Unfortunately,
he has drawn exclusively negative attention of late, and that will continue for
at least another week.
NASCAR
suspended Busch until June 13 for remarks he made to a media member following
the Nationwide race Saturday at Dover International Speedway.
Busch
was already on probation from an incident on pit road with Ryan Newman’s #39
team after the Southern 500 a few weeks ago at Darlington so his antics last
weekend sent him to the bench for this week’s race at Pocono Raceway.
Obviously,
this isn’t anything new for Busch. Well, the suspension is something new, but
he has filled his career with regrettable moments that keep him from being
lauded for his driving ability as a NASCAR champion.
He
lost his first Cup ride a year after his 2004 championship run in the #97 car
for Jack Roush after he was cited for reckless driving.
Busch
quickly found a ride with Penske Racing and had several incidents that
eventually led up to a profanity-laced rant at ESPN reporter Dr. Jerry Punch
during the final race of the season at Homestead.
That
rant cost him his seat in the #22 car, so this year he had to make do with the mostly
unsponsored #51 car furnished by the singe-car operation of Phoenix Racing.
Busch
could have used the setback to collect himself and make a second career out of
returning to the top of the sport, but this suspension likely rules out the
possibility of that happening any time soon.
People
will long debate whether Busch’s penalty was too harsh or too lenient. Either
way, Busch’s previous incidents clearly factored into the severity of his
penalty, the same way they did when his younger brother, Kyle Busch, was parked
for the Texas Nationwide and Cup races after he drove Ron Hornaday Jr. into the
wall during the truck race.
In
this sport, drivers can act foolishly and get away with it to a certain extent.
Carl Edwards intentionally wrecked Brad Keselowski twice in 2010, but NASCAR placed
Edwards on probation only after the second wreck.
Fans
might also remember that he faked throwing a punch at teammate Matt Kenseth
following the fall 2007 race at Martinsville.
Since
those incidents, Edwards has not had any problems and nearly won the 2011
Sprint Cup Series championship. He is also one of the most outgoing and polite
drivers in the sport.
Perhaps
Edwards learned his lessons and matured beyond the extracurricular games that
tend to crop up during a long season.
That’s
part of what makes Busch’s most recent actions even more surprising than the
fact that NASCAR suspended him.
Busch
is a Sprint Cup Series champion. That type of success carries a lot of weight
in NASCAR. Champions rise above other drivers in the sport both on a
competitive level and a respect level. Busch’s repeated mishaps simply aren’t
fitting of a champion in this, or any, sport. had absolutely nothing to gain by
arguing with reporters after the Nationwide race and a heck of a lot to lose.
What
makes difficult to understand are instances such as the Nationwide race three
weeks ago at Iowa Speedway. He acted like a gentleman after the race even after
he was punted on the final lap while running third. He ended up finishing fifth
and had to make a remarkable save to do so.
So
one week Busch is polite and the next he is threatening to beat up reporters.
Even
Busch haters might be a little confused at this point. Sure, it’s fun to root
against drivers you don’t like and in some ways it is rewarding to see them
struggle, but this has gotten out of hand.
At
some point people will dismiss Busch as a lunatic and stop rooting for or
against him. They will simply stop caring.
He
will miss this week’s race at Pocono, but he could also be on the verge of
irrelevance to the point that people will only tune in to see what he does off
the track rather than on it.
That
could eventually take away his spotlight, which might be the worst consequence of
all.
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