"Labels are awful. They imprison us in categories that are hard to escape."
from the book "Unglued" by Lysa TerKeurst
Kyle Busch has been labeled one of NASCAR's 'bad boys' (his brother, Kurt, is another one on the list).
It's a label that has stuck with him for a long time, and it's one that will be hard to escape for awhile.
Busch has been fortunate to have rebounded from an awful 2012 season. He's had a lot more success this year, especially in his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota from his shop Kyle Busch Motorsports. What's plagued him however are the three altercations his Joe Gibbs No. 18 Toyota has had with the No. 5 Chevy SS. Busch has caused collisions that damaged, and ruined the race for the No. 5 Chevy in Daytona 500, Talladega, and Darlington.
The pilot of the No. 5 Chevy is Kasey Kahne, and he happens to be Busch's opposite in personality. Kahne's label maybe: quiet; shy; humble; friendly; polite; mama's boy; and some fan girls happen to take it another step and call him "NASCAR's prince charming."
Kahne is not one to retaliate, though fans wish he would. His spotter, Kevin Hamlin, said on the radio after the wreck in Darlington- "We owe that mo- fo."
Is it time for Kahne to step out of his comfort zone and slap Busch? Maybe so but the final decision lie's in Kahne's hands.
Busch has tried to redeem his self. He owned up, and apologized to Kahne after the incident in Talladega.
He was even respectful to reporters after the race.
But after the Darlington incident, Busch lost track position and finished the race in sixth, instead of first like he had hoped to after leading 265 laps of (possible) 367.
Kahne fans didn't shed a tear for Busch's disappointing finish.
If you remember, Busch started the BoJangles 500 in second position, he quickly took the lead, and was the dominate car the entire night. It was a hopeful sweep for Busch fans- but it surely didn't end that way.
Kahne started in fourth. He maintained track position in the top ten. With 34 laps to go, he took the chance and passed Busch but Busch screwed up his entry and floated to the top groove. Did he touch Kahne? It doesn't appear so but the air was strong enough to spin Kahne out, hit the wall and damage his car, he was unable to recover in time to regain track position before the checkered flag.
Kahne was composed during his post race interviews. He didn't swear, yell, or threaten Busch. He didn't even tweet his disappointment, or opinion of the race on twitter like he's been known to do so in the past. For the record, neither did Busch.
Busch got out of his car and walked away. He didn't acknowledge media, not with angry words, not even with a "no comment."
I've believed since Sunday that there's no way Busch is stupid enough to deliberately wreck anyone who hasn't pissed him off with 34 laps to go. But we all know that Busch races hard, and he'll wreck anyone for a win. I can accept that behavior with two laps to go but with 34 there's a lot of racing left and I believe Busch would race with someone - instead of taking the easy way out and purposely wreck him.
Kahne may want to protect his good boy reputation as his teammates Jimmie Johnson, and Dale Earnhardt Jr have.
Speaking of- remember when Earnhardt Jr. had a few run ins with Busch? Earnhardt let it phase out- and continued to race with integrity.
There have been times when Johnson had a few incidences with drivers- but he let those phase out as well.
With that said, it's fair to assume that Kahne will let this phase out too- because in the end, the good guys always know to never correct wrong, with wrong.
With Johnson's five consecutive championships under his belt, it's fair to say that in NASCAR, good guys finish first.
So Kahne may never escape his good guy label- and Busch may not escape his bad guy label this season.
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