Strange night, strange night....but all Kyle Busch...again

  Kyle Busch certainly ruled Bristol all week (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   BRISTOL, Tenn.
   The evening opened with such promise, with some sharp Saturday night pre-race comments by drivers over the PA system to the crowd of some 150,000 – like Brad Keselowski's caustic rip of nemesis Kyle Busch over Friday's controversial crash, and fellow drivers fueling the fire between those two.
   But Busch and Keselowski played it all clean this time.
   In fact just about everyone played it clean throughout the three-hour 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
   And down the stretch it was Kyle Busch in a runaway....and a lot of people scratching their heads about what happened to all those Sprint Cup championship contenders.
   The night was certainly a flop for many of this sport's stars.
   Excessive brake heat caused some to have tire problems, Goodyear reported.
   Some made mistakes on pit road.   
   And Jimmie Johnson and Juan Pablo Montoya just flat blew it, for some odd reason.
   Full moon rising, but this thing was surprisingly tame.
   The best on-track drama of the evening was between surprising David Reutimann, still feeling the effects of that food poisoning two days ago, and Busch.
   But once Busch finally got around him for the lead on lap 429 of the 500, it was all over but the booing.
  
  

  Victory number three (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   And Busch became the first driver in NASCAR history to win all three national touring series events in a single week.
   "It's so cool to be here three nights like this," Busch says. "Pit stops were flawless. Jimmie (Johnson) beat us out one time, but that was pit selection."
   Johnson got the better pit by winning the pole, while Busch qualified only 19th.
   "I don't even know what happened to Jimmie, just that he backed it into the fence," Busch said.
   "But 40 to 60 laps into a run we had the best car.
   "Then one time Jamie McMurray just ran me down from nowhere.
   "I'm not going to say how I beat Reutimann....but it's behind the wheel. Once he learns how to drive this place he'll be as good as me."
   And what did Busch think about that pre-race jab by Brad Keselowski?
   "Who? Who?" Busch replied. "Keselowski? I don't know who you're talking about. The 12 car? Yeah, I saw it; and I passed it."
   Dave Rogers, Busch's crew chief, called Keselowski's comments "unprofessional."
   Part of the back-story to all this for Busch is new crew chief Rogers, and Busch is hoping Rogers can make a different when the playoffs begin in a few weeks at Loudon.
  "Hopefully this bodes well for us in the chase," team manager J. D. Gibbs said.
   "We're in the presence of greatness," Rogers said of his driver.
   "He is pretty good," Gibbs said with a laugh.
   "Last year we came close to winning all three," Busch said. "We won the Truck race and the Cup race, and got crashed out of the Nationwide.
   "Yeah, we're supposed to run well here at Bristol. But this (new) tire threw me for a little loop in practice. Everyone was complaining about the same thing....and I guess our stuff was just a little better."
   The boos?
   "I just come here to do my job," Busch says. "And to make J. D. happy, and make Dave happy, and make the sponsors happy...and sell some souvenirs.
   "The fans are passionate about who they like and who they don't like. We've asked this question 50 million times....and you just deal with it, man. You just go out there and deal with it. I've been dealing with this ever since I started at 16...and it's probably not going to change."

 
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   Kyle Busch (green) leading David Reutimann. This was the game down the stretch (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)