Why Kyle Busch might be the best thing for NASCAR

Sure Jr. Nation isn't going to believe that. Instead Jr. Nation will debate Busch's actions, motives and, quite possibly, his ancestry after Saturday night's wild, wild west finish at Richmond where Dale Jr. lost his bid to win after contact with Busch in the final laps.

Thing is, people will be talking about this finish for a few days. Busch provides that spark. And that's not a bad thing for NASCAR even if it riles the sport's largest driver fan base.

 No doubt many people find it easy to hate Busch. He's speaks his mind, rattles feathers and has wrecked some cars because of a white hot desire to win.

Saturday wasn't the first time he's been involved in late-race brouhaha this season. Remember that incident in the truck race at Martinsville? Busch wrecked Johnny Benson as they raced for second. NASCAR sat him down after the race to lecture him on his driving.

Saturday night at Richmond, NASCAR did nothing after the Busch-Earnhardt incident. No need to. This was a racing deal. Plain and simple. Two guys going for the lead. Earnhardt hasn't won in two years. He wasn't going to give any extra room. And then there's Busch, who doesn't give extra room. Period. Maybe he takes it too far -- and other drivers will pay him back for such actions down the road. Still, this was two guys going for the win.

"He gave me room off the outside of (turn) two, so I wouldn't say that was intentional going into three,'' Earnhardt said after the race. "Because if he wanted to, he could have just thrown me in the fence off two.''

Moments later Earnhardt added: "I tried to run him pretty tight running up on top, and he just ran into me or got loose or whatever.''

Said Busch: "To say that I took away a win from him, you know, it's hard to say. If I wanted to do it deliberately,  I would have waited for the last lap where I probably could have still won the race (instead of Clint Bowyer). We just didn't give each other enough room getting into three. I didn't feel like I slipped, but ... we just kind of banged simultaneously and then that's when I got loose and got corrected and he was gone.''

Still many will not be convinced. Some will believe that Busch took out Earnhardt because Earnhardt replaced Busch at Hendrick Motorsports last year. Busch denied such motives. Heck, getting bumped from Hendrick probably did Busch a favor. He moved to Toyota and became one of the signature drivers for a manufacturer that some believe could dominate the sport soon. And, some will believe, that Busch feels he needs to wreck everyone he races for the lead with.

That said, there is a danger in Busch's action. He was involved in a mild post-race confrontation with Steve Wallace after Friday's Nationwide race. Wallace hit Busch on the last lap, got by Busch, then lost the spot before ramming Busch after the race. Busch went to talk to Wallace after the race and it ended with Wallace, still seated in his car, grabbing and pulling on Busch's helmet.

There is a line and Busch must be careful not to cross it repeatedly or he could face controveries only Tony Stewart knows.

Then again, Stewart has not faced anything like this. One person who knows, though, is Brian Vickers after his tap caused teammate Jimmie Johnson and Dale Jr to wreck at Talladega in the 2006 fall race that Vickers went on to win. Shortly after that, Lowe's Motor Speedway put out a press release saying they were offering Vickers extra security in light of upsetting Jr. Nation. Vickers didn't take it and didn't need it.

Wtih the series going to Charlotte in a couple of weeks, one has to wonder if the track will make the same offer to Busch after this.

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