It was a bit funny to pass along the information about Kyle Busch's Tuesday speeding ticket. It was a pretty simple story. A guy out with his wife in a loaner sports car punches it on a rural road and gets caught. Well, at least that was my opinion.
News organizations across the country and around the world thought otherwise. For them, this was a nice little news nugget that could be used to spice up a newscast filled with hurricanes, high gas prices and the local crime scene.
What was the strangest place that you saw, heard or read about "the ticket" this week? It seems the list is endless. Talk about going viral.
Wednesday night on SPEED's RaceHub, Steve Byrnes and Jeff Hammond were talking about one more hurdle that Busch must clear as he tries to clean-up this speeding mess.
"I know he said the right things," remarked Hammond. "But when you use this poor of a judgement out there on the street a lot of people are going to come after you. He is going to have to deal with it first and foremost when he gets to the track on Thursday. It's going to stick with him all weekend long."
What Hammond was pointing out is that Busch had it easy so far this week. In response to the ticket, he issued a well-crafted press release that covered all the bases and was dutifully read on the NASCAR TV shows and posted on the websites. He admitted his error and even thanked the local police department for their service.
Thursday, Busch will have the challenge of navigating the Charlotte Motor Speedway as the track opens for the weekend. The on-track activity will be the easy part. It's the garage, pit road and the media center that will be the challenge. The night actually ends with Sprint Cup Series qualifying live on SPEED.
It should be interesting to see how the SPEED reporters on the various practice and news shows handle this story on the air Thursday. Firmly in step with NASCAR, SPEED has been guilty time and time again of sweeping anything under the rug that NASCAR defines as dirt.
Before the RaceHub show came along, SPEED's TV journalism credibility rested with Dave Despain for one hour on Sunday nights. Now guys like Byrnes, Hammond and Elliott Sadler get put in the position of dealing with touchy subjects on a regular basis as part of the new series.
Mrs. Busch has made herself into a high-profile driver's wife with her social media skills and her relentless promotion of everything involving her new family unit. From bikini pictures on the hood of Kyle's Corvette to a TV series about their wedding, she is a person you either love for her passion or hate for her exploitation.
Thursday will also bring an opportunity for her to step-up and reinforce her husband's apology. Keep an eye on how SPEED treats her or if instead she keeps a low profile and waves-off the interview opportunities.
Finally, the current mainstream NASCAR press corps is a colorful lot. A diverse group of old-school newspaper folks is mixed with new media bloggers, well-known radio personalities and some TV reporters who work the news beat full-time.
Throughout the weekend, there is a ton of media content created and moved along to NASCAR fans. Online, radio and TV media members are all seeking to craft their own media messages about the activity while keeping a close eye on each other at the same time.
There is absolutely no doubt that Busch will hear questions from the print/online reporters that he has not heard all week so far. The answers are not going to be crafted by professional public relations professionals, but must come from the driver at the track in among his peers.
As we watch, listen and read about the Thursday activity from the speedway, keep this topic in mind and see how often it appears and what becomes of the story as the day progresses. Sometimes, things change before our eyes in the media world.
This post will host your comments about the Thursday coverage on SPEED from CMS and also about the Busch incident. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.
36 comments:
JD, How many cameras did you say Fox and Speed have? He's not going to be able to hide! I'm sure he will be his normal H.T.J.A self. (Horse Tooth Jack Ass). I hope this isn't all they talk about.
No drugs involved.Over and done with.Time to move on.
It's probably naive of me to expect the media to be objective about any topic so I'm not expecting much from them on this topic. I'm going to approach the media's handling of this through the prism of how they'd handle it if Junior was driving the car instead of Kyle. They'd probably come to his defense saying the cops targeted a celebrity, that he was a skilled driver and was just letting off a little steam. Compared to other controversies in Kyle's past,I don't think this will affect his weekend at all. Considering that the 600 will be a long, drawn out affair, the media will probably be eager to jump on a 'story' rather than how we can make Nascar Sprint Cup racing more about racing! Here's hoping!
This story has been blown way out of proportion IMO. I'm sure SPEED and even ESPN will continue to harp on it all weekend. Fox will probably address it early (pre-race show) and then will drop it. Toyota is a big sponsor of theirs and we know DW is a huge KB schill. Still, it's not that big of a story.
According to press reports KyBu will be in front of the cameras at 12:30 pm today. I wonder if anyone will carry it.
Also, the Charlotte paper has a slide show of the car. OMG. Makes me tremble. Absolutely quake. Makes me think Toyota should be fined and suspended for entrapment.
Go look for yourself.
I can't stand the little twerp, but other than acting recklessly, for which he has been cited, I don't see anything more happening (unless his sponsors wish to say something.) And the people saying he receieved special treatment--most everyone has said any other Tom, Dick or Harry would have gotten the same thing, and they wouldn't be on the camera all weekend. Believe me, I don't want to see his face any more than absolutely necessary, so I wish they'd let it go already. But I suppose they must have something to go on about.
my brother is in NC right now and said it is THE lead story on all the local TV stations -- public opinion seems to be running that if he hadn't been a NASCAR driver, he would have been arrested.
I don't know how true that is but I know in NJ if you are caught exceeding the speed limit by a factor of plus 2 you get to go to driver's school AND pay the ticket AND get points on your license.
Bad judgement, really bad judgement on Kyle's part.
I don't care or want to hear what Samantha the bimbo has to say either.
I don't know how true that is but I know in NJ if you are caught exceeding the speed limit by a factor of plus 2 you get to go to driver's school AND pay the ticket AND get points on your license.
He should get something like that, and the timing should be the most inconvienent for him. Like 6 or 7 classes on a Friday afternoon when Nascar is racing the furthest away from NC. It would hose up qualifying and mess up trucks and Nationwide for him. His sponsers
would then really appreciate this goobers actions.
A poster on Autoblog said that he saw Busch in the car the day before while the poster was riding a bike. So, KB doesn't care about people on bikes and it is ok to drive like an jackwagion. Others say the road is too narrow for KBs playing.
Did I read that right? Gina24 called Samantha a Bimbo? I'm not carrying water for any driver or their significant other, but that remark is entirely uncalled for. As I recall, Sam is a graduate of Perdue University and has always conducted herself well in the interviews I've seen. Can you imagine the blowback from the women Planeteers if a guy called Danica or Delana a Bimbo? Some of Delana's actions lately are really lame from vulgar Twitter posts to getting busted for cheating with Hornaday's Truck. I'd be willing to bet you that many of the Cup drivers have done what Kyle did and more. Kyle got caught!
Speeding is one thing, but going 128mph on a public road is criminal. While he's lucky he didn't blow a tire, lose control on a "country road" or any number of "what ifs", it still cannot be tolerated. Any other person would have had the cuffs slapped on them, so it's obvious that being a Nascar driver provides special benefits. As for his wife, she's a huge self promoter, and if you watched her wedding show, you'd know that her degree from Purdue wasn't in one of the tougher majors.
Where's the moderator. He usually deletes offensive comments like Anons @ 9:30 PM and GinaV24 @ 10:14 AM. Isn't this was family site?
May not have been the smartest thing Shrub has ever done, but what a lot of NASCAR fans and writers are really mad about is the Shrub is a whole lot more like Dale Earnhardt Sr., than Dale Jr. will ever be. Also kicking Harvick's backside in Truck, Nationwide & Cup.
I've been following this and something I haven't seen from any journalist is the 50 to 100 mph and the 100 to 0 times of the car he was driving. Its possible the 128 speed lasted seconds. Yes it was wrong but....
Bad judgement and poor example to set for those that follow him (especially the young ones who make decisions based on what their idols do). But in no way does his wife deserve the kind of remark that was made about her on here
To anonon 12:40 pm- regardless of the Degree, no excuse for calling her a Bimbo. If Kyle's trouncing your driver and you hate him for it, fine. But don't take it out on his wife.
anon 12:20--many have asked various police what would have happened to Joe Schmoe under those circumstances. They are typically given appearance tickets, which is what Kyle got, not arrested. I am not a fan, but I can't see how he got 'special' treatment. They ordinarily don't arrest you unless you are under suspicion of something else, belligerent (at least he did better than his brother) or exhibit some other kind of poor behavior. So I don't get where you think 'any other' person would have been arrested.
The length of time he did that speed is irrelevant. Guilty is guilty (since he has 'confessed.') But the blog, folks, is about *media coverage* and the expected overkill of it all. And that's something I think we'll all be sick of in no time.
I'm watching the Nationwide practice. Don't know how much "Perky Jerky" paid to sponsor Kimi's Truck and Nationwide car, but they got their money's worth. The air time for Perky Jerky in the Truck race last week seemed to go on forever. Doesn't look like much has changed this week in terms of sponsor coverage. I just watched a big man in Oklahoma crying after he lost his two young sons in the recent Tornadoes. I'll keep that in mind as I watch the Talking Heads and the Media beat a speeding incident to death this weekend. I suggest we hope for calmer weather and a safe weekend of clean, hard Racing!
Speed reported that in 2007, Kimi made $51 Million. Well into the NNS practice, he's 16th fastest. Looks like his trajectory is going to be quite a bit steeper than Danica's. Kimi is rumoured to be running a Sprint car at Sears Point. Should be interesting!
The behavoir is really just typical isn't it? No surprise, disrespectful, self absorbed and imature.
TV will milk this for all it is worth. The media seems to like controversial subjects and hear the fans react to their remarks and they seem to be laughing all along because they think it is funny to watch and hear the fans reactions. Plus they have the competition gene in them to get it out there before another reporter or analyst does.
To Britracer:
I don't agree that Kyle is anything like DE. DE was not a crybaby, he did not delibertly smash his trophies, he never ignored the media and I could go on and on about things that he did not do that KB seems expert at doing. Kyle is good at racing but that is about it.
Thank you.
Drew
Hmmm getting a bit "rowdy" in here today. :)
newracefan, if you're still around, the #48 paint job looks great on the track during practice. :)
This discussion seems more spirited than most. I fall into the group that thinks this was incredibly stupid and it is a big deal.
For those new to NASCAR or with poor memories, I recommend that you check out the entry for Rob Moroso on Wikipedia. He was a young driver in NASCAR, the son of a major businessman in the aftermarket auto parts business. He had considerable success in the Busch Series (now Nationwide) and had begun his rookie season in Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) in 1990. A few hours after competing in a race at North Wilkesboro, NC, Moroso was involved in an accident on a road near Mooresville. Police estimate he was travelling at more than twice the posted limit when he hit an oncoming car on a curve. Both Moroso and the woman in the other car were killed.
Moroso was 22 when he died. He had been convicted of speeding four times and could have had his license revoked twice, but charges had been reduced. He had accumulated enough racing points prior to his death to win the 1990 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award posthumously.
Personally, I shed no tears for Moroso or anyone else who dies because of their own stupidity. I do feel sorry for their family and especially for the innocent people that they take with them.
As for the Kyle Busch incident, a lot of people on both sides of the issue seem to be making assumptions about the detailed circumstances to justify their view. I live in Michigan and not North Carolina. But unless county roads are a lot different there, no county road is safe for 120 mph at any time for any duration. And no road is safe for almost three times the posted limit.
For those looking to put distance between Moroso and Kyle Busch, your excuse is that Moroso was also intoxicated. Of course Moroso was only doing twice the limit while Busch was close to three. And after all, it was just boys will be boys in both cases. Eveybody does it, right?
I did not buy Busch's apology/statement. He's not bright enough or smooth enough to compose that sort of thing. That was some PR person's little gem.
The other person I feel sorry for is poor ole DW. After saying how much his boy has matured, Kyle gets into it with Harvick and gets warned by NASCAR. And now he has this off track incident to explain away. I look forward to seeing DW squirm. I'm also looking forward to the longest race of the year. Does anybody have a pool going to pick the lap where he melts down?
Well that's kind of funny - they pretty much ignore Mikey's driver getting P1 because Kirsta Voda is busy trying to make a joke about Kyle Busch getting arrested for breaking the law.
How conflicting for DW!
What he did was stupid, but we've all done stupid things in our lives. Goes to show that he still doesn't understand how fortunate and privileged he is to be a successful race car driver. Surely it wouldn't been that tough to run some laps around Charlotte Motor Speedway with it.
Apparently, my first comment about this was too harsh for John to accept, because it wasn't posted. I know he got it, because he got the second one pointing out he had the days wrong on the front page for this weekend's race. That has been corrected. And you're welcome.
Oh well, let's try this again.
To say that asking Shrub about this, and the way this has taken off, is blowing things out of proportion is just wrong. He was doing 128mph in a 45mph zone. There's a reason the speed limit is 45. There's a school down the road, and a day care center, and a church. School buses run that road. People live on that road. They travel that road to pick up their kids. That right there is enough to hold Kyle Busch's feet to the fire about it. His lame excuse and the apology he put out won't get it. I'm sure his PR guy wrote it anyway.
And the authorities sure didn't think much about it, since he was fined $150.00 and $60.00 court costs. Wow! I bet that really took a chunk out of his bank account and taught him a lesson.
Nope, the lesson should come from the media and the fans. It's up to them to show him what he did was way over the line.
But knowing Kyle Busch, even that won't bother him. He'll say all the right things to make us think he's sorry. But he just won't get it. And that's too bad.
To Anon @ 5:29, you're comparing apples to oranges. Rob Moroso was intoxicated about two time past the legal limit. It was his intoxication, more so than speed, that caused that tragedy.
Some very interesting opinions on this topic. Thanks to all who took the time to contribute.
BTW, it has never been proven that Rob Moroso was driving. His father firmly believed that Rob was a passenger. Since he did not survive the accident, we are left with the version of events told by the person who was with him.
Anon 9:04 - This is anon 5:29 again. My original post pointed out that Moroso was intoxicated and could provide an excuse for someone who wanted one. You are welcome.
I take a different lesson from this. Moroso may have become stupid and irresponsible because of alcohol, but Kyle Busch can become stupid and irresponsible while he's sober.
I live on a paved county road in Michigan. With no posted speed limit, the standard 55 mph in Michigan applies. This road is part of an unofficial bypass that some people use to avoid a state highway, a local town, and law enforcement. One quarter mile north of me, the road makes a sharp 90 degree turn and people have to come to a virtual stop. As they turn on to my road, they see one mile of straight asphalt.
Some people consider this an invitation to drag race. I sometimes have people going by my house in cars, pickups, and motorcycles in the 80 to 120 mph range. There are numerous houses along this road. There are children living along the road and a few driveways with limited vision. So far, only pets and local wildlife have died.
I don't care if Kyle Busch can drive a car at 200 mph and has great car control and great reflexes. He does it on a NASCAR controlled track where he doesn't have to worry about someone pulling out of a driveway, children, animals, etc. He does it under circumstances where he has a roll-cage, a HANS device, safer barrier, etc. And so does every other driver who is out there with him.
Kyle Busch wasn't driving on a NASCAR track or any other restricted access facility. He was driving on a public highway with a 45 mph speed limit where he doesn't know what he might encounter. The public is not driving cars with roll cages, do not wear HANS devices, and are not expecting to encounter someone driving 128 mph. If Kyle Busch wants to share public highways, he needs to follow the same rules as everyone else.
Being a hot young NASCAR driver didn't protect Rob Moroso from stupid behavior. It won't protect Kyle Busch either if he tests his luck.
Anon 5:29 - you make some very good points. It doesn't matter if you are drunk or sober, when you are driving on a public road, every driver has to be aware of the OTHERS in the area - kids, pets, cyclists - heck cars turning into and out of their driveways.
My grandparents were killed by a drunk driver coming to our house for a visit. My niece was hit broadside pulling out of the driveway because the vehicle didn't have his headlights on and it was almost dark - she survived thank goodness.
I have almost been rear ended by vehicles who simply do not believe that my turn signal being on REALLY means that I am turning into my driveway or my brother's.
Look, I love NASCAR and I can't say that I don't like to drive fast but every driver has to use good sense. The sad part is I don't expect KyBu to set a good example - his behavior in his life so far indicates that he simply isn't capable of it.
I guess there's a reason why insurance rates are still higher for young men -
Umm... it makes a huge difference if you're drunk. One is impaired, and one is not. Pretty simple. Besides, I would trust a professional racecar driver going 128 more than a 90 year old going 35 who can barely see out the windshield. Seriously, the hypocrisy in here is amazing. Tony Stewart actually assaulted a man in Australia over the offseason. That's far worse than what Kyle did.
I got an email response after
writing Mars. It was as canned as
Kyle's coached apology. I guess
a candy company wants a child representing them.
I would like to add a few more facts and comparisons to the discussion. In case no one noticed, all NASCAR races feature all cars driving in the same direction. No races feature oncoming traffic. Closing rates of 10 mph under competition are uncommon, and closing rates of 20 mph are rare unless one car is off the pace. NASCAR sets a minimum speed at each track to limit closing rates. If a driver can't meet that speed, he is black-flagged.
Drivers still complain about slow-moving cars and run into them on occasion. Even though they have spotters helping and warning them, they still run into slower moving cars. That's at closing speeds typically of 10 mph or less.
Kyle Busch was doing 128 mph on a public road. For a pedestrian or someone pulling out of a driveway, the closing speed was 128 mph. During NASCAR competition, drivers struggle to handle closing speeds of 10 mph. Kyle was closing on stationary or slow moving people at well more than 10 times the rate he typically sees in competition.
If someone was driving the 45 mph speed limit in the oncoming lane, the closing rate was 173 mph. Is anyone who struggles with closing rates of 10 mph really in control at a closing rate 15 to 20 times as fast?
It is also illuminating to look at the breaking distances involved. I don't know the specifics of the car he was driving, but it obeys the same laws of physics as other cars. Its breaking distance is not proportional to the increase in speed. It is proportional to the SQUARE of the increase in speed. Whatever its breaking distance at the posted speed limit, its stopping distance is NINE times greater when the speed is tripled.
So now we have Kyle with a closing speed 15 to 20 times what he sees in competiton and a breaking distance nine times as great as if he had been driving the speed limit.
NASCAR also provides paved run-out areas and soft walls for drivers to avoid collision and minimize the injuries in the case of accidents. I doubt that the state of North Carolina provides the same on county roads in case Kyle makes an error in judgment.
Most of us have probably been annoyed with pedestrians, bicyclists, elderly drivers, etc. at one time or another. The point is that all have a perfect right to be there because it is a public highway. When each of us gets a driver's license, we agree to share the roads with all other users. Driving on public highways is a privilege, not a right.
A local male high school senior made a mistake in judgment a couple months back. By all accounts, he comes from a good family and is well thought of by the community. His error in judgment while operating a vehicle resulted in the death of a fellow student. While his classmates are looking forward to summer vacation, college, new jobs, etc., he is preparing for trial. He is facing charges of vehicular homicide, and there is little doubt that he will be convicted. He will likely spend the next 10-20years in prison for his "error in judgment".
When Kyle Busch drove 128 mph in a 45 zone, he took the same risk.
I would gain a huge amount of respect for Coach Gibbs if he would pull Busch out of the car for the weekend, with the idea that teaching a lesson to the young man would be more valuable than any points or winnings he would otherwise earn. He needs a figurative 2x4 across the head to knock some sense into him.
To those who are accepting Shrub's apology and want to move on,
I know it was a small country road, but how would you have felt if you'd have been a bicyclist or riding a horse on that road and felt KB whoosh past?
This is the kind of thing you do when you're used to having PR people make excuses for you.
My husband was hit from behind on his ten speed by a driver doing only 50 mph on a residential/country street causing death, which was deemed an accident and also an "error in judgement"
Now after hearing Mr. Busch's diatribe on national radio, I ask myself, do I now have to be concerned for the sober professionals out on our roads as well? Even martial arts professionals know full well what could happen when and if they choose to use their tools of the trade as weapons in public places. Why would he not admit to this as being a deliberate breaking of the law and not a so called "error in judgement" I find it surprising in the days of Tiger Woods and others like him being dropped by sponsors for innapropriate behaviour that the sponsors would choose to leave this "professional" on the track this weekend.
He along with his wife have an obvious disregard for the law and safety of others and seem to think talking will solve everything. Lets see how this "professional" reacts to the much needed hard sentencing of his "error in judgement" which is in fact a law intentionally ignored and broken. Along with this is the message it sends the new drivers under the age of 25 in a country that cause 52% of the dangerous driving accidents and 25% of those "accidents" involve injuries and fatalities.
Despite what these two think country roads are the same as any other roads with the same laws and maybe a five year old with her dog walking down the side.
Thanks Mr. & Mrs. Busch for teaching the youth of your country how to be responsible professionals and safe drivers, and for recognizing that you are above the law.
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