WELL, JR. CREATED QUITE A STIR A WEEK OR SO AGO , WHEN HE SAID THAT KYLE BUSCH WAS ALOT LIKE DALE SR., OR SOMETHING TO THAT EFFECT.AND I GUESS I AM REALLY BEHIND THE POWER CURVE WAITING TILL NOW TO COMMENT ON THIS COMPARSION, BUT I WANTED TIME TO THINK ABOUT IT AND SORT SEE WHAT MY THOUGHTS WERE AFTER THE FACT.
SAD TO SAY, BUT I NEVER REALLY GOT TO WATCH BIG DALE DRIVE. BUT I HAVE HEARD THE STORIES, SEEN THE REPLAY CLIPS, SEEN THE MOVIES, AND HEARD THE SONGS, AND COMPARING THESE TO WHAT WE SEE WEEK IN AND WEEK OUT FROM "THE TWIG" I REALLY HAVE TO AGREE THAT THEY ARE MUCH ALIKE. BOTH HAVE OR HAD THAT BURNING, BALLS TO THE WALL, PEDAL TO THE METAL ATTITUDE ABOUT RACING TO WIN. BOTH CONSIDER 2ND PLACE AS THE FIRST LOSER AND BOTH WILL OR WOULD DO WAHTEVER IT TAKES OR TOOK TO WIN. I'M NOT SURE THAT THE MONEY MEANS NEAR AS MUCH AS THE WINNING.
I WILL ADMIT THAT I AM SURPRISED THAT KYLE DOESN'T HAVE MORE FANS IN THE OLDTIME, LESS POLITICALLY CORRECT NASCAR FANS THEN HE DOES. KYLE IS THE CLOSEST THING I HAVE SEEN TO THE OLDTIME HARD CHARGERS, WHO'S ATTITUDE WAS "IF I HAVE TO PUT YOUR BUTT IN THE WALL TO WIN, THEN THAT IS WHERE YOU ARE GOING."
AS FOR ME, IT IS WAY TO EARLY TO COMPARE THE TWO, YOU CAN'T COMPARE ONLY 1 THING ABOUT 2 PEOPLE AND SAY THEY ARE ALIKE. IF IN 10 YEARS YOU WANT TO COMPARE KYLE'S TOTAL ON AND OFF TRACK ACTIONS AND SEE IF THEY COMPARE TO DALE SR. THEN THAT IS A GOOD DEAL.
THERE WAS A SIDE OF DALE THAT MAYBE ONLY RICHARD CHILDRESS AND HIS FAMILY KNEW ABOUT. SOME OF THOSE THINGS HAVE LEAKED OUT AND ARE MORE OR LESS PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE, THINGS LIKE: HE STARTED DRIVING FOR CHILDRESS ON A HANDSHAKE, WHEN HE TOLD YOU SOMETHING YOU COULD TAKE IT TO THE BANK, HE NEVER LOST CONTACT WITH HIS COTTON MILL ROOTS OR THE COMMON MAN, HIS WORD WAS HIS BOND. IF 10 YEARS DOWN THE ROAD THE SAMETHING CAN BE SAID ABOUT "THE TWIG" THEN I WILL AGREE WITH JR. UNTIL THEN I WILL RESERVE MY RIGHT TO DISAGREE.
DALE EARNHARDT, IS A SYMBOL OF A BETTER TIME , MUCH LIKE MICKY MANTLE, ROGER MARIS, Y.A. TITTLE, I AM NOT SURE THAT ANYONE WANTS SOMEONE TO TAKE THEIR PLACES, BUT FOR THOSE COMING UP, THOSE ARE FOLKS TO ADMIRE AND GOALS TO SET. FOR MYSELF I DON'T THINK THERE COULD BE A GREATER COMPLIMENT THEN TO BE COMPARED WITH DALE OR ANY OF THESE GUYS.
Like you I've seen Dale Sr the way you've seen him. But even so you make a valid point. The attitude seems to be similar. My dad says you could line up a million people who hated Dale Sr and he would walk down the line and make sure he gave the bird to each and every one of them because he just didn't care what people thought about him. I have no problem with that. Racing is not a church social.
Kyle is 23. Barring mishap he has another 20 years left maybe. He will or will not build his legacy on the track. It's far FAR too early to know.
NASCAR and the news media consider Kyle a hot commodity now. Some people love to see him win. Some people love to see him loose or crash. Either way he has brought NASCAR out of the boredom slot they were in.
Agreed, we need more time to make a fair comparison of the two. I like how Kyle is relishing the attention though, cheer or boo just make some noise and spell my name right! Laughing all the way to the bank.
Over the years there have been many "good" drivers who were booed, Darell Waltrip, Rusty Wallace, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Dale Sr to name a few recent receipents. Why were they booed, because they had the audacity to speak out, race hard and go for the win and beat the fans favorite driver. Go figure. Remember the beer cans. 8-)
The sport wouldn't be the same without the perception of a villian. Shrub will be fine and he is gaining support every week, they can't get the collectables fast enough to keep up with demand. Unfortunatly some of the fans are fickle and only root for the winner. But he is gaining a solid core of support and as he matures his support will just continue to grow.
YOU ARE TOTALLY CORRECT, AND I AGREE THAT HE WILLCOME ALONG FINE. AT THSI POINT I STILL DO NOT REALLY LIKE HIM BUT I RESPECT HIS ABITITY TO THE INTH DEGREE, AND MAYBE THAT WILL TURN INTO LIKE , TO EARLY TO TELL
I must have missed that article. Guess I am going to have to do some searching to find that one. I would be interested to see what Jr. had to say about Kyle and his dad.
Dale Sr. was a hard nose racer. Who would just as soon put you into the wall, Terry Labonte can testify to that fact, as to pass you clean.
If Sr. thought he was being held up, he would dump that driver into the wall.
Dale Sr. seemed to have this motto, Do unto others what you WOULD NOT have them do unto you.
He was something else on the track. But there are stories out there about how generous Dale Sr. was with his money.
There is a story where a church in his hometown was needing a parking lot paved. Sr. went to the pastor and told him, he would pay for it, but NO ONE could know who paid for it.
I have heard Smoke tell of how Sr. would pull pranks on him during his rookie year.
So as to whether the Shrub will actually follow in the footsteps of Sr. Not sure. But one thing for sure he has a teammate, that has been compared to Sr. since day one. And the Shrub and Smoke have many of the same personality traits. So I would not doubt Kyle falling into the mold that Sr. set forth.
I AM FROM OKLAHOMA AND HAVE WORKED IN THE FIELD OF YOUTH SPORTS AND RECREATION FOR OVER 25 YEARS.
I AM A FAN OF NASCAR, AND OU COLLEGE FOOTBALL. THINGS THAT ARE PUT ON THIS BLOG WILL USUALLY BE BASED ON THESE SUBJECTS , BUT NOT ALL THE TIME.
