A year after losing his job, Busch dominating NASCAR
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It was the middle of June last year, just a couple of days after it was officially announced that he would not be back with Hendrick Motorsports. Kyle Busch was still feeling like a pinata.
Busch was clearly feeling hurt by his very-public dismissal from NASCAR's best team. He sounded confused about what had gone wrong in doomed contract negotiations with Hendrick, but he also thought that perhaps a good thing was happening.
It was at that point that he thought he could do better someplace other than Hendrick Motorsports.
Busch sounded like he was trying to convince himself of something in issuing that statement. But now, 13 months later, his words of that day stand as an understatement.
Busch is having the kind of season which NASCAR has seldom, if ever, witnessed. The word "domination" is overused in professional sports, but in Busch's case in 2008, it is absolutely descriptive and appropriate.
As four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon said of the season his former teammate is having, "It's crazy."
Busch arrived on the Sprint Cup scene in 2004, the year his older brother, Kurt, won the series championship. Kyle was good, not great as a Hendrick driver.
Then came Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s decision to go free agent, Rick Hendrick's decision to hire him and Busch's move to Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2008 season.
"We think we've got a real special gift here in Kyle," Gibbs Racing president J.D. Gibbs said when it was announced that Busch had chosen his team over several other pursuing teams.
Just how special that gift is has become the talk of the season.
Busch has a series best seven victories through the first 19 races of the Sprint Cup season. He's running away with the points lead — he's 262 up on second-place Earnhardt and almost 300 up on third-place Jeff Burton. With 12 top-five finishes, he is the only Cup driver in double digits in that category (the next nearest drivers have just seven).
If his trend of success continues, he could head into the Chase with a 60-point lead.
"He's going to be tough to beat regardless of whether he has those points," driver Carl Edwards said. "But if you give him a head start, that's not good."
