Richard Childress can hunt small game, too

Mon, Jun 6, 2011 (4:34 p.m.)

In life, there are some basic rules that most people with a hint of common sense understand. A few of these would be that you don’t mess with someone who wears cowboy boots, who has survived for years in the rough and tumble world of NASCAR and who hunts big game in his spare time.

Kyle Busch knows this now.

It will be interesting to see if the attitude adjustment he received from Richard Childress on Saturday has any effect. It will also be interesting to see if the penalties levied against Childress will have any effect on the team owner’s attitude toward Kyle or other drivers who offend the Childress camp.

When I first read the breaking news about the altercation between Busch and Childress, I couldn’t help but think that this wasn’t an irrational, heat of the moment action by Childress. What if the team owner’s actions were more deliberate in nature?

I think it’s possible that Childress, fully aware of what the consequences would be for roughing up Busch, decided that he and others had put up with enough of Busch’s antics. Maybe the team owner had decided that he wasn’t willing to accept one more bent fender or fuming driver at the hands of Busch. Maybe he decided that it was time to send a message that his people and equipment won’t be disrespected without consequences. Maybe he believed that it was time for someone to teach Busch a lesson. Maybe he decided it was time for a little old-school justice.

I found if quite interesting that Childress reportedly removed his jewelry before he tangled with Busch. It was a smart move since it left Busch’s face unmarked, thus removing any possible sympathy factor a bruised Busch could have received during Sunday’s pre-race interviews.

It’s also interesting that in this day and age when everyone has video and photo capabilities on their cellphones, that there isn’t any known images of the incident. Childress must have chosen his rendezvous point carefully.

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Now the owner of Richard Childress Racing will have to pay his $150,000 fine and be on good behavior during his probation. But I doubt we’ll see Childress act out again. He doesn’t have a reputation for acting this way in the garage.

As for Busch? He has handled the situation well by remaining calm and understated in his television interviews. But I’m sure that drama will continue to follow him, no matter what.

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