I'm not sure what dig you heard but I heard Kyle say that Edwards had the winning car and that Edwards and his crew have figured this new car out better than anyone else. That doesn't sound like a twirp to me.

Well, so much for my inward concern that folks would be jumping on the Shrub band wagon.

As I have said before, I really wanted to not like this kid. But sometime about race two of last year, I found myself really pulling for him. And when Hendrick decided to keep Mears over KB, that sealed it.

Say what you will, including that he is a tool, but he is leading the points and virtually dominating all three series. Furthermore, he and his crew have yet to get busted for cheating and, to the best of my knowledge,he has not taken a swing at a team mate who happens to be a past champion and veteran of the sport.

Well, unless you consider putting the bumper to Jarrett on the last lap of the race "taking a swing a past champ and veteran of the sport" in which case he would be guilty.

Does this make every driver who has a
- checkers or wreckers
- put the bumper to someone for the win
- pass me and I will make you wish you had not
- Drive it like you stole it
......attitude a tool? Careful how you answer this one so as not to bring about the double standard.

Perhaps that big wrench will work as a reminder to some that it is important to keep lids and lines tight on the car.

Just a thought.

M

M, bit harsh on ol' Carl aren't you? As for the cheating...they all cheat. Some just do it better than others. Anybody that thinks some teams are completely clean is deluded. Kyle is definitely talented, but there were apparently some reasons behind him getting let go from HMS. If he was the perfect driver in all regards he'd still be there and Mears would have been dropped for Junior.

My only complaint with Kyle was the total needlessness of him putting a bumper to DJ yesterday. Sure, DJ should have gotten out of the leader's way, but geez...it's the white flag lap and Kyle's got a 3 second lead on second with 1/2 lap to go. Why do that?!?! What if he'd wrecked both of them in the process? Not classy and not smart.

Hey Jason,

Point taken. Here is why I said what I did.

"Yet" was the operative word in my "Kyle and his crew have yet to get caught cheating" statement. I included that word so as to 1) Acknowledge that they all work in and about the fringes and 2) Leave the door open should they get caught in the future.

Also, I was not trying to be hard on Carl. To be honest, his image is one of a rather likable guy. Rather I was trying, albeit in a round about way, to say that while it is ok to have your opinion (i.e.- The Carl Edwards fan calling Kyle a tool and a twirp), that he who is blameless should cast the first stone. At the very least, if someone is going to go through the trouble of making a blog with a picture just to "name call", tell us why you feel that way. Perhaps you have good reasons to feel the boy simultaneously exudes tool-i-ness and twirp-i-ness.

In short Jason, my intent here was to "take a shot across the proverbial bow" to show that all of these guys make mistakes. Mentioning yesterday's Jarret incident was my way to admit that KB might have went too far by drawing a parallel to the Edwards/Kenseth deal from last year.

In a nut shell, this sort of banter is what makes our sport so good. We all have reasons to like (and not like) certain drivers. But if you are going to start name calling on the Rowdy Blog Pages, you need to be ready for the retort.

Take care,

Mark

Now this is good respectful banter going on here!!!

And the Kyle is a bit of a tool and he is driving a Toyota (and I live in Detroit) so why don't I hate him? Cuz he is just a young punk that needs to learn a few of life's lessons, he'll get there. Think about yourself at his age and then throw yourself millions of dollars and a TV crew in your face. Most of us couldn't handle it as well as even Kyle and some of the others do at times.

M, I hear you...no offense taken by your comments. Thanks for your viewpoint.

Jason and Becky,

Yeah, this sort of exchange can be healthy. I think. Maybe.

So he may be a tool in the eyes of some, though I am admittedly not exactly sure what tool is, at least he is not a Cookie Cut Corporate NASCAR Automaton like the majority of the starting grid. When/if he is assimilated, I will find a new "tool" to cheer for. Maybe Montoya, folks seem to hate him too.

Anyone know what the Columbian translation is for tool, twirp or punk?

Oh, one darn last thing, the proper spelling of twirp is T-W-E-R-P (laughs).

His dig was that Carl's team couldn't make a car last long enough to finish. The media are practically wetting themselves talking about Kyle. It's kind of like Obamania or whatever it's called, after a while it starts to seem like a weird obsession.

But an entire grandstand full of green t-shirts and converted 8 to 88 tattoos is not an obsession?

What does Junior and his fans have to do with the media obsession with Kyle?