WINSTON CUP Drivers admire Busch's talents, question motives behind wheel

Based on last weekend's performance, nothing will slow Kurt Busch.
By MIKE GRIFFITH
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Kurt Busch and NASCAR are ready to move on.
Busch is the most unpopular driver in the garage area as the Winston Cup Series heads to Darlington, but even his harshest critics admit he's also one of the best.
"Great race car driver, he just has a really, really bad attitude," said Kevin Harvick, who entered the Winston Cup Series the same year as Busch, 2001, and has four victories. "Sometimes he just spins people out, runs into them and drives like an idiot, but he can wheel a race car, there's no doubt about it."
Similar comments were uttered -- most often in defeat -- toward the man who preceded Harvick in the Goodwrench car, seven-time champ Dale Earnhardt.
Fans and drivers are less tolerant of rough driving from a fresh-faced 24-year-old, such as Busch, than they were of the grizzled Earnhardt.
Winning track
Based on last weekend's performance, nothing -- not a punch from Jimmy Spencer, and certainly not Bristol boos -- will slow Busch, who already has eight victories.
To put that into perspective, only 11 active drivers have more victories than Busch. His meteoric rise is impressive even when compared to NASCAR's most celebrated modern era prodigy, Jeff Gordon. Gordon, who broke into the Winston Cup series at the age of 21 in 1993, posted nine wins through his first three full seasons.
Busch could surpass or match Gordon's fast start with 12 races still remaining in this, his third season.
Fox analyst Larry McReynolds, who was crew chief for Earnhardt, Davey Allison and Ernie Irvan, suggested Busch is a target for criticism because of his early success.
"In some cases Kurt gets a bum rap," McReynolds said. "I think in some cases, there's some jealousy about Kurt. It's a combination of that and people who have had encounters with Kurt."
The list is already a long one, but car owner Jack Roush makes few apologies for his up-and-coming driver.
"In his [Busch] first year in the truck series, he made it clear to the people on the race track that if he was faster he was going to pass them," Roush said. "That was certainly Dale Earnhardt's way, it was Mark Martin's way, and it's the way of our team.
"Until people figure out how to race around Kurt, and how good he really is, then they won't always give him the racing room he needs."
Say what?
The most controversial comment Busch made this weekend at Bristol was that damaging fenders of opponents at superspeedways is an acceptable racing tactic.
"I've never heard that in my 25 years of racing," former Winston Cup champion Terry Labonte said.
"I can't go along with that," Gordon said.
Busch's Roush Racing teammates, points leader Matt Kenseth and Martin, also said they didn't feel it was within the bounds. Yet Roush said NASCAR president Mike Helton discussed the issue with him -- specifically, Busch's radio conversation in which he admitted trying to damage Spencer's fenders at Michigan -- and said: "He recognized that was an established thing that drivers did."
NASCAR needs to clarify its position prior to Sunday's race at Darlington.
The truth is that damaging a fender to gain aerodynamic advantage at a superspeedway is a tactic used sparingly by experienced drivers who have the ability to do so without damaging their own aerodynamics or put their competitors' safety at risk.
Busch, obviously, has not yet earned enough respect from his peers to employ such tactics and have it be deemed acceptable.
Busch's defense of his 200 mph fender banging with Spencer was that "the scorecard was 2-0 when I went into Michigan with that other guy [Spencer]."
Busch's comments were in reference to Spencer wrecking him at Phoenix in 2001, and again at Indianapolis, in 2002.
Spencer's actions in last year's Brickyard 400 were unacceptable. He clearly spun Busch out at high speeds, sending him into Indy's unforgiving walls. At the time, Spencer offered a weak excuse that his brakes were going out.
NASCAR failed to take action against Spencer at that time, leaving Busch to take matters into his own hands.
Busch took the rivalry too far, leading to Michigan's post-race events. Audio tapes released from Busch's car indicate he further provoked Spencer by issuing derogatory and threatening statements just prior to getting punched. Busch was a victim of a physical assault, but he was also a verbal aggressor.