Philadelphia, PA (Best E Casino) - He was never a fan favorite, but when Kyle Busch spun Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Richmond two weeks ago, he took on a new role - NASCAR's villain.
That position was previously held by Jeff Gordon, who strangely never acted like a "bad guy." But early in Gordon's career he challenged Dale Earnhardt and there were many fans that couldn't handle the brash, young driver beating their idol.
Gordon's first full year was 1993 when he finished 14th while Earnhardt won the Winston Cup championship. Earnhardt won the title again in 1994, but Gordon won two races and finished an improving eighth. In 1995 Gordon won the championship and seven races, edging Earnhardt for the title by just 34 points. Over the next five years, Gordon, the California native, won two more championship and 43 races, while icon Earnhardt won just eight more times and no titles.
The "good ole boys" in the stands couldn't handle this "outsider" beating them at their own game and Gordon became the "Anti-Earnhardt." Young, savvy and handsome, Gordon was representative of the "new" NASCAR. He was everything a sponsor could want, but the traditional fan hated.
After Earnhardt's death, the fans continued their hatred of Gordon, but this time because he would beat "The Intimidator's" son - Dale Earnhardt Jr. This despite the fact that Gordon and Earnhardt Jr. seemed to get along both on and off the track.
Things changed this year when Gordon and Earnhardt Jr. became teammates at Hendrick Motorsports. There has been much less booing of Gordon at introductions.
The fans were looking for a new villain and Busch came along at just the right time to provide them with one.
At Richmond, Earnhardt Jr. was leading the race with 15 laps to go and it seemed as if he would finally break his 70+ race winless streak. Busch was just behind "Junior" and challenging him for the win.
The drama unfolded in turn four when Busch made an over-aggressive push from the inside lane and spun out Earnhardt Jr. Clint Bowyer, in third at the time, charged past both drivers and went on to win the race.
But for Busch haters, it was the icing on the cake. Busch has never been a fan favorite. The younger brother of 2004 Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch, Kyle arrived on the scene with plenty of talent and plenty of flaws. He would drive 110% at all times, knocking people aside and taking chances that he probably should not have taken, but he could win races and that is a talent that seems to be missing from many drivers.
He won the 2005 Labor Day race at the age of 20 years, four months and two days, the youngest winner in NASCAR's Sprint Cup history. Busch has since won six more times and leads the 2008 Sprint Cup championship by 79 points. He is also second in the Nationwide Series standings (three wins this year) and sixth in the Craftsman Truck Series (two wins this year).
However, Busch is not a likeable guy on or off the track.
After winning the first COT race last year at Bristol, Busch said of the new car - "I wanted to go out and win this race so I could tell everybody how terrible this thing is to drive. I can't stand to drive them. They suck."
Apparently he hasn't matured much in the last year.
In Friday night's Nationwide Series race he had a run-in with Brad Keselowski. His comment afterwards was "Next time I'm a lap down and I've got damage I'm going to race him like an SOB and wreck him, too."
Even after last Saturday night's come from behind victory when he overcame hitting the wall a half dozen times, lost a lug nut and was sent to the back of the field and suffered through bad brakes he wasn't happy. He spent a good part of the first half of the race belittling his crew.
"Having a love-hate relationship out there with the fans is not a bad thing," said Gordon.
It certainly didn't hurt Busch's performance on the track. He won last Saturday night's Sprint Cup race despite having the bulls-eye on his back.
