Powerhouse|Strong|Top| teams do not go to NASCAR to lose. They race for only one reason, and it has nothing to do with a runner-up finish. Of course, there are low-money teams who are just happy to be there. They race for exposure and experience. In contrast, the best teams race for victory circle. To them, a runner-up finish, no matter how close, just isn’t good enough.
That said, how should a driver behave after a heartbreaking defeat? There are no rules; raw emotions is one of the reasons the sport is so exciting. Nevertheless, certain standards are expected of drivers. One of them is losing a race without losing class.
Kyle Busch is among NASCAR’s most talented young racers. He wins races no matter what the series, and is building a growing fan base for this reason. He is passionate, perhaps even obsessive, about winning… and that is a good thing. It helps him win. But does it help him handle loss?
However, there is a dark side to Busch’s passion for the game and, quite obviously, the win. At the Nationwide Series in Bristol, Busch’s crew committed a pit road blunder that cost them the win. For Busch, this was unforgivable. He gave his crew an earful over the radio, calling them ladies. And instead of parking his car by the team’s hauler, he left it in pit road and vanished. His crew had to fetch the car and push it all the way to the hauler. Kyle Busch had every right to be enraged - he had a car that could have won the race. But did he have to behave the way he did?
It would seem that in Busch’s case, the answer would always be yes. A week after his dismal Bristol finish, he lost another race in Martinsville - the Camping World Truck Series. What did Busch do? He parked the car and raced off the track, thus avoiding post-race interactions. Now, most drivers - especially the ones with a lot riding on them - talk to the media even if they lost so badly they did not finish in the top three. But interviews are not compulsory. For the most part, drivers who are too upset over their loss proceed to their haulers or somewhere else more private, where they can rein in their emotions.
The day before, at Martinsville, Denny Hamlin (who happens to be Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate) ruled the Spring Cup event. Everyone expected him to win; he didn’t. Fifteen laps away from the finish, Jimmie Johnson nudged him out of the way. This cost Hamlin the race and he was clearly so disappointed it would have been easy for him to throw Johnson under the bus. However, Hamlin kept calm… or at least tried to. He was not entirely successful in hiding his frustration because he took a jab at Johnson, saying he would repay the latter when he gets the chance.
Elsewhere, Roush Fenway racers Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle lost thanks to a pit road error. Did the two throw their crewmembers under the bus? Disappointingly for NASCAR followers who thrive on drama, no. Edwards made it clear to his crew what their mistake cost him, but he did not insult them publicly. “”You (the crew) did a great job of getting us in position to take the lead. But remember, that car sitting in victory lane, we drove right by,” he told them.
Biffle and Edwards could have easily finished first. Instead, they finished with class. Clearly, there are better ways to lose at NASCAR than running off like a little boy who had been told no by his mother.
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