Slim and none? Attitude key to a resurgence for Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch has to be thinking that somebody is sending him through some sort of cruel time warp. As the engine in his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota was digesting itself at Dover this past weekend, Busch came across the team radio to announce its demise. It harkened back to 2006 when, while driving Rick Hendrick’s No. 5 Chevrolet, he had two poor races to start the Chase that sank his championship chances.

The same appeared to be happening yet again at Dover, as Busch let loose with a Ric Flair-esque, “Woooooooo!!!!!!” as his car turned an even sicker shade of green, coughing and wheezing smoke while limping around under caution. Busch was confident the powerplant was going to go Chernobyl on the ensuing restart, so he retreated to the rear of the field, allowing his Toyota to do the honorable thing and commit mechanical hari kari, falling on its sword as it coasted down pit road to make that one final hard left.

After his exit on lap 172, Busch wheeled his wounded machine into the garage area, where it was determined the issue with his Camry’s innards was terminal, and ignored the media as he disappeared to the team transporter. Upon emerging he addressed the throng, stating unequivocally that his chances for a championship were over. He again cited the 2006 season where he started off with finishes of 38th at Loudon and 40th the next week at Dover, which placed him dead last among the Chase drivers.

Technically he is off to a better start this season, as the seeding procedure gave him a 30-point lead over Carl Edwards to being the Chase, and he is one position better in overall finishes to date compared to the ’06 Chase. Currently, Busch sits 210-points out of first place with eight races remaining. In 2006, he was 224-points back. Even still, what’s with the fatalistic attitude? It isn’t exactly the end of the world, and the other drivers have yet to experience any trouble of their own. Some parallels to be drawn for sure, but is he dead? Wasn’t there an unlikely championship run in 1992 that witnessed a comeback of epic proportions?

Ah yes, 1992. Kyle Busch was in first grade and Alan Kulwicki’s Ford Thunderbird had just become a Crumplebird, as he had just exited the September Dover race only 91 laps in after an accident. At the time Kulwicki mirrored Busch, as he deemed his championship hopes all but a dream, leaving the track 278-points out of first. He did, however, have six races remaining to make up ground on Bill Elliott, who seemed poised to win his second championship in four years.

The never-say-die-attitude of one of the lone privateers at the time (and to this day, for that matter) resulted in two poles, two second-place finishes, a fourth and fifth in the final six events for Kulwicki — with two other 12th-place runs thrown in for good measure. Going into the final race in Atlanta, Kulwicki trailed points leader Davey Allison by 30-markers. In a stunning development in the circuit’s final race, Allison was swept up in a crash midway through the event and the race came down to a lap-leading duel between Kulwicki and Elliott, with both drivers staying out during the final round of pit stops as long as they could with the remaining fuel available to them.

The championship that season was ultimately decided by bonus points, with Kulwicki leading all of one lap more than Elliott, which netted him the extra five points needed to defeat Elliott. At the end of the event, it was the native of Greenfield, Wis., standing atop his Ford Underbird — as he removed the “Th” from “Thunderbird” on the front valance of his car, a testament to his underdog persona — issuing subdued thumbs up to an appreciative crowd at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Kulwicki and company never gave up, stayed positive through that six-race span and pulled out the improbable finish over two bonafide legends of the sport in car owner Junior Johnson and Elliott.

The St. Christopher wings under his seat and Mighty Mouse patch on his fire suit weren’t just there for decoration.

There is no doubt that Kyle Busch could make up the same ground on his competition this year, particularly when you consider how he fared in the first two-thirds of the season, winning on every kind of track on which the circuit competes. He will need some help however, just as Kulwicki did in ’92.

The final race in Atlanta came down between six drivers then: Allison, Kulwicki, Elliott, Harry Gant, Mark Martin and Kyle Petty. Each driver had faltered at least once in those last seven races, particularly the odds-on favorite Elliott, who squandered chance after chance to put the title away. Could the same fate befall Carl Edwards or Jimmie Johnson? Mark Martin walled it at Rockingham and blew an engine while leading at Atlanta in ’92, while the late Allison’s fate was sealed when he was collected by Ernie Irvan in that final race.

Perhaps the biggest factor that needs some wrenching on is Kyle’s attitude and mental framework.

As mentioned before, Busch entered the final 10 races with a 30-point lead over Edwards. With 10 races to go in ’92, Kulwicki was 143-points behind Elliott. More importantly, Kulwicki did not have a series-leading eight wins or the collective engineering power of Joe Gibbs Racing and TRD behind him. Instead, Kulwicki was armed with an engineering degree, some dedicated employees and a smidgen of assistance from Ford Motor Company (which was more focused on ensuring the success of those cars fielded by Johnson, Robert Yates and Jack Roush). Busch is driving for an organization that has won three championships in the last eight years, and one that was an early standard bearer for the Car of Tomorrow upon its introduction and throughout 2008.

What’s more, the constant nay-saying and defeatist attitude is one that is wearing thin with the media, the fans and perhaps even his crew. Last year Busch said he wasn’t too concerned with losing any fans over his comments or actions since he didn’t feel he really had that many to begin with. This year he has been more than entertaining to watch — as he went from being a bit player and sidekick to the Jimmie and Jeff show — to being on equal footing with his two new teammates, Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin. One thing Kyle Busch does not want for is talent or personality. I’ve always kind of admired the traits and chuckled at how he deals with the boos; bowing after wins, holding up his fingers to tally the current number of wins and wiping away imaginary tears during driver introductions — as well as some of the cryptic comments and sound bites that always make for good theater.

As quickly as those moments come and go, so do visions of the old Kyle.

The one we all remember most vividly is from Texas in 2007, when he resisted assistance from his crewmembers after an accident and stormed away from his wrecked racecar. After a valiant repair job by the crew, Kyle was nowhere to be found, so the other participant in the incident, Dale Earnhardt Jr. — in an ironic instance of foreshadowing — hopped in the damaged car and drove it to the finish.

When things don’t go his way, he stops being the perpetual winner he has been this season in all three NASCAR divisions (19 victories to date), and reverts to the prickly, petulant adolescent who once abruptly ended a post-race winning press conference when questions regarding his brother Kurt’s arrest for suspicion of drunk driving kept coming. The driver who wanted to get at it with Steven Wallace following some incidental short track contact, and the one playing the role of martyr after a wreck with Earnhardt at Richmond this season.

What gives?

Busch would be well served to tune in the next time ESPN Classic is airing a replay of the 1992 Hooters 500 from Atlanta Motor Speedway. Kulwicki was probably the last driver that anybody had imagined coming back to win the title against some of the giants in the sport. As an owner and driver of his own operation, it hadn’t been long since his car was unsponsored and looking desperately for some representation to keep things afloat. If Kyle wants to salvage any chance he may have at this championship, he should take a look back at a guy who really was struggling, with virtually no statistical chance of winning a title.

But that’s the funny thing about statistics; figures lie and liars figure. As long as a driver is mathematically eligible, he has a chance. Sometimes that’s all a driver needs in a sport as unpredictable as this one.

The next time Kyle catches himself lamenting his lot in life, as if he were stuck in some time warp from two years earlier, he should be reminded of Kulwicki’s unlikely title run in 1992. It could be the best medicine available to him as he takes on the Herculean task of coming back to challenge for the Sprint Cup in 2008.

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