Mea Culpa

Kyle Busch apologized again on Friday, when it was revealed that Interstate Batteries would be on his car this weekend and next.

Sponsor M&M'S bolted for the final two races of the season, ostensibly so that its target audience would not go into the holiday season thinking the guy that drives the M&M'S car was also know as "The Grinch Who Stole Ron Hornaday's NCWTS Title."

Team owner Joe Gibbs was on hand, and he said that Busch was not going to be fired and that life is a journey made best side-by-side. What was he going to say? "I have this driver who has won a ton of races and makes people talk and buzz...but he lost his temper, and I can't have that?"

Please.

Kyle Busch might be the bad guy--and in this case, there is no defense--but he is a very good stock car driver. He's a bit less mature than most of us hoped he was when he took out a title contender at Texas in a fit of pique, but is he a worthwhile human being?

I think he is, and so does Gibbs. Remember, Gibbs came from the NFL, where Kyle Busch would, as a matter of fact, be regarded as a model citizen.

He'll be paying for Norm Miller's company to be on the car this weekend and next, which is fitting, and he'll be serving various penances in the offseason until he gets back in the M&M'S Toyota and embarks on another title hunt.

Been reading a lot of commentary on the ONMC Facebook page, and it runs the gamut from Busch Haters to Busch backers (and one commenter who must be a frustrated editor, regardless of where his driver loyalties lie). Such is the power of a personality like Busch's.

You can love him, and many do. You can hate him, and many do. What you can't ignore is that he makes news. Many loved Dale Earnhardt Sr. Many did not, though the lines have blurred in the 10 years since his passing. Same thing.

Now, before you get riled up, I'm not saying Busch is equal to Earnhardt in any fashion, other than the route their personalities seem to take through the fan base and the way they are viewed by the respective sides.

I will say that I hope he learned his lesson, and he'll be Good Kyle for the forseeable future. He has too much talent to throw it away on temper tantrums.