Kyle Busch, the Drama King, is in the limelight

Kyle Busch expected to be the center of attention at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he’s won four of the last five Sprint Cup races.
But it’s been a busy week even by Busch’s standards, beginning with the loss of his driver’s license Tuesday as punishment for his 128-mph speeding ticket back in May. Then came an on-track incident in Wednesday night’s Truck Series race that once again put him at odds with Kevin Harvick.
After Busch tangled with Elliott Sadler, who drives for Harvick in the Nationwide Series, he intentionally wrecked Sadler.
Busch indicated the incident stemmed from his problems with Harvick.
But Sadler wasn’t running for Kevin Harvick Inc. at the time. Asked Friday whether he’d spoken to Busch, Harvick went right into attack mode.
“He keeps running his mouth, he might get it whipped again off the track,” Harvick said.
And so it goes with Busch, the Sprint Cup Series points leader. He leads the series with four victories, and despite his 23rd-place qualifying effort Friday — Ryan Newman won the pole — has to be considered a threat to win tonight’s race.

But he’s once again in the center of the storm. Controversy can work for some drivers — it’s long been believed that two-time series champion Tony Stewart is at his best when surrounded by drama — but Busch isn’t so sure about the adversity.
“It can bring out the best and it can bring out the worst, certainly,” he said. “It’s about every day I’ve got something. I’m getting pretty used to it.”
The question becomes: Can Busch continue to keep up his pace while constantly facing a different drama?
Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon said he personally couldn’t produce but said it doesn’t seem to bother Busch or his older brother, Kurt.
“I couldn’t, but the Busch brothers seem to do it very well,” Gordon said. “I think it’s pretty well documented and clear that they get very excited and share their emotions over the radio quite often, and they’re still able to go to Victory Lane.”
The 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup championship is a different animal, though, and Busch has yet to make it through unscathed. He’s already considering the mental aspects of the upcoming stretch. There are just three races remaining until the Chase begins, and Busch doesn’t want much to change in how his Joe Gibbs Racing team is operating.
“It’s just about playing it smart,” Busch said. “For us, we just want to go out there and keep doing what we’ve been doing all year.”