DW: Kyle Busch was 'like a turtle on a fencepost' in unusual 2015 season
Now I know many of you are looking at the headline for this article and wondering, "What in the world is that man talking about? What's 'a turtle on a fencepost' mean?"
It's an old saying that I hadn't heard in a long time, but someone mentioned it the other day and to me it fits what has happened to Kyle Busch this year.
We all know Kyle isn't a turtle. He's anything but slow. Kyle Busch always is bad fast. It's just the saying and symbolism of "A Turtle on a Fencepost" that fits him in this case. When you see a turtle on a fencepost, you immediately understand that he didn't get there by himself. Somebody had to put the turtle on the fencepost.
That's the point of how that old saying ties into Kyle Busch and his 2015 season. Kyle did not end up as our 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion by doing it all by himself. This is perfect example of what it takes to persevere, endure and overcome adversity not singlehandedly but with the love and support of so many around him.
What we saw this man go through and ultimately come away with is a phenomenon that I don't think we've ever seen in our sport. You all know the story. The man is in a horrible crash in the Xfinity race at Daytona in February. Instead of starting our version of the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500, the next day Kyle is in a hospital bed with one broken leg and a broken foot on his other leg.
The man is out of the race car for 11 races. It took a lot of hard work on his part plus a lot of hard work from those around him helping him get healthy. It takes a lot of people, from the doctors on down. It takes a lot of prayers. It takes so many things once you have been injured to get yourself back to the point where you are ready to crawl back behind the wheel of that race car and do what you love to do.
Coming back, Kyle didn't know if he would even have a chance to run for the championship. The rules of the past have always stated you have to run all the races to be eligible. Personally, I've always thought and said it was a crummy rule. I never liked it. Just think about the NFL when a quarterback gets hurt. The team sends in his backup and they continue to push toward making the Super Bowl.
Why should it be any different when a race team loses its driver? Their quarterback got hurt and so the No. 18 team used a backup quarterback for 11 weeks until their starter was cleared to return. I'm glad that Brian France made an exception and set out criteria that Kyle had to meet for the chance to still make the Chase. I think this is something good for the sport not only for 2015 but as we move forward.
A lot of people didn't like Brian's ruling. Their argument was you can't miss 11 races and still have a chance to win the championship. Yet again, I say this is today's NASCAR, and we aren't locked into the old ways simply because "that's how we used to do it."
NASCAR said if Kyle could win a race and be in the top 30 in points by the end of the Richmond race in September, which was the end of what we call our regular season, then he could be Chase-eligible. Kyle did that and more. He got hot and I mean red hot. He won four races and easily got in the top 30 in points.
So Kyle met the rules and became eligible for the Chase. I knew he now had a chance, but my money was on Kevin Harvick, our defending champion.
Let's face it: Kevin has been the man to beat for the last two years. When his back was against the wall last year and again this year at Dover, when he had to win to move on, Kevin simply went out and did it. You also can't discount the experience Kevin brought with him from last year's championship battle. Sure Kyle has made the Chase before, but always seemed to fade.
As we said leading up to the Homestead race, there were storylines to follow on those final four drivers for days. You had Kevin wanting to be a repeat champion and odds-on-favorite. You had Jeff Gordon in the last race of his career with a chance to go out with his fifth championship. You had Martin Truex Jr., who had an unbelievable turnaround from 2014, with a chance to win it all. Plus you had Kyle and his incredible comeback from a horrible crash in February, now with a chance to win his first championship in November. We couldn't have asked for a better final four.
Did I give Kyle a shot at winning it? Yes, I did, but not a great one. Again, my money was on Kevin because of how bad fast he has been these last two years. He had the experience of winning it last year plus leading up to last Sunday's race the man had 12 -- count 'em, 12 -- second-place finishes in 35 races. That's simply astounding.
I started to get a good indication of how stout Kyle was going to be after qualifying third. That showed me he had a fast race car, it had him starting up front and don't forget the benefit that he got from a good pit selection. Trust me, that all makes a world of difference when the title is on the line.
As it all played out Sunday evening after the rain delay, we saw that Kyle had to win that race to win the championship because guess who was right there in second spot? It was Kevin Harvick who set a NASCAR record with his 13th second-place finished in a single season. Trust me, Kevin would gladly give up the record for that second championship.
So now we have another brand-new champion in our sport. The road that got Kyle to this point is one I doubt will ever be matched in our sport. He starts the season in the hospital. He has a rookie crew chief. As an organization, Joe Gibbs Racing is battling with company president J.D. Gibbs health issues. Kyle and his wife Samantha have a new baby boy.
It would have been simple to take the easy road and say, "Let's build toward 2016." But that's not Kyle Busch. He's not wired that way. He worked and sacrificed to come back with a vengeance.
Like that turtle on a fencepost, I think the Good Lord has put Kyle on that fencepost as a shining example of what it means to get a second chance. Kyle has learned what it means to be humbled and gracious in defeat. I think he has matured this year like in no other previous year. We are now seeing a totally different Kyle Busch.
My wife Stevie always told folks when I was racing that she was married to two men with the same name. What she meant is there was the Darrell Waltrip who only cared about racing, putting family and God way down the list until I was badly injured and saw that it could all change in an instant. I think a lot of us have to be broken to finally realize what actually the most important things in our life are.
I see that in Kyle now. He's had a great awakening and now at the end of all the hard work and determination to get back to doing what he loved, at the end of the rainbow for him was the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship.
So congratulations to Coach Gibbs, J.D.Gibbs, everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, all the doctors and trainers who worked to make this championship possible for Kyle. I think we have a champion who definitely earned it and will be a great ambassador for our sport. Remember, we've basically watched Kyle Busch grow up before our eyes every Sunday. Tony Stewart once labeled him a "dart without feathers," but now you can call him champion. He's endured a lot along the way and I think it's made him a better person.
I love life experiences and Kyle Busch sure has had a lifetime full just this year alone. Now he joins the ranks of some rare air that of a NASCAR Sprint Cup champion. Congratulations buddy and welcome to the club!
