Kyle Busch: Hey, it's only rock and roll.....

  
And then Kyle Busch did what with that beautiful Gibson? (Photo: Toyota Motorsports)

  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   BROOKLYN, Mich.
   So who does he think he is, Pete Townshend?
   Hey, he's Kyle Busch. What's a little guitar-smashing?
   And maybe it will get him on the cover of the Rolling Stone….
   Busch, shuttling between Michigan International Speedway and Kentucky Speedway this weekend, shrugs off the Nashville victory lane controversy, paid artist Sam Bass for two more Gibsons, and he's going on down the road.
    "I never thought it would get that much attention," Busch concedes. "Certainly drew the ire of the fans.
   "I thought it was a neat idea to share the guitar (pieces) with the whole team.
   "In the spirit of rock and roll…"
    So Busch, famous as the best burnout specialist in NASCAR, something he's certainly getting plenty of victory practice at, and famous for his victory bows to the crowd, now has another tool in his bag of tricks.
   "The burnout…doing the bow to the crowd…that's my way of livening it up," Busch says. "We just went a little far there in Nashville in trying to make some excitement.
   "Now it's not going to happen to the Harley J (the Daytona 500 trophy) or Martinsville's clock.
   "It was just in the spirit of rock and roll with a guitar."
   Any regrets?
   Heck, no. This is Kyle Busch. And NASCAR is never having to say you're sorry.
   "Sounds to me like the most popular driver award goes to Kyle Busch this year, right?" Busch joked.
   "It made me think about it….but in the end I'm like no, I don't regret it. I thought it was fun."
    "As far as the attention goes, I don't need any more, trust me.
    "But it certainly got a lot, that's for sure. 
     "Maybe eventually it will die down. I'm sure it will always be in the ESPN highlight reels…but it's something that was different.
    "Would I do it again? I don't know. If I had to go back and do it all over again, I'd probably do it again.
     "Would I do it again in the future? Probably not."
   And Busch says team president J. D. Gibbs was okay with it: "He told me thought it was cool, and that his kids were blown away by it. They thought it was awesome.
   "A lot of people enjoyed it – sports not so vanilla.
   "A lot of people hated it…and I guess those are the ones with 88 tattooed on their arms."
   That's Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s number.
   "I've got no issues with Junior," Busch repeated. "It's his fans that are crazy. But that's all right."

  
You can't say Kyle Busch doesn't put on a show. Here, after winning Nashville, he lights up his tires in a burnout so hot they explode in flames (Photo: Toyota Motorsports)