The talk so far this week at the Kansas Speedway has been about a slick racetrack ad high temperatures. But the mercury wasn't the only thing boiling over Saturday afternoon. After the Camping World Truck Series race, won by Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch drove his #18 truck into the side of Joey Coulter's #22 Richard Childress Racing Silverado to express his displeasure with a move Coulter put on Busch to grab fifth from him off turn four on the last lap.
It was later reported that about a half hour after the race, Coulter's owner Richard Childress removed his wristwatch and approached Busch in the Truck Series garage. Childress then put Busch in a headlock and punched him two or three times. Busch fell to the ground, got back up and then Childress took another swing at him.
Now, this wasn't all because Kyle put a little dent in the side of Coulter's Childress-owned Chevy. These two do have a history. Most recently, Busch and RCR driver Jeff Burton got into a heated confrontation after the fall Charlotte race last season following an on track scuffle. Kevin Harvick and Busch also got into it at Homestead last season, as well as after the Darlignton race earlier this season (I think we all know what happened there). This truck incident was merely the straw that broke the camel's back. Busch had reportedly told Kyle a while ago to stop wrecking his cars or he would take care of Kyle himself. So the writing was definitely on the wall.
Childress is a 65 year old man and Busch, a 26 year old kid. How would it look if Busch gave a 65 year old man a black eye? With a sponsor like M&M's, a favorite among kids, Kyle can't exactly go around fighting a Nascar legend like Childress. But on the flip side, Kyle never would anyway. He talks big and acts tough, but when the time comes to make good on his threats, he turns tail and runs. Richard Childress is about as old school as you can get. He's a tough ol' redneck and isn't going to take any crap from a young punk like Kyle Busch. Kyle can't exactly earn respect by running away with his tail between his legs when the time comes to stand up for himself either. (Especially in this case, where a 65 year old man dropped him like a bag of dirt).
I don't think we'll ever really know what happened. Speed channel's Nascar Racday talked to Kyle Sunday (after the choirboy got out of church. Gimmie a break) and he didn't offer many details. Only that he wanted to move on. Nascar also advised Childress to not talk about the situation to the media. So, for the time being, Childress has been sworn to secrecy and Kyle (along with his Cup owner Joe Gibbs) will continue to talk big and hide behind his Bible when it comes time to throw down.
Personally, my hat goes off to Mr. Childress. This is how things were settled back in the day. Let the boys settle it first and let Nascar settle it later. There's a reason why his RCR team earned the nickname "The Junkyard Dogs" back in the day. There's a reason why he picked guys like Dale Earnhardt, Sr, Mike Skinner and Kevin Harvck to drive his cars over the years. This team is, and has always been, made up of good ol' boys that will race you hard and knock you on your ass if you do something they don't like. Yes, what R.C. did is a PR nightmare, but sometimes it is about principles and standing up for whats right. That's what Richard Childress did and I applaud him for that.
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