It’s not very often that someone can make what would usually be a boast into a pointed jab at the same time, but Rowdy pulled it off on Friday night.
This isn’t the first time we’ve said this, but whether you root for or against him, you can’t deny that Kyle Busch is a 100 percent original. He says things other NASCAR drivers simply wouldn’t, and the circumstances for his latest memorable line on Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway lent themselves perfectly to another Rowdy classic.
Busch entered the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 looking for his 51st NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory, which would tie him for the most all-time with Ron Hornaday. He probably expected to get it, and why wouldn’t we? Not only are the trucks he owns really fast week in and week out, but Busch wins very often when he races trucks — 15 of his last 28 starts entering this weekend, which is just insane if you think about it.
Alas, Busch did not win Friday’s race. Johnny Sauter did, claiming his first ever Truck Series victory at Charlotte. Rowdy finished second, but it wasn’t so much that he didn’t win as why he didn’t. Busch’s pit crew was penalized twice for coming over the wall too early, sending their driver to the rear of the field in each case. Thus, even though Busch probably passed more trucks than anyone else by a wide margin, he simply couldn’t overcome those two big setbacks.
As you might expect, Busch was none too pleased after the race, and he let the world know it as only he can when asked how he even managed to wind up second.
"Pure talent. That’s about it. My pit crew did absolutely nothing to help me out tonight. My truck drove like (crap) … But somehow, some way I was able to get back to the front. Had a blast."
We sometimes forget that NASCAR is a team sport, but Busch put both the people preparing and the people servicing his truck on blast here. To put this crack in perspective, it’s like if LeBron James would throw both his coach and teammates under the bus and given himself all the credit for keeping the Cavs close in a narrow defeat.
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A bad look? Maybe. But he wasn’t wrong, and it could be slightly more forgivable since this isn’t Busch’s regular team. if he had said the same things about his No. 18 Toyota team after a Cup Series race, it might cause some lingering resentment for the rest of the season.
Then again, maybe Busch should keep in mind that his Truck Series employees aren’t quite as skilled as their Cup Series counterparts, as a bunch of them are just working their way up the NASCAR ranks. Rowdy will certainly catch and pass Hornaday before too long, and in the meantime, he remains the driver you most want to have a microphone on hand to hear when things don’t quite go his way.