Perhaps more than any other form of televised motorsport, the US-based Nascar series seems to attract some pretty interesting characters, both to the grandstands and behind the wheel of the powerful racecars. Over the years, movies like the Tom Cruise hit Days of Thunder and the slightly less-serious Talladega Nights have painted a picture of what this adrenaline-fuelled, all-American series might be like to compete in.
In what could easily have been a scene from either of these two Hollywood hits, racer Ricky Bobby Kyle Busch made headlines this past weekend for taking particular exception to being passed on the inside by championship contender, Ron Hornaday. On lap 13 of a Camping World Truck Series race at the Texas Motor Speedway, Hornaday (no.33) made what appeared to be a perfectly legitimate (if somewhat edgy) overtaking manoeuvre on the Busch Racing truck (no.18), only to be very blatantly punted into the wall on the next corner by the clearly upset Kyle Busch.
At a time when safety in motorsport is such a sensitive subject (following the recent deaths of racers Dan Wheldon and Marco Simoncelli), you feel that this kind of bad behaviour and poor sportsmanship simply has no place on a racetrack.
Kyle Busch is no stranger to controversy and has had more than a few run-ins with fellow drivers as well as Nascar’s governing body. Most recently, he also had his driver’s licence suspended for 45 days after being caught speeding on public roads in this Lexus LFA.
Following this latest incident, Nascar pulled Busch from the rest of that evenings Truck races and suspended him from competing in this weekend’s Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup.
Busch, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, has since issued a letter of apology to his sponsors, fans and fellow competitors.
Perhaps more than any other form of televised motorsport, the US-based Nascar series seems to attract some pretty interesting characters, both to the grandstands and behind the wheel of the powerful racecars. Over the years, movies like the Tom Cruise hit Days of Thunder and the slightly less-serious Talladega Nights have painted a picture of what this adrenaline-fuelled, all-American series might be like to compete in.
In what could easily have been a scene from either of these two Hollywood hits, racer Ricky Bobby Kyle Busch made headlines this past weekend for taking particular exception to being passed on the inside by championship contender, Ron Hornaday. On lap 13 of a Camping World Truck Series race at the Texas Motor Speedway, Hornaday (no.33) made what appeared to be a perfectly legitimate (if somewhat edgy) overtaking manoeuvre on the Busch Racing truck (no.18), only to be very blatantly punted into the wall on the next corner by the clearly upset Kyle Busch.
At a time when safety in motorsport is such a sensitive subject (following the recent deaths of racers Dan Wheldon and Marco Simoncelli), you feel that this kind of bad behaviour and poor sportsmanship simply has no place on a racetrack.
Kyle Busch is no stranger to controversy and has had more than a few run-ins with fellow drivers as well as Nascar’s governing body. Most recently, he also had his driver’s licence suspended for 45 days after being caught speeding on public roads in this Lexus LFA.
Following this latest incident, Nascar pulled Busch from the rest of that evenings Truck races and suspended him from competing in this weekend’s Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup.
Busch, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, has since issued a letter of apology to his sponsors, fans and fellow competitors.