Link to Free Press article HERE with Youtube vid of Kyle smashing the Guitar trophy.
NASCAR bad boy Kyle Busch to invade Delaware Speedway
By JIM CRESSMAN, THE LONDON FREE PRESS
Delaware Speedway officials might want to consider awarding a sturdy trophy when Kyle Busch races at the half-mile oval on July 7.
Busch rocked NASCAR when he did his best Pete Townshend impersonation and smashed a priceless, handmade, one-of-a-kind Gibson guitar in victory lane after winning the Nationwide race at Nashville on June 6 last season.
The guitar trophy is presented at all Nashville races and is one of the most coveted on the NASCAR circuit. But apparently not to Busch, who won the Nationwide Series championship and is one of NASCAR’s fastest-rising stars at age 24.
“Everybody has smashed a guitar, except race car drivers. Those other sorry saps take it home in one piece. Not me. I’ll break it up and share it with the team,” he said afterward.
The driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing in Sprint Cup will be joined by fellow series drivers David Reutimann and Regan Smith for the Delaware Summer Showdown.
Track officials announced today it will be a 35-lap feature race, with 24 cars qualifying through time trials, heat races and a last-chance qualifier.
Qualifying is open to all late model cars from anywhere that meet Delaware’s specifications, race director Jeff Wilcox said.
He’s excited about having a guy like Busch, who has a number of running feuds with other NASCAR drivers, on the same track with Delaware veterans Steve Robblee, D.J. Kennington, Ron Sheridan, Jesse Kennedy and Scott Lindsay.
Wilcox was asked if the track will need a bigger penalty box. “It will be interesting,” he said. “Kyle, as everybody knows, is a pretty aggressive driver and we’ve got a group of good drivers, so I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
The appearance by the three Sprint Cup regulars will cost Delaware more than $70,000 US, plus the cost of providing them with a Delaware-style late model. “We want to promote the raceway and I’d say a lot of fans at Delaware would never get an opportunity to see a Kyle Busch,” track promoter Arlen Scherba said.
“I think we got the momentum going in the right direction last year (with a number of improvements at the track). And now something like this will build more awareness for our drivers and added value for our fans and sponsors.”
Tickets are available online at www.delawarespeedway.com or at this weekend’s CPT Racing Experience trade show at the Western Fair Agriplex.
Kennington, from St. Thomas, competes in the Nationwide Series and figures he’s raced against Busch 30 times.
“It’s going to be Friday night racing. But if anybody thinks they’re going to go out and rough him up, I’m sure he knows how to do it. too,” Kennington quipped.
Even though the others are all on their “home” track, Kennington said “it’s going to be awful hard to beat him.”
Busch has 20 wins on the NASCAR circuit in 2009, including four in Sprint Cup and seven in the Nationwide Series.
“He’s the best there is (in the Nationwide Series) right now,” Kennington said. “I know him and he’s a racer and he won’t be here just to run second, that’s for sure.
“That’s the best part about it, everybody is going to want to win it. There’s no points. Obviously he’s making money at it but I really don’t think that’s the most important thing to him. He likes to challenge himself in any way he can. Every late model he gets in he seems to win.”
Robblee, who won the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Canadian crown last year, is ready to “get at it.
“Just to have them here is good for us and good for the track,” the nine-time Delaware late model champion said. “I’m thinking he won’t be coming all this way to run second. I’d like to trade some paint with him, sure.”