NASCAR: An Open Letter To Fans Of Kyle Busch

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Dear Fans of Kyle Busch,

Needless to say, Sunday was a tough day for the members of Rowdy Nation. After five weeks of Kyle Busch essentially dominating the chase, the sky came crashing down when Busch was involved in a wreck at Talladega which ultimately cost him any chance of making the third round of the chase. Prior to this past weekend Busch had finished every race in the chase in the top-10; Busch also opened the second round of the chase with consecutive top-five finishes. Given the cushion in the points that Busch had heading into Talladega he decided to be conservative and drive around the back of the pack needing only a 24th place finish to guarantee his spot in the next round of the chase.

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As all of you know, driving around in the back did not benefit Busch in the end as he got caught up in a wreck after he was hit from behind by the No. 3 car of Austin Dillon.

Before I go any further I would like to make it known that although I did not think Busch was going to make it out of the first round of the chase, I have on several occasions since eaten my share of crow. I was wrong about Busch and his chances in the chase just as I was wrong about the ability of the No. 18 team to find consistency in such a short amount of time. Busch proved after the first round of the chase that he was a threat and by the time he made it to Talladega he proved he was a contender. That being said, I also have nothing against Austin Dillon. While I believe that he has not lived up to the hype before the start of the season, I also feel that has nothing to do with him as he was not the force behind the hype.

That brings us to Sunday and the moment where Dillon ran into the back of Busch who was trying to avoid the wreck that was taking place in front of him. That brings us to what has been days of Busch fans blaming Dillon for knocking their driver out of the chase. Below is a very small sample of tweets directed from Busch fans to Dillon via Twitter.

Now, before we go any further, if you’re a Kyle Busch fan who doesn’t feel that Dillion intentionally wrecked the No. 18 than this open letter really doesn’t apply to you. Instead, this letter is for those fans out there that are blaming Dillon because they feel that he did something wrong or that he wrecked Busch on purpose. It’s those same fans that have gone out of their way to attack Dillon via social media with verbiage that is far more profanity-laced than the selections that I have highlighted above. Aside from the profanity there were also a series of tweets sent to Dillon that wished for ill-will and bodily harm to fall upon him.

If you fall into the above category of fan than I would implore you to calm down.

First off, one of the risks of running in the back of the pack is that all of the wrecks are going to happen in front of you as opposed to behind you. Busch knew that risk as did all of the other chase drivers when they decided to run in the back. More importantly, you need to understand that these cars are running at speeds of 200 MPH and that everything is happening in a matter of moments.

During this wreck three cars came across the track (it became four when Bowman was collected). All of the drivers behind the wreck were slowing down and checking up in an effort to avoid getting caught in trouble. Busch himself who was in the middle lane when the wreck began can actually be seen driving down a lane (in front of Dillon) before he would eventually get hit from behind. To suggest that through the smoke, Busch coming down in front of him (and most likely getting on the brakes himself) and the chaos of the wreck that Dillon somehow did something wrong is ridiculous.

As a fan of the sport of NASCAR as well as many other teams and many other sports I completely understand the level of suck that one goes

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through when their team or driver is no longer in contention to win a championship. That being said, I also understand the want to blame someone or something whether it be another driver (or player) or even an official or rule. However, targeting Dillon the way that some Busch fans have (and wishing him bodily harm) chosen to do is simply unacceptable.

What happened between Busch and Dillon was what happens every race at Talladega; both drivers got caught up in a mess that neither of them caused. Maybe it would not have happened if Dillon got on the brakes sooner or if Busch had stayed in the lane above Dillon but in the end it did happen and it was nothing more than a product of racing at Talladega.

Earlier this morning I wrote a piece about how Kyle Busch was the one driver who still deserved to be in the chase and I honestly believe that because he has run better than the likes of other who have already been eliminated. However, at the end of the day Busch is not in the chase and it’s not anyone’s fault. It’s not the fault of Busch and it’s not the fault of Dillon, it is just something that happened. If you’re a Kyle Busch fan than you can and should be upset that your driver is out of the chase after running better than some of the ones who are still in it. If you’re a Kyle Busch fan that wants to lash out and verbally abuse and or accuse Dillon than again I will implore you to simply calm down and try to find some perspective.

The truly unfortunate thing about all of this is that the majority of Kyle Busch fans have perspective and understand what took place this past weekend. It’s just a shame that the other fans are the ones who are louder and ultimately give all Kyle Busch fans a bad name which is by no means deserved.

Christopher Olmstead is the Editor of BeyondTheFlag.com on the FanSided Network. Follow us on Twitter @Beyond_The_Flag and “Like” us on Facebook.

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