Do you think Klye Busch is out to prove something to Rick Hendrick and the rest of us?

Question

Do you think that Kyle is trying to prove that even if HMS made a good business decision by hiring Dale jr., they got rid of a better driver than they hired. Is this the mission he is now on? If so, he has one he!! of an ego which explains many of his actions past and present!!

Answer 1

He had 4 years to prove to Hendrick he was worth keeping.

In those 4 years, he drove 114 races for Hendrick, got 4 wins, crashed 10 times, blew 2 or 3 Hendrick engines, had an average finish of 21.45 and finished at least 1 lap down 40 times. His average start for the 4 years was 18.925 so all in all, not too impressive.

With a record like that, I'd be pissed at myself as the cars were out of Hendrick's shops and his last two years there HMS was top dog.

Couple that performance with his attitude and I don't care how talented he may or may not be, I would have cut him loose, too. Especially if I had a chance to help another driver win a Cup who would cherish it like no other driver before.

If Hendrick can help Junior get that Cup, listening to a crowd cheer for Junior and vicariously for Rick is worth 4 or 5 "Kyles" to Rick.

Yes, he has a lot to prove. To whom is the question.

I say Joe Gibbs for taking his chances with him.

Hendrick? Nah, he's too busy after all these years, listening to fans cheer for one of his drivers. He's in Nirvana.

I feel sorry for Joe though as Rick hopes to bask in the afterglow, Joe hopes to not get burned.

Answer 2

Dale Junior is no good and Kyle Bush is proving that 10x over. Why do you think Dale's fans hate Kyle? Because he's making him look bad

Answer 3

I'm sure that's in the back of his mind. If I raced I sure would want my former boss to regret letting me go.

Answer 4

I think it has to give him some satisfaction since this has been his breakout year and JGR is the beneficiary of Kyle's success. Many analysts felt that Hendrick was getting a worse driver than the one he let go. Junior has run well, but has 0 wins to Kyle's 4 not to mention Kyle's success in the Nationwide and truck series.

Answer 5

Of course he does. He should thank God every day he's no longer with Team Satan. Joe Gibbs is a fine Christain influence on the boy, far better than a sleazy car salesman.

Answer 6

His mission is to win a championship, plain and simple. He's got good equipment and an atmosphere that allows him to be himself, like him or not, and he's got talent to burn. Not that he won't get just a little bit of pleasure in rubbing Rick Hendrick's nose in it, but that's not his primary motivation. Winning more championships than his brother is more likely his mission.

Answer 7

He's out doing what he's paid to do.  A little of it may be ego related, but he can't be faulted for winning/wanting to win every race, regardless of how he does it.  

Whether we like it or not, he's not going to stop.  If he's doing it by wrecking everyone else, those 42 guys are the only ones who can put a stop to it.

He's got the "racer's mentality" on the track and the "elementary school mentality" in front of the camera...

Answer 8

That is probably partially the case....I am sure with the circumstances of his departure from Hendrick Motorsports that there is a part of him that gets a kick out of finishing ahead of the Hendrick drivers(especially Jr.),winning,leading the points,etc.However, overall,I think that he just has the drive to win races and do the very best that he can in general.Kyle is a very emotional driver,which can be good as well as bad...that emotion gives him the satisfaction when he whips the competition and it also tends to get him in trouble.(what is scary is knowing that once he matures a little more and learns how to channel ALL of that emotion into the aforementioned satisfaction/drive without wanting to wreck himself/others,he will be even better than he is now)

Answer 9

I think he is just proving to himself that he is a top driver & will be for years to come.  I wish he would have stayed at HMS but I still root for him at JGR

Answer 10

I think in his own right he knows how to race and deserves most of the wins he gets.  I also think that a lot of this lately has been his ego and that's turning a lot of the fans off.

Answer 11

That's probably part of it. But he's always driven his heart out regardless.

I think it's too early to tell what KB's career will amount to. I admit that he's got loads of talent and he races his heart out, but I also believe part of it is the JGR Toyotas.  They are the dominant team right now. Smoke and Hamlin have both lost some races because of bad luck.  Now I'm not saying any of this to undermine Kyle's accomplishments.  I'm just taking everything into consideration. I think he very well could be the next Jeff Gordon, but it's too soon to decide that right now. This question will be best answered after the '08 season.

Answer 12

Hendricks already knows they made a big mistake when they booted Kyle and took in Jr.  

Kyle doesn't have to prove anything to anyone.  He does deserve to rub their noses in it though and he does have bragging rights!  

Regardless of who it is, a driver has to lap as many cars as he can...thats the name of the game.   Drivers will even lap their teammate!

Answer 13

Yes but   he all so dose it for his   Fans    

That's y he races 3 series  

stretches the led  

and spins Jr out

Answer 14

i think he's trying to prove that they should have kept him instead of Casey Mears. dale Jr is a quality driver but to let Kyle go and keep casey well that was just plain dumb.

Answer 15

Yes I do.

If you had the chance to prove to someone that let you go what a mistake they made wouldn't you??

Answer 16

In the words of Kyle Busch, "Duhhhhh!"

Answer 17

Hendrick knew going in that Kyle was a better driver than Dale Jr. He didn't care about that. He only cares about the money he can make off of Dale Jr's merchandise. Hendrick is a money hungry person.

Anyone who knows anything about Nascar knows Kyle has way more talent than Dale Jr. They might not come out and say it but deep down they know it's true.

Answer 18

Yea I think that he is trying to tell HMS that he is a better driver than they replaced him with.

Answer 19

I don't know but I think he is way to full of himself.

Answer 20

the kid is on fire

Answer 21

I think Kyle is a good driver and he has nothing to prove to Hendricks. He is so busy having a good time at gibbs racing why would he need to prove anything to Hendricks? I thought the move was bad anyways but then again I do not like JR. So on your second question about JR, Kyle is better than JR and his attitude is not really that bad if you listen to him when he talks.

Answer 22

Of course he is out to prove something.. He is showing all of us something.

Answer 23

Definitely, he wants to prove to Rick, Joe and everybody else that he is a force to be reckoned with.  His departure at HMS was never about ability, though.  He did not contribute that much to the overall good of the team.  He didn't really work with his teammates during races all that much and his driving style did not allow for the transfer of information on handling and his setups.  In my opinion everybody won in this situation, including both owners and drivers.  We will also have to see who has the last laugh when it's all said and done.  Kyle could very well win it all but it is certainly not a forgone conclusion.

3 STR8 N 08!!!

Answer 24

a lot of good answers so far.  YES i not only think rowdy is out to prove something to rick hendrick, to us, and to himself; and i think he's proving it!!!  i think that even if he had stayed at hms this year, he would be doing incredibly this year, just maybe not quite as "forcefully."  i, like winter glory, have been watching him for years, and like his brother kurt told the media around the time he was becoming champion, before kyle even came onto the scene, "if you think i'm good, just wait till my little brother gets here."

and it doesn't matter that he's driving a jgr toyota - he has won in more types of cars than many drivers have ever even driven - he has won in chevy and toyota trucks; he has won in chevy and toyota busch cars (last year's chevys and this year's "tapered spacer" restricted toyotas); he has won in chevy and toyota cup cars (chevy cars of yesterday and cars of tomorrow as well as toyota cars of tomorrow); and he has won in his late model (a chevy i believe).  he won the first COT race (in a chevy) as well as the first cup race for toyota.  he also took second the first time he raced on dirt - last year at eldora - and that was not an easy crowd to beat, finishing between cousin carl and jeff gordon.

he has won for powerhouse teams (HMS, JGR), for small-to-mid-level teams (Braun), and for small teams (billy balew motorsports, kyle busch motorsports).  he has won on short tracks, intermediate tracks, road courses and superspeedways.  he has won restrictor plate races, "tapered spacer" races, and standard package setups.  

so yes, i think kyle's out to prove something, and part of that is to prove to hendrick that he made the wrong decision, but maybe not as much of it as people think.  bottom line, after last year, hms (in particular jeff and jimmie) were the team to beat and whoever knocked them off the pedestal would be remembered for doing so, and that's what he is doing. it's just icing on the cake that he can rub it in hendrick's face, but that's it - only the icing - he still provides the cake itself. hendrick, and his own immaturity (he's only 23 and been in the big series full-time for three to four years) were holding him back - and joe gibbs just lets him go...there, he can be the star - at hms, jimmie and jeff were the "superstars" and dale was going to be third.

finally, i think more than that, however, he really is one of those guys that on the track, has got a fired that burns so deep in his belly that only by driving his heart out every lap can he satisfy his need for speed.  and one of the major telling signs is that he races for "the fun of it."  when he runs in a truck race, he makes no money. his deal with billy balew is "you keep the money, i keep the trophy."  i believe he may have some ownership deal going on where his winnings are converted directly back into the team to make it better, and they have - they run two trucks now, most of the time.

almost the same thing with braun - i've seen interviews with todd braun - they can't afford to pay him what he's worth, but he doesn't care.  if jgr doesn't have the sponsorship to run enough nationwide cars to let him run one, he'll find one someone else - then go out to beat gibbs in part, i believe, to show joe and j.d. that maybe they should be getting him in that #20 or the #18 nationwide cars more often.  

and this week, he'll be doing it all - dirt tracking it tonight in eldora, truck racing friday night in texas, nationwide racing in nashville on saturday, and pocono on sunday.  and you can bet that even though he won't be practicing and qualifying the cup and nationwide cars, he will hop in and be a contender -  most likely THE dominating car or truck - and quite likely the winner, everywhere he goes.

that, my friends, is going above and beyond just trying to prove something to hms and to the world - that is pure pure talent and determination getting to do what it does best. and as a fan, i get to enjoy watching him do it, win or lose, at least two or three times a week, out there pushing for everything he's worth.  and that's not what makes a champion, that's what makes for "greatness." in whatever he does.

Answer 25

Wouldn't you if you were in the same position?

He's a young guy with lots of reasons to do well this season. I suspect the Hendrick thing is at the top of his list whether he is conscious of it or not. And more power to him on that. I felt it was a huge slap in the face to Kyle last year when Hendrick dumped him. If this is "get even" time to Kyle, so be it.

Answer 26

100% YES!

I've been his fan for almost his whole cup career, there's definately a fire in him that I've never seen before, he's always had fire, but this year it's much more intense, he's on a mission, I've been saying that all year!

Answer 27

he is showing that hendricks wasnt giving him the best equipment