‘Vile’ Kyle Busch Is Just What NASCAR Needs

Love him or hate him – and let’s face it, the majority of fans hate him – Kyle Busch is great for NASCAR.

Yes, he’s immature. Yes, he’s an ass.

But in a world of vanilla corporate pitchmen, Busch’s antics provide the character and drama that fans need to get excited about the sport.

He’s more likely to disgust you and make you want to punch your TV than make you want to high-five or hug him, but Busch’s tremendous talent and brash personality turn him into someone so easy to hate that you can’t look away. You have to watch.

And that’s very, very important for NASCAR, which needs all the eyes it can get right now.

Think about it.

If Jimmie Johnson is about to win a Cup race, you might turn your TV off in disgust. You might even skip the last few laps if you think he’s about to head to Victory Lane.

But you can’t turn off your TV when Busch is about to win. You have to see what he’ll say or do next. Will he smash a guitar? Will he insult the fans?

Busch got out of his car on Friday night and made an exaggerated crying gesture at the tens of thousands of haters who were raining boos down upon him.

Classless. Arrogant. Not a role model for your children.

Yet at the same time, it was oh-so-entertaining and hilarious.

Here’s a guy who 90 percent of fans in attendance wouldn’t share their water with if they were stranded in a desert, and he has the balls to stand there and taunt them right back, then smirk at them in Victory Lane.

Go ahead and hate him. Let your blood boil. He brings it on himself. There’s a reason a group of fans on Twitter refer to him as “Vile Kyle.”

At the same time, though, you can’t stop watching him. He gets all of us talking. He makes things interesting.

No one’s saying you have to like him, but in an era when we’re all crying out for more personality in the sport, let’s hope Busch doesn’t change his ways anytime soon.