Kyle vs. Dale Junior: A juicy topic

By DAVID GREEN

Kyle Busch: Outspoken, or arrogant?

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Unlucky, or overrated?

Responses to such questions depend almost entirely on personal prejudice. Kyle Busch fans say their favorite is outspoken, and they like him partly because of that. Dale Jr. fans think Busch's recent remarks about their favorite driver enhance Busch's image as a punk, and believe Junior is a talented driver who is a victim of circumstances.

These opinions are theories, and the great thing about theories is that they cannot be proved or disproved. They can be supported; they can be questioned; they can be heatedly debated. Vociferously, with passion.

Even Busch's supporters (most of them) will admit Kyle can go a little too far sometimes in expressing himself. Whether he did in this particular instance, though, goes back to the original premise about opinions. In support of Busch's remarks, Junior does indeed have a checkered history with crew chief relationships; in undermining his purposes, he's the one dumped by Hendrick Motorsports to make room for Junior on that team.

Junior's supporters have some ammunition to back up their enthusiasm. At times, Junior has shown himself to be a solid competitor. He has won on just about every type of track, in fairly hefty numbers; he has won two championships in the junior division, now named the Nationwide Series. On the other hand, he has demonstrated flaws in his game, never more glaringly apparent than this year with the missed pit stall and other such "brain fade" incidents.

Busch supporters can rightly point out that Kyle had his difficulties, dating back to the tobacco settlement prohibition of his racing in the Truck Series before he turned 18. That temporarily derailed his career and eventually led him to switch from Roush Racing to Hendrick very early in his career. They can point out that not only did Kyle have to compete with a big brother who had won a Cup Series already, he was inevitably going to be compared to Kurt Busch, who in his early years had a reputation as a young punk much like Kyle does now.

That kind of stuff can affect a fellow.

Dale Jr. fans can right note the pressure that comes just with being named "Dale Earnhardt Jr." Nobody could ever fill the Simpson shoes Junior's dad laced up. They can point out the emotional turmoil of the messy separation of Junior from the team his father formed, and with which he had enjoyed all of his greatest successes.

The other side, in both arguments, can dismiss those things as excuses.

My opinions:

1. Busch is both outspoken and arrogant. Bottom line: He's the fastest thing on the track most Sundays (or Saturday nights, or whatever).

2. Junior's achievements don't measure up to his reputation and he has, indeed, had some situations that would almost certainly distract a fellow. Bottom line: He's better than his critics say and not as good as his most fervent fans believe.

One thing about which there can be little argument: Nobody makes better copy for journalists or better material for fans than these two guys.