I love seeing first time winners, I really do. We’ve seen so many recently, and, combined with the young talent coming up, the future seems to be a roughened diamond.
Unfortunately, there are those glaring flaws that get in the way and distract you.
Last night was the NCWTS finale, kicking off Championship week, giving the series one last time to show what it’s all about. Near the end, things got interesting. Ty Dillon and Kyle Larson crowded each other, and that set off a chain reaction that caught the two drivers and innocent bystander Ryan Blaney. That crushed Dillon’s championship hopes, the truck pretty damaged.
The scariest part was Ryan’s crash. Larson came back down and clipped him, sending the #29 almost head-on into the wall. In my mind, flashes of The Intimidator and that fateful day in 2001 filtered through. Those images have been coming up recently, reminding me that any ‘simple’ wreck is more dangerous than it may seem. Blaney got out of the truck and was obviously pained.
Breathe. Relief. Moments like that are terrifying, but it’s part of the sport.
Fast-forward to the final restart, and it was Kyle Busch against a hungry Cale Gale. The two fought hard, and it ended up being a drag race coming out of turn four. Leaning on each other, it was Ricky Craven/Kurt Busch at Darlington all over again. Gale edged out in front and captured his first win.
This made James Buescher a first-time champion, also. A long, challenging season turned him into a victorious, focused driver. Good for him. He deserves it.
Seeing news faces in Victory Lane is good for the sport; it shows fire, competitiveness, drive.
Of course, there’s always that one person who doesn’t like the outcome. Mostly second place finisher Kyle Busch. He gave a curt post-race interview, which impressed me.
It was later in the Media Center, however, where the true colors began to bleed through.
“You’re only talking to me because I’ve got drama.” No, you got second place. But, now that you mention it, there’s an air of drama that surrounds you almost all the time.
Oh, and my favorite: “I got drove into the fence.” Boo freakin’ hoo. You’ve done it many times.
He then took to Twitter and, needless to say, it didn’t help his case.
Why is Kyle Busch upset? Cale raced him. Hard. So, he lost. That’s part of the sport. Kyle would’ve done the EXACT same thing. I understand 2012 has been hard for him, but he should’ve acted gracefully and mature about it. Maybe compliment the kid? Funny, Busch recently hugged and congratulated young Ryan Blaney on ‘racing him right.’ That’s the case when you two aren’t going for the win, I guess.
I don’t expect him to be happy he lost. But, that hope I gained when he praised Blaney was shot down. Hopefully 2013 is a better year for the youngest Busch brother; we all know he’s extremely talented. Maybe getting to showcase that again will calm him down.
First time winners in the Trucks series was the highlight of the season, and it was the focal point of last night. It just takes a little bit of time to shine up the diamonds and ignore the fractures.
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