Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
All eyes are on NASCAR’s bad boy
‘Rowdy’ Busch successful on track, never boring
several of those, you just kind of feel like it builds up.” It can, and it did. The frustration spilled over to Twitter a few weeks ago after Busch was criticized for apparently blowing off the Fox Sports crew after finishing third. In reality, the Fox team missed its window of opportunity to interview Busch, and it wasn’t incumbent on him to stick around and wait.
It turned into a contentious sparring session in cyberspace.
“Enjoy @KyleBusch engaging the haters along with his fans on twitter. Regardless of your opinion on him, he is great for @NASCAR,” tweeted Dale Earnhardt Jr. “Never boring. Makes my new job easier.”
It makes everyone’s job easier in NASCAR — except the drivers trying to keep up. Busch already has one Cup title from 2015 and definitely is in the mix for another.
He goes to Bristol this week as the points leader — and with a rowdy round of momentum.
“As much as I love to win and hate to lose, it obviously feels a heck of a lot better when you can be ... talking about a win rather than a second or third, something like that, like we have been the past six weeks,” Busch said Sunday.
No worries anymore. See you in the playoffs, and bring your contentious party hat.
We will start with the standard disclaimer: Stick to driving, kids!
That said, it was pretty cool for a number of Ford team NASCAR drivers to play flag football at the Dallas Cowboys’ indoor practice facility.
The pickup crew included Clint Bowyer, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Trevor Bayne, Aric Almirola, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Paul Menard, Joey Logano, Matt DiBenedetto, Michael McDowell, David Ragan and Kurt Busch.
“Ford and the Cowboys made that happen,” Blaney said. “Played flag football. I never played flag football as a kid . ...
“It’s good that there were 11 players on each side — it’s a big field. That’s a lot of ground to cover. We were huffing and puffing. It was a good time. Nobody got hurt. Clint didn’t throw up.”
Consider that a win, kids.
It was another thumbs-down week for seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, still looking for his competitive mojo this season.
Johnson was involved in a multicar crash on Lap 176 at Texas and finished 35th. He dropped to 21st in the standings.
“Yeah, by the time I saw what went on (Denny Hamlin) was backward and smoking the tires coming up the track,” Johnson said. “I knew where his arc was taking him and I knew that I was in trouble in the outside lane and going to get into him some.
“And then the crash just continued from there. … We will get back to our winning ways soon.”
Truth, or wishful thinking?
Keep an eye on Daniel Suarez this weekend as he deals with a thumb injury that could affect his performance.
Suarez was involved in a multicar wreck last weekend and posted a video after the race showing his left hand wrapped in a splint. He was scheduled to have it looked at more closely by a doctor this week.
Monster Energy will remain the title sponsor of the Cup Series through next year, an extension announced Tuesday. After that, according to Associated Press, NASCAR intends to re-evaluate how it sells its sponsorship. The Monster contract is estimated to be worth $20 million annually.