Rowdy is relevant again

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Kyle Busch started the season with his sights set on a NASCAR championship. He just may get one this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway, and it makes no difference to him that it won't come in the coveted Sprint Cup Series.

"I feel like any championship in NASCAR is something to be proud of," Busch said.

Busch needs to finish 15th or better in Saturday night's Nationwide Series race to clinch that title, his first in any of NASCAR's three national series. Of course, it was the Cup title that most people expected him to race for after last year's breakthrough season and a lightning-fast start to 2009.

But no one predicted the summer swoon that took him out of contention for the Chase for the Sprint Cup title and ultimately led to crew chief Steve Addington's firing two weeks ago. Nor did anyone predict his confidence and competitive face to fall into a state of irrelevance following his Chase miss.

But that's how it's played out, making the Nationwide title the only thing left for Busch to pursue. He refuses to view it as a consolation prize.

"It's not secondary," he insisted. "People think it is, but I don't believe that. To me, it's right next to Cup. It's something to be proud of, just like the Truck Series. Everyone says that Trucks and Nationwide is so easy, and what could it do for your confidence. How could winning in those series really boost your confidence?

"Well, you are still racing against the best of the best in the race that day. You are still having to beat the very best people out on the track that day, and that means something to me and that means something to my teams."

It could be a banner weekend for Busch, who will almost certainly clinch the Nationwide title and could also help Truck Series team owner Billy Ballew move closer to the owner's championship in that series.

Busch has won the last five races he's entered in the Truck Series, helping Ballew close to 75 points in the standings behind Delana Harvick, owner of series leader Ron Hornaday Jr.'s truck.

But whatever Busch does in the lower two levels of racing is overshadowed by his Cup Series success and setbacks, meaning his 15 wins in the Nationwide and Truck series are trumped by his missing the Chase in the Cup series.

"It's always nice to go out there and win races in the Truck Series and the Nationwide Series," Busch said. "I just wish the same success would come on the Cup side."

Busch said this despite four Cup victories, the third most this season, and 12 top 10s. But it wasn't good enough by his standards and it was partly why Addington was fired. Although Busch consistently praised the job Addington did – they won 12 times in 69 races together – he admits their progress wasn't enough to get him past the top obstacle: Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team.

"Somebody has to do something to get better," Busch said, "or else Jimmie is going to win every year."

So Joe Gibbs Racing made a change, ousting Addington after Talladega and promoting Nationwide crew chief Dave Rogers to crew chief of the No. 18.

The impact was immediate. Busch got into his race car last Friday at Texas Motor Speedway and said he immediately felt something different in Rogers' setup. He struggled to explain the slight nuances, however, finally declaring it "easier to drive, and a tad easier to explain what was going on."

From there, Busch nearly made NASCAR history. After winning the Trucks and Nationwide races, Busch was one win away from the first-ever weekend sweep. He led a race-high 232 laps in the Cup race and would have won for the first time since August if he hadn't run out of gas two laps from the finish.

Regardless of the outcome, Busch was relevant again for the first time in months.

"If I would have ran 10th or 15th [most of the day] and finished where we did, I would have been happy as a kid with a kite,'' said Busch, who wound up 11th at Texas. "Instead, we lead all these laps and have a shot at winning the race, and then it's taken away. Well, yeah, you are mad as hell after that.''

That's just what NASCAR needs from Busch, who is either loved or hated by race fans. There's no middle ground with the confident – some even say cocky – Busch, who rubs people the wrong way when he's both winning and losing. Either way, he's exciting, passionate and races hard, forcing everyone around him to raise their game.

It was disappointing when Busch didn't make the Chase – not for his haters, of course, but for those who like what he brings to the competition. But missing it was supposed to teach Busch some sort of lesson about failure.

He scoffs at that notion, brushing it off as people overanalyzing the situation, but vows to be back at a consistently high pace next year. And he'll do it while also competing in every series he can.

One knock on Busch is that he races too much – that his moonlighting in the Trucks and Nationwide series has distracted from his Cup goals.

But Busch vehemently denies the notion that his packed schedule has had a negative impact on his ability to focus on the Cup series.

Although he will scale back next year's schedule &ndash he'll only compete in companion races and on off-weekends for the Cup, bypassing events where the Nationwide and Truck races are not at the same venue as the Cup race – he remains adamant that racing in the other series doesn't have any affect on his primary job.

"I think I learn a lot of things every time I get out on the track," he said. "I learned a lot in that Truck race Friday night at Texas, more than I probably did all weekend. It's always nice to get out there in different vehicles, run different race lines and learn as much as I can. Trust me, it helps me on Sundays."

Sundays are what's most important, and Busch is on his way back to being a factor then, too.