At Infineon Raceway on Sunday, Kyle Busch managed yet again to dominate on a style of track that, heretofore, he completely stunk at. He proved at Talladega that he’s a restrictor-plate all-star. He showed that he could tame the Lady In Black by shellacking the field at Darlington. And last Sunday at the first of only two road course races of the Sprint Cup season, he served notice that one slick move and two steady feet prove that he is our next road-course ringer. Now, if he could just win over Junior fans he might just become NASCAR’s next Dale Earnhardt. What do you think: is Kyle Busch NASCAR’s next mainstay or will he amount to just a flash in the pan? Check out our Infineon recap in The Big Three on Rowdy!

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Earlier this year, Dover International Speedway unveiled its new monument to its giant grey golem of a mascot, Miles the Monster, whose handle reverses the nickname of the vicious concrete track itself, known as "The Monster Mile." The building-sized collusus, with glowering red eyes and a real stock car clutched in his fist, has been heavily hyped in the lead-up to race weekend at Dover—he even has his own limited-edition comic book. But I still think his coolest incarnation is in miniature form as the trophy handed out to race winners at Dover. The Sprint Cup trophy, which went to Kyle Busch this afternoon, was even brandishing a scale-model of Busch’s racecar. This Miles isn’t a gift-shop item, though—it looks like you might have to win a Sprint Cup race to score one.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Both Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin were contenders for the All-Star’s million-dollar purse on Saturday, leading multiple laps before their engines blew up. Tony Stewart’s Toyota required an engine swap before the race even began, resulting in penalties that required him to start at the back of the field. Much-hyped NASCAR prodigy Kyle Busch surged to the front early in the race, widening his lead with every lap until his engine started dropping cylinders; Denny led a few later in the race until his motor similarly expired. The official word from the Joe Gibbs camp was that the cars were running house-designed, ultra-aggressive, experimental drivetrain setups—a gamble the top Toyota team elected to take for the not-for-points All-Star. But the overtuned engines didn’t have the durability to complete even the 150 miles at Lowes Motor Speedway, and at the end of the night, fan favorite Kasey Kahne took the win with the Budweiser Dodge.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

The Sprint Cup race today ended under caution as the field exploded with not one, but two final-lap wrecks that collectively took out a big chunk of the pack and left the track strewn with tire shreds and smoldering car parts. As per NASCAR rules regarding final-lap cautions, the win automatically goes to whoever’s in first place when the yellow flag flies. Kurt Busch did some great driving today, dodging bullets that most certainly would’ve swept a lesser driver into some badass wrecks, and he fully deserves to bask in the glory of his win. But from what I could see from where I was sitting, there were a number of other drivers who were hurtling toward the win at the moment that the field was frozen, and that whole pack was racing so hard in those final two miles that it was a letdown to not get to see them thrash it out to the bitter end. What do you think: would Kyle have won anyway, even under a restart? Or was he just at the right place at the right time?

(This struck me funny: in the post-race interview, Kyle said he was real glad with how that final lap "paid out. Er, played out." Heh).

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Hendrick Motorsports must’ve been crazy to kick Kyle Busch to the curb. As you may know, the preeminent NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team dropped Busch in order to pick up Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the 2008 season as Junior fled his former team, DEI. The orphaned Busch brother was soon picked up by Joe Gibbs Racing, and meanwhile Gibbs was bought out by Toyota. Today, this sequence of events has at last paid dividends all around as Kyle, at 22, became the youngest driver ever to win a Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and the first since 1954 to drive a foreign make into victory circle. The win was a huge relief for Toyota, whose controversial move into Sprint Cup racing last year, and its longstanding inability to prove itself to be truly competitive in NASCAR’s top series despite sinking untold bucketloads of cash into its NASCAR effort, was starting to become a bit of an embarrassment. Now it’s clear that Joe Gibbs has scooped up the right driver and Toyota has bought the right team—congrats all around! Poor Rick Hendrick must be just kicking himself right now, but he should be biding his time: new acquisition Junior’s performance has been trending upward in the early races of this season, and by all accounts he’s poised to make a major comeback in ’08.