Why a focused Kyle Busch can win the Sprint Cup Series Championship

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. - By popular demand, this is the post where I set aside all of my personal disregard for Kyle Busch and hail the Las Vegas native for what he really is -- the most talented wheelman in the history of the business.

Coming off of turn 4 on Saturday night at the Budweiser Shootout, Busch was running second to defending Series champion Tony Stewart. The race was going to come down to a Daytona staple, the tri-oval slingshot.

By all accounts, Busch should have been happy - and blessed - to have even made it to the finish. Busch’s car was sideways all night, a freighting combination of running 200 mph with a drastically lower spoiler and NASCAR’s new restrictor plate rules package.

Lesser drivers would have, and did trash their cars all night long. Busch did what roughly 20 other drivers couldn’t do. He kept his Toyota Camry off the wall and pointed towards the front.

The first near-accident happened on Lap 48 when Busch drifted in front of Jimmie Johnson, saving his car three times before correcting it back towards the pack. The second and most drastic save occurred with two laps to go when Jeff Gordon shoved Busch on his left rear bumper to ignite a nine-car crash that concluded with Gordon slamming the wall head-on and flipping three times before landing on his roof.

Busch fought the steering wheel four times, kept his nose pointed straight, and kept himself in position to duel with Tony Stewart on the green-white-checkered finish for the win.

Busch could have settled, knowing that he averted disaster on not one, but two separate occasions. But that’s not how Kyle Busch operates. Instead, Busch shoved Stewart down the back stretch, past a race-leading Marcos Ambrose in attempt to win the race on the familiar two-car tandem.

It worked.

Find out how after the jump!

Coming down to the start-finish line, in a conclusion similar to that of Talladega last fall, Busch timed-his pull-out perfectly, worked a side-draft off Stewart’s quarter-panel, broke the champion’s momentum and beat him to the line by 0.013 of a second - the closest finish in Budweiser Shootout history.

Call it the mark of a champion.

Busch has all the makings of a future Sprint Cup champion but we’ve know that for years. What’s stopped him from achieving his top priority?

Distractions for one.

Whether it’s high-profile feuds with Kevin Harvick, Richard Childress or Rick Hendrick, Busch has never been able to keep his eye on the prize for a full season.

I’m of the belief that humans are only capable of a set amount of focus throughout a given period of time. Be it a day, week, month or a full Sprint Cup Season, once we pass this threshold, our results drastically deminish.

Busch, with all of his squabbling, Nationwide and Truck endeavors has just stretched himself too thin. This is especially apparently by time the Chase begins in September. Isn’t it awfully peculiar that Busch has only won one Chase race and finished no higher than fifth in the Series standings?

I’m not saying that Busch is incapable of winning races late in the year but Busch at 90% just isn’t enough to match a Jimmie Johnson or Tony Stewart who both ramp it up to 100% near midseason. Changes in priorities are in order for Busch, a concept that he appears open to.

In November, Busch announced that he was stepping away from the Camping World Truck Series and limiting his appearances in the Nationwide Series to fully focus on the Sprint Cup Series championship. Call it the NEW new Kyle Busch.

For far too long Busch has been worried about everyone else - the guy who just passed him, the man who just punched him, the man who just wrecked his truck. If the 2012 season is the year where Kyle Busch focuses on Kyle Busch, it will give the 26-year old his most pressing concern yet - where to place his Sprint Cup Series trophy.