner Joe Gibbs for a post-race press conference.Gibbs, as he was known to do after Redskins games, opened by thanking the fans. He mentioned a special attachment to Richmond because of its thick burgundy-and-gold base. Busch then offered a hopeful sigh that was followed by a mild plea. "I wish there were as many Busch fans as there are Redskins fans around here," he said. Gibbs smiled. "I'm sure they were all here to see me," the former coach said with a laugh. "In any case, it was a great weekend for us." Busch is a driver fans love to hate. It is partly due to his cocksure attitude and his sometimes overaggressive driving style. It is partly because he is the younger brother of Kurt Busch, who won't be a candidate for the most-popular-driver award any time soon. And it doesn't help that Kyle has wrecked Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is as important to NASCAR fans as Facebook is to college students. Someone even took the time to create a Web site called kylebuschsucks.net. After Busch won Saturday's race, he crawled through his window and pumped his fists as he jogged to get the checkered flag. Though there were some cheers, there were also plenty of fans who booed and turned their thumbs to the ground. "Whether it's one-finger salutes or thumbs-up or whatever," Busch said, "it's all good." Or is it? When Busch was younger he seemed genuinely unaffected by the catcalls. But on Saturday, each statement like the one above was followed by one that made it sound like Busch just wanted to be loved. "For me, it's fun to go out there and play the villain role sometimes," Busch said, "and be liked other times." It is an intriguing dynamic that this widely disliked driver works for a team owned by Gibbs, the extremely polite and well-liked former football coach whose public temper is milder than a Miami winter. Gibbs admits that Busch was not NASCAR's most endearing personality as he became one of the Sprint Cup's most dominant drivers. But this season he has noticed a shift in the perception of Busch.
I'm a Jr.,Stewart fan but that freakin kid can drive.
but he can really drive. I just wish Gordon (24) had taken tires at some point during all the cautions then we could have seen better finish. Still the week-end belonged to Kyle. Good job!
The race was really a good one. I have been a Kyle Busch fan from Day One. I hope he never loses that cocky attitude. Love him just the way he is!
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