The Bash Kyle Busch Bandwagon has been a popular one to get on of late - and not without reason. Kyle has a singular ability to draw the ire of nearly everyone, just by opening his mouth. He has managed to find a way to alienate more people than his brother ever has. And if there's one thing in NASCAR that you can't succeed without, it's people and the relationships that are a part of each team.

The thing is, after the recent fiasco at Daytona, in which Busch blamed his defeat, in part, on a lack of teammate help...was he entirely wrong? Or did the media and fans (and NASCAR insiders) too quickly jump on the Bash Kyle Busch Bandwagon because he's said one too many unfriendly, me-first things in the past, and surely this was just another?

At Daytona, you run where you can. The best line is whereever your car handles the best. If a teammate is in the same line, all the better, but every man has to go for their preferred line or risk getting shuffled to the back. Jeff Gordon emphasized several times post-race that he could run down low a few laps, but the high line was the only line that he could run consistently.

In the course of watching that race, however, I noted something interesting, before any post-race brouhaha, before any inkling that Kyle felt slighted - that Jeff Gordon didn't run behind anyone well. He was always aiming to get to the front, even when Kyle had the better car. He wasn't big on falling in line with his teammate, unless it was to fall in line in front.

You see, when Jeff would pass for the lead, he did, at points, go to the bottom - to block Kyle.

Forgive me if you will for appearing to slight a guy for wanting to win. That's not the purpose. He wouldn't be Jeff Gordon if he didn't fight for the win, no matter how bad his car was or how good another's car was. We all know that the best car doesn't always win.

The point is to point out that while there may not have been an openly stated conspiracy on the part of the 24, 48 and 25, internal feelings on whether they truly have ever considered Kyle a teammate and the personalities of the drivers who are champions and very much about going for the win, do indicate that maybe Kyle wasn't entirely off base.

The irony here is that Kyle is just as much "go for the win" as Jeff and Jimmie. None of the three have ever been very content to sit back and let the others beat them. (In what could have been one of the best finishes ever at Martinsville, a post-race interview by Gordon showed that he couldn't just appreciate good racing because he felt his teammate should have played nicer. So internal sniping is not just limited to Kyle.)

All in all, Kyle is immature and needs to learn some lessons his brother learned the hard way. And maybe he's finally going to. But maybe there's a lesson for everyone else to learn as well - that if an owner truly wants a team to function as one off the track, he/she needs to keep in mind that too many of one personality type will inevitably lead to conflict, even if they fit the formula for greatness.

After all, it's about making friends and influencing people. Especially at a plate track. You can't win without help. Which was all Kyle was looking for.