By Staff
The talk around the water cooler this week has been "Did he or didn't he?" Did Kyle Busch intentionally wreck Dale Earnhardt, Jr with just a handful of laps to go at Richmond last week?
Only one person knows for sure and he says it was just a "racing deal." One thing is for sure, it has gotten much attention over the last week.
Junior looked to be in line for his first win since May, 2006 when he won the spring race at Richmond.
But Busch moved up the track on Junior coming into turn three with three laps remaining. The contact sent Junior into the outside wall and slowed Busch down just enough for Clint Bowyer to take the lead and eventually win the race.
Junior fans say Kyle wrecked him, non-Junior fans say it is just racing, I say Kyle is too good of a race car driver to do anything accidentally. Don't forget, Junior took the heat for wrecking Busch late last year at Kansas.
That payback, combined with the fact that Junior basically took Busch's job at Hendrick Motorsports pretty much speaks for itself.
Personally, if he did do it purposely, I see nothing wrong with that style of driving. Kyle is a hard charger, win at all costs driver. He is driving with a chip on his shoulder, in all three top series.
Am I a fan of his? Absolutely not, but there is no questioning his driving ability. You would be hard pressed to find another driver on the track with as much talent as Kyle Busch.
In fact, I remember a driver with a very similar outlook to driving a racecar. His name is familiar to Junior and he drove a black No. 3, Dale Earnhardt.
The win at Richmond moved Bowyer up three spots in the championship standings, to fourth. And the second place finish by Busch moved him to the top of the standings. Jeff Burton dropped one spot to second followed by Junior and Kevin Harvick rounds out the top five.
Take one top-notch free agent off the market. Carl Edwards has re-signed with Roush Fenway Racing.
However, the primary sponsor for the No. 99 in 2009 is still very much up in the air. UPS is supposedly biting at the bit to move from Michael Waltrip Racing and go to sponsor Edwards.
Office Depot is in an exclusive negotiating period with Roush currently, but word is the asking price for Edwards' sponsorship has risen tremendously and Office Depot might not return.
The series travels to the Lady in Black, Darlington, this Saturday night for the fourth version of racing on Mother's Day weekend.
The track surface has been repaved since the last race here and the speeds have gone through the roof. The track qualifying record is just over 173 m.p.h. by Jeff Burton. Denny Hamlin lead the last practice session at 179 mph and the drivers are raving about the surface.
The leader among active drivers at Darlington is Jeff Gordon with seven wins and only four other active drivers, Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle, Bobby Labonte, and Mark Martin, have ever won a race at the vulnerable South Carolina track.
The racing should be good on a Saturday night and my pick to win the race will be new to the circle of winners, Martin Truex, Jr.
Enjoy the race and don't forget to tell your Mother that you love her.