Kyle Busch was finally able to shake that anger.
Derided all week by rival Brian Vickers as a generally unhappy human being, Busch had reason to celebrate Saturday night when he held off Mark Martin over a frantic four-lap sprint to the finish at Bristol Motor Speedway. His fourth victory of the season put him back in contention for the Chase for the championship.
And that miserable existence Vickers described? Perhaps he was confused by Busch's passion for winning.
"I am a guy who loves to win," Busch shrugged. "There's nothing else to me but the feeling of winning."
Although he grabbed wins in the lower-tier NASCAR series-- including Wednesday night in the Truck race at Bristol -- he'd come up empty in 13 consecutive races in the premiere Sprint Cup Series. It was a healthy slump for a guy who won races at a rapid pace last season, 21 in all spanning all three series.
The struggle to accept defeat had been seemingly too much for Busch to handle of late.
"I hate that he lives in such an angry place. It must be miserable to live like that," Vickers said Friday at Bristol in the wake of a feud that began on the final lap of last week's Nationwide race at Michigan.
Busch knew his emotions were getting the best of him. His feedback during races had fallen off, his mood was often sour even outside the race car and it seemed to be affecting his performance. The top seed in last year's Chase entered Saturday night's race 15th in the standings and in need of a flawless run to save his season.
He delivered by smoothly working his way to the front, then holding off the veteran Martin in a series of restarts over the final 50 laps. It helped him climb off the ropes and keep his title hopes alive.
His fourth win of the season -- tied with Martin for most in the Sprint Cup Series -- jumped him two spots in the standings to 13th.
With two races to go before the 12-driver field is set, Busch trails 12th-place driver Matt Kenseth by just 34 points.
"No pressure on us yet!" his team radioed after he crossed the finish line. "This 18 is not going down without a fight!"
Busch was silent for a few seconds before celebrating with a smoky burnout on the frontstretch and his traditional bow to the crowd. He then grabbed the checkered flag from a NASCAR official, but gave it to a fan through a hole in the fence.
"I hope this just isn't a fluke to get in the Chase," he said in Victory Lane. "We need to run well at Atlanta and Richmond."
Comente