Speak Your Mind: Kyle Busch claims his 100th career win
The ladies of Skirts and Scuffs love to speak our minds on the hot topics in NASCAR. Today we tackle the topic:
Does it matter that Kyle Busch's 100 wins are across all three series as opposed to one? Does this put him on the same level as Pearson or Petty, who have at least 100 wins in Cup alone? Are the accolades deserved or is the media going overboard?
Credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR |
LJ Cloud: My position is that while it's an incredible achievement to win 100 races in the top series, it's not fair to compare that achievement with those of the previous generation of drivers, or with drivers like Gordon and Johnson who have mostly Cup wins and have championships to go with them. Kyle's incredibly talented, and it took a lot of work for him to even be in enough races to win that much. However, a Nationwide win is not equal to a Cup win, nor is a truck win equal to a Cup win.
Lacy Keyser: I don't find it all that great I guess. All together he has 100 wins, not in Cup alone; if that were 100 wins in Cup, then yeah, he'd be up there with Petty. I feel like everyone makes a big deal over this.
Kiara Boal: For me being a huge Kyle Busch fan, this milestone is incredible. I'm so proud of him and what he has accomplished so far in his career at the age of 26. It's a big deal to Kyle, his teams, his family and his passionate fans. And I don't see how people don't think it's not. 100 wins in NASCAR and his fans aren't really suppose to be proud of him because many are offended that they are comparing his wins to Petty, Gordon and the rest of NASCAR's greats who only have the Cup wins. A part of me does agree that it's not fair to compare his wins to them because there is no comparison until a majority of his wins are Cup wins, but then again a part of me is just so dang proud of him.
Lindi Bess: 100 wins is 100 wins. We count starts and poles, why not wins. And if Petty and Pearson only have 100 in Cup, they were given the same opportunity as Kyle was to race in more than one series.
Katy Lindamood: Dale Earnhardt Sr. first climbed behind the wheel of a Sprint Cup Series car at the age of 24, but it wasn't until the age of 28 that he ran more than a handful of races and got his first victory. Earnhardt didn't compete in the Nationwide Series until he was 31 and over a 13-year career in that series never ran more than 14 races in a single season. All told, Earnhardt ran 676 Cup races and 136 NNS races over the span of 27 years, never competing in the Camping World Truck Series.
Richard Petty ran his first race at 21 and earned a record 200 wins, all in the Sprint Cup Series. Although Petty competed for an amazing 35 years, the majority of his wins came before he was 40 and many coming in seasons where they there were 40+ dates on the schedule.
Kyle Busch ran his first NASCAR laps at the age of 16! While still attending high school, Busch ran in six Camping World Truck Series races before the rules were changed requiring drivers to be at least 18 to compete in one of the top three series. He made his first Cup Series start at the age of 19 and got his first win just one year later in 2005. Since entering NASCAR's top three divisions, Busch had started in 240 Cup, 217 Nationwide, and 93 Truck Series events earning 100 wins over the three series. And all at only age 26.
No one will argue that Busch is competitive regardless of what he is driving. Give him a lawn mower and he'd somehow make it a race. Sure they will argue about his methods and his attitude, but when it comes down to the numbers, you've got to give Busch props for accomplishing so much at such a young age. Should his wins be compared to the greats like Earnhardt, Waltrip, Pearson and Petty? Absolutely not! It's a completely different sport today than it was back when those guys were racing for wins. Driving in more than one series on a regular basis wasn't part of the game and drivers didn't get a shot until they were in their mid-20s.
Comparing Kyle Busch's wins to those of Richard Petty is like comparing Shaq to Michael Jordan. Both played the game but did so in a different way. Jordan had grace and looked like he floated down the court while Shaq was a big guy who used his size to his advantage. No one contests that both are Hall of Fame athletes in their own right, so why should we try to compare drivers of yesteryear to those of today? Who knows how Petty would have fared in today's NASCAR? What if Busch had 40+ Cup races to compete in each season? Until we can roll back the hands of time, there's no point in comparing the two.
Paula Thompson: Kyle Busch’s latest accomplishment is just one more historic moment in an amazing career: the first “trifecta” in NASCAR history, a Nationwide Series title while running full-time in two series, a Camping World Truck Series owner’s championship in his rookie season as an owner. To downgrade the accomplishment as “unpure” (not all wins coming in the Cup Series) as some have is a shame – Busch is a racer who enjoys being behind the wheel, no less than drivers like Richard Petty and David Pearson enjoyed being behind the wheel during their illustrious careers. As Kyle Petty has often pointed out about the NASCAR Hall of Fame: this is a NASCAR record, not a Cup Series record – let Busch enjoy his moment.
Melissa Wright: In my opinion regardless of what series he has accomplished a total of 100 victories in, it's absolutely astonishing to me. Our current five-time champion Jimmie Johnson in the Cup series hasn't achieved as many wins, nor has he done it consecutively in a seven-year time frame as Kyle Busch has.
The statistics may be different if he was being challenged by those whose records he is breaking.
Paula Thompson: Kyle Busch’s latest accomplishment is just one more historic moment in an amazing career: the first “trifecta” in NASCAR history, a Nationwide Series title while running full-time in two series, a Camping World Truck Series owner’s championship in his rookie season as an owner. To downgrade the accomplishment as “unpure” (not all wins coming in the Cup Series) as some have is a shame – Busch is a racer who enjoys being behind the wheel, no less than drivers like Richard Petty and David Pearson enjoyed being behind the wheel during their illustrious careers. As Kyle Petty has often pointed out about the NASCAR Hall of Fame: this is a NASCAR record, not a Cup Series record – let Busch enjoy his moment.
Melissa Wright: In my opinion regardless of what series he has accomplished a total of 100 victories in, it's absolutely astonishing to me. Our current five-time champion Jimmie Johnson in the Cup series hasn't achieved as many wins, nor has he done it consecutively in a seven-year time frame as Kyle Busch has.
An opportunity taken by storm, behind the wheel Busch is not only known as "Rowdy," but also known to sweep a weekend or two.
Breaking records and writing history happens in most events in life, why should this be any different because Busch has accomplished it in NASCAR?
He should be recognized for his success. If other drivers took the same advantages as he has done, we would be talking about them as well.
The only concern I've had throughout the season as well as last year is that it appears that there is such an overwhelming amount of focus on Busch and not enough on the drivers that are also excelling throughout the three series. He is like a Danica Patrick in heels. If they are going to put them in the spotlight, at least compare them to today's era.
The statistics may be different if he was being challenged by those whose records he is breaking.
Amanda Ebersole: Not denying the fact that Kyle Busch is a great driver, but his wins are disbursed throughout several series of racing.
To compare Busch's record to that of Petty for example, whose 200 wins came in the Cup alone, add in the additional series he raced and he would have 204 wins. As for Pearson, 105 wins in Cup and an additional 3 wins in other series, giving him a grand total of 108 career wins.
Kyle Busch has 22 wins in Cup, 49 in Nationwide and 29 in the Truck series and in no way does that compare to the stats of Petty and Pearson. In my eyes, only time will tell if Kyle Busch is comparable to Petty or Pearson, but there is no doubt that he is a talented driver.
Rebecca Kivak: I think 100 wins across the three top NASCAR series is an incredible accomplishment, especially for someone as young as Kyle Busch - he's only 26! There are few drivers in modern times who run multiple series regularly, like Carl Edwards (58 across the three series) and Kevin Harvick (63 wins combined), and as you can see, Busch's numbers blow them away. It's clear that Busch's talents are diverse, and it's rare to find a driver who can win that much across multiple series, especially for as young as he is.
However, I'm not comparing Busch to Richard Petty, David Pearson or some of the other greats yet. Busch's 100 wins break down to 22 in Cup, 49 in Nationwide and 29 in the Truck Series. I read in a headline on NASCAR.com that Busch was "halfway to Petty," who has 200 wins. I don't think that's a fair representation at all, as Petty's 200 wins refer solely to his Cup wins, and at 22, Busch is not "halfway" there. As he is only 26, though, he still has a lot of time to win more races.
I think it's unfair that we don't refer to other drivers by their "combined total," but it's also fair to point out that few have come as close as Busch has to 100. However, I also think that Cup wins hold more weight - these are what the greats like Petty, Pearson, Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt have always been judged by.
So in closing, I think Busch's 100 wins are an accomplishment and should be recognized and celebrated as such. But I won't be comparing him to Petty, Pearson, etc., just yet.
Speak Your Mind: Kyle Busch claims his 100th career win
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Monday, July 18, 2011
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