Ken Schrader Second in ARCA/ Erin Crocker’s Revised Crew/ Kyle Busch Needs to Give Fans a Break

Ken Schrader Second in ARCA
Ken Schrader finished second on the fourth day of his five-race marathon (see last week’s story). Schrader finished .217 seconds behind race winner Billy Venturini Sunday at Salem Speedway in Salem, Indiana. Kevin Swindell qualified 17th and finished 14th in his first race in the ARCA Re/Max Series..

Erin Crocker’s Revised Crew
This weekend at St. Louis, Erin Crocker will have a different crew, well kind of.

Patrick Donahue is the new Team Director of Evernham Motorsports 98 truck team. Scott McDougal is now the team's engineer and Ronnie Hornaday will continue to serve as truck director and front tire carrier. The NASCAR Truck Series races under the lights Saturday night at Gateway on Speed.

Kyle Busch Needs to Give Fans a Break
So Kyle Busch is a young kid who lets his emotions get the best of him by running into other cars, refusing to talk to the media or “chirping” his tires. “Give him a break,” a reader told me last week. Maybe the reader is right. Look at great Open Wheelers like AJ Foyt and Tony Stewart who have had to deal with their emotions.

Foyt decked Arie Luyendyk in victory lane in Texas.

Stewart is a kinder, gentler man these days. I decided before the race at Phoenix to give Busch a break but once again like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown, he disappointed me. Busch, the pole sitter of the event got hit by Casey Mears and spun into the wall. The red flag came out halting all action on the track except for that of Busch’s No. 5 car. Kyle Busch gave Mears a payback tap under red flag conditions, a safety hazard and an obvious No, No.

Busch was penalized five laps by NASCAR and had to report to the official’s hauler following the race. After the meeting with NASCAR brass, in classic Kyle Busch style, he reportedly refused to talk with the media. It seems, any time Busch has a bad day, he runs from the media leaving his team and sponsors’ PR folks to pick up the pieces.

“I'm devastated,” said Busch in a Chevrolet post race quotes release. “We had a pole-winning car and were three times faster than everyone else in the field. We were penalized for speeding on pit road. But last year we came back from two laps down to win the race, so we were confident we were going to get back up there. These guys on the Kellogg's / Carquest team really worked hard and gave me a great car and solid pit stops. I'm harder on myself than anyone. I'm a competitor and I take this seriously. It was just a devastating day.”

Maybe he needs to take the view of some Open Wheelers. Carl Edwards hates it when he has a bad day, but he at least is man enough to control his anger on the track and not run from the media. If you screwed up, apologize and move on. Running away lets your actions fester in the press all week. Officials could issue further penalties this week towards Kyle Busch. (Penalty day is usually Tuesday.) Do us a favor Kyle, tame your temper and say “I’m sorry” at the track before storming off to the next race and you will see less boos come your way.

Sorry for the lack of Open Wheeler news that was not fendered related, I will try to better tomorrow. See, that wasn’t so hard, now was it?

Don’t forget to nominate who you think is the best race babe. Nominations are accepted by emailing me at johnsonbjv@aol.com. Leave me your comments about why your favorite gal is the best and I may post them on this website.

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of IMS Productions, Indy Racing League, SPEED, FOX and NASCAR Digital Entertainment.