BY: ZACH MCADOO
The New York Yankees. The Dallas Cowboys. The Boston Celtics. The Pittsburgh Penguins. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish. What do all these teams have in common?
People either love them or hate them. When it comes to NASCAR, it is the same. There are drivers who you either love or hate them. Here we will go through one from each of the top three series.
CUP: KYLE BUSCH
Was there a doubt who would be the Cup Series polarizing driver? Kyle Busch has been one of the guys that people are all in on or that people will boo. This pretty much started in 2008 when Busch spun Dale Earnhardt Jr at Richmond International Raceway when they both were going for the win. Since that day the fans and other drivers have made their voices known that they don’t like Kyle Busch. I used to be just like every other non-Kyle Busch fan. I hated Kyle and I remember having some not so nice names for him. That all ended the day I met him. He is actually really nice guy out of the car.
Inside the car he is just like all of us at our jobs. We are always annoyed when we don’t do well and he lets his frustration loose. For people to hate him for that isn’t right. Let the guy vent about his frustration. Until he starts to complain and wreck your driver who cares about his venting.
XFINITY: NOAH GRAGSON
I don’t know how I didn’t see this until this weekend. Noah Gragson is the future Kyle Busch and he has almost as much heat already. Gragson is one of the most aggresive drivers on the track and it has made fans and drivers not like him. He was even involved in a fight at Kentucky last year. The fans have taken sides on the comments he has made and the moves on the track. Some NASCAR YouTubers say he is the most entertaining driver in NASCAR today. I think that it does hold some water.
I like Noah, he is a great driver that has gotten himself into some trouble. Noah needs to let go of the drama with David Starr and he should not push drivers five laps into a race, but he is not afraid to put his car in a hole. He is not afraid to say what is on his mind. Gragson needs to mature a little bit and I think he will be another Kyle Busch in Cup.
TRUCKS: Ben Rhodes
I had trouble deciding between the two and so I am throwing both of them in here. Ben Rhodes is another aggresive driver, but not as bad as Gragson. Rhodes has won the first two races of the year and he showed the aggresion in each. Furthering the dislike in many fans. I really have not seen or heard any comments that have been bad coming from Rhodes. What is funny is Rhodes has gone from people feeling bad for him to that love/hate relationship with the fans. I am a Rhodes fan and have been since 2018. I think this guy has the stuff to stay in the trucks and maybe get to the Xfinity Series one day.
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