The thing about racing is that no matter how much experience a driver has, whenever they get so close to victory but fall short, it hurts. From youth, to teens, to the professionals, no matter the series, even finishing second can hurt.
But finishing second over, and over, and over again, not to mention a lot of times finishing second to the same driver, not only hurts, but it gets frustrating.
Just ask Kyle Busch, he’s experienced that a lot through the first part of the season.
Despite his interviews stating how he’s glad he finished the place he did, and how it means he’s been consistent to start the season. But with no victory, it is like things are incomplete. Considering how he didn’t get his first official win last year until Pocono, he has been craving a victory to start this season.
Luckily for him, he’s awfully good at Texas when it comes to competition and victories. So really it’s no surprise that he finally got over the hill and achieved that win on Sunday.
It’s no secret that over the years, when he gets close to victory but doesn’t achieve it, he’s not exactly the pleasant type. He kind of reminds us of that spoiled kid we all were when we were younger, who whines and complains when they don’t get what they want. That being said, even now that he’s married and a dad, he still has those tendencies. Sometimes it’s like a multiple personality disorder even during the race. One moment he’s happy, but then suddenly he goes off and gets angry. Often that is motivation because when he gets angry, he drives harder. Although we all can recall when he got angry during a Truck race, ironically at Texas, and when an on-track incident got him in the wall, he decided to intentionally wreck the driver that caused it, despite his spotter clearly saying “Calm down man, calm down, don’t do this.”
That incident caused NASCAR to decide to park him for the entire weekend, meaning no points earned, and fans upset that he was not allowed to race.
However he’s seen racing taken away from him in a different way too, as in 2015 he had to sit on the sidelines for the first third of the season with a broken leg, plus a broken foot.
What did he do when he returned?
He bulldozed through the field to win races, make the playoffs, and despite running an abbreviated season, he clinched his first championship, something not one person predicted after his injury.
But, don’t expect a win to change his attitude should he not win next week, or any other week. He’s still the same “Rowdy” man as his nickname portrays. Then again, we wouldn’t expect anything different.
STAGE 1:Â Kevin Harvick
STAGE 2:Â Kyle Busch
RESULTS: 1-Kyle Busch 2-Harvick 3-McMurray 4-Jones 5-Blaney 6-Logano 7-Kurt Busch 8-Wallace 9-Bowyer 10-Byron
NOTABLE FINISHES: 26-Dillon 37-Truex Jr.
CAUTIONS: 8 for 48 laps. Lap 4-7 (#3, 19, 21 And 88 Incident-T4); 82-90 (#78 Incident-T4); 128-134 (#42 Incident-T2); 172-177 (Stage 2 Conclusion); 179-183 (2, 3, 6, 10, 11, 38 And 48 Incident-T4 [Red Flag: 11 mins, 5 Secs.]); 236-240 (#21 Incident-T2); 251-255 (#6 And 95 Incident-T4); 305-311 (Car #31 Incident-FS).
LEAD CHANGES: 16 among 8 drivers. Ku. Busch-pole, Harvick 1-43, Hamlin 44-55, Harvick 56-86, Ky. Busch 87-116, Harvick 117-129, Ku. Busch 130-166, Ky. Busch 167-172, Ku. Busch 173, Jones 174-231, Ku. Busch 232-233, Byron 234, Jones 235-240, Ky. Busch 241-290, Elliott 291-294, Stenhouse Jr 295-304, Ky. Busch 305-334.
TIME OF RACE:Â 3 Hrs, 32 Mins, 7 Secs.
AVERAGE SPEED:Â 141.714 MPH
MARGIN OF VICTORY:Â 0.300 Seconds
POINT STANDINGS (Earned/Behind Leader [Playoff Points]):Â 1. Kyle Busch, 316 [7]; 2. Logano, -38; 3. Blaney, -51 [2]; 4. Harvick, -59 [12]; 5. Truex Jr, -66 [7]; 6. Bowyer, -67 [5]; 7. Keselowski, -79 [1]; 8. Kurt Busch, -92 [2]; 9. Hamlin, -94 [1]; 10. Larson, -114.
