Hammond: Why NASCAR 'fans' should stop hatin' on Kyle Busch
I really found some of the responses I got from fans interesting after the Kentucky race Saturday night when I began tweeting congratulations to Kyle Busch on his second win of the season. I was struck by the fact that some fans took great exception to me not only congratulating Kyle, but also for my belief he might actually make the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Some of these responses were quite opinionated and in some cases disrespectful because they didn't believe that Kyle deserved to make the 2015 Chase if he is fortunate enough to fulfill all the requirements set forth by NASCAR. I just have to tell you, those comments really got me scratching my head.
Here's what I struggle with. Everyone is allowed to have their own opinion. If you don't like Kyle Busch, well, that's fine. That's your choice and your opinion. My real question is how can you be any kind of sports fan or, in this case, a race fan and not appreciate what this man has overcome in the span of four-and-a-half months?
It made me remember back to 1991 when my driver, Darrell Waltrip, was in that horrible crash in Daytona in July. There were those at the time who said DW's career possibly was over. I watched this man work so hard just to get back to a place where he could race, let alone win again.
So here is Kyle, literally the day before the biggest race in the NASCAR world, the Daytona 500, in a horrible crash in the XFINITY Series. He's got a busted-up ankle on one leg and the other leg simply busted. Here we are just a handful of months later and Kyle has now won two races in only seven starts. None of that even includes his XFINITY win a few weeks ago, as well.
I find all of this totally remarkable and it shows an incredible amount of courage and inner fortitude. What really upsets me, though, is that there are people out there trying to tear all this down. There are folks that are huge Kyle Busch fans. There are folks out there who can't stand him because he rubs them the wrong way. Trust me, I have vast experience with this with a certain NASCAR Hall of Fame driver.
Are Kyle and I close friends? No we are not, but I still have a ton of respect for what the man can do behind the wheel of a race car. Now I have even more respect for the man because of what he has overcome in 2015. For some fans -- and I even sometimes question whether I should call them "fans" -- to not appreciate what he has been through, regardless of whether you like the man or not, upsets me.
Will he make the 2015 Chase? Who knows? We'll know for sure in eight more races. Trust me, if you aren't a Kyle fan, I totally get it that you want to boo him at driver introductions before the start of the race. That's your right, and I say boo as loud and as long as you can.
I'm just saying, if you are a true race fan, you have to give the man his due and respect an almost super-human effort to overcome all that he has in 2015.
