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Tag: Winning is everything

  • For Kyle Busch, Winning is Everything

    For Kyle Busch, Winning is Everything

    We’ve all heard the adage, it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game. For racers, nothing could be further from the truth. Winning is everything.

    And no matter how fervently they insist that they couldn’t have done it without the entire team, the reality is much simpler. The owner may have given him the best equipment, the crew chief may have executed the perfect strategies and the pit crew may have performed flawlessly to get their driver in position to win.

    But, when the green flag waves and everything is on the line, it all comes down to one thing…the driver. How badly does he want it and what is he willing to risk?

    As Dale Earnhardt once said, “The winner ain’t the one with the fastest car; it’s the one who refuses to lose.”

    No current driver embodies this competitive spirit more so than Kyle Busch.

    After an injury in the season-opening NASCAR XFINITY Series race in 2015 left Busch sidelined for 11 races, he came back to capture five checkered flags, including the season finale event at Homestead-Miami Speedway and won the Sprint Cup championship.

    It seemed as if the time away spent with wife, Samantha, and the birth of his son, Brexton, had given him a new perspective. We saw a more mature and focused driver. And while he is still prone to the occasional bursts of temper when things don’t go his way, Busch is slowly shedding his role as villain and embracing his reign as Champ.

    He hasn’t lost any steam this year.

    Busch has won four straight NASCAR national touring races, scoring the victory at last week’s Camping World Truck Series race as well as the Sprint Cup race at Martinsville. He followed that up with another sweep at Texas Motor Speedway, winning the XFINITY Series race and his second consecutive Cup race.

    His 36th Sprint Cup Series victory ties him with Matt Kenseth for 20th place on the all-time wins list. Additionally, Busch gained two spots to lead the points standings, six points ahead of Jimmie Johnson in second place.

    Add to that, 80 XFINITY wins and 45 in the Camping World Truck Series, and you begin to grasp the enormity of what he has accomplished.

    Busch is enjoying his success and life in general.

    “It’s pretty darn good, I’ll tell you that,” he said after the Cup race at Texas. “I’ve got a great wife, a great son and I’m having a blast, living the dream.”

    While he’s savoring this year’s success, Busch is also looking ahead to the future and the possibilities are endless.

    “There are plenty of things that are out there to achieve,” Busch recently said. “Building that win column, to be able to build that to 100 or something like that. That would be pretty special. Now whether 100 is reachable or not, I doubt it, but we’ll give it our best shot.”

    Hero or villain, Busch’s talent on the track is undeniable. The ride may sometimes get bumpy but it is always compelling.

  • The World According to NASCAR

    The World According to NASCAR

    The world of NASCAR exists in its own bubble where the usual rules do not apply. The “winning is everything” motto is considered not only acceptable but trumps everything else. If you buy into it, all the normal rules of society do not apply. Bring up the concept of fairness in racing and you will more likely than not be greeted with laughter. If you complain about a driver roughing up a competitor on the track, you will be met with “rubbing is racing.”

    Not even teammates are off limits when the checkered flag is in sight because everyone knows that “second place is just the first loser.” Whatever you do, never utter the words, “It’s not whether you win or lose it’s how you play the game.” NASCAR fans take their racing seriously.

    Do you have a problem with cheating? Then NASCAR is probably not your preferred weekend entertainment. Cheating is a time-honored tradition in the sport because all racers know that “rules are meant to be broken.” To be fair, there will be penalties if those rules are broken. But the all-important wins are never taken away regardless of the infraction, so it’s really a matter of risk versus reward and as we’ve established, winning is everything.

    If you truly want to understand racing and the concept of fairness in racing, Smokey Yunick has the answer. The renowned mechanic, car owner and crew chief had a knack for thinking outside the lines.

    “Trying to figure out NASCAR’s rule book threw me at first,” he said. “Then, after studying the rules from all sides, I realized I’d made a colossal mistake. I’d been reading the rule book to see what it said. And all along what I should have been doing was finding out what it didn’t say. After I started doing that, racing became fun in a big way.”

    Perhaps, in the end, it’s all about perspective. NASCAR is a sport that throws all of our traditional conventions out the window to entertain us with a “ride on the wild side.” If you’re looking for role models on the track, you’re looking in the wrong place.