How exactly did Kyle Busch earn the nickname "Rowdy"? It was due to his no-nonsense attitude when in the car, and his "win at all costs" approach to racing.
Taking the name from the character Rowdy Burns in the movie Days of Thunder, Busch has lived up to that moniker on more than one occasion.
He certainly showed his rowdy side since coming over to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008. He has every right to be as his career has taken off like the space shuttle since taking over the No. 18 car.
Some of his antics we have seen time and time again. After a race where he's in contention to win and something goes wrong, he'll storm off without talking to anyone. Many times he will get angry on the radio and take it out on his team.
But, what happened at Texas, both Saturday and Sunday, was beyond his "Rowdy" nickname.
It was straight-up obnoxious.
Let's first look at Saturday, where he simply had the dominant car in the Nationwide race. But, after the final caution flag, Busch found himself in second place and not in control of the restart. Carl Edwards had the advantage, and he knew he needed the jump heading into turn 1.
He got it, and at that point the race was over. Afterward, Busch was livid, claiming Edwards jumped the start. Video from overhead showed Edwards got the jump, but it was far too close to call as to if it was too early.
In the media center, the driver of the No. 18 Toyota didn't say a word. It was as if he was glaring at the media. It looked as though he was saying "Don't ask me anything. I do not want to be here."
He gave a simple answer to the only question he was given.
"Does it freakin' matter? The race is over," he said. NASCAR director of communications and competition, Kerry Tharp, heard that and asked the media if anyone else had questions for Busch.
Busch saved him the trouble after only two seconds, simply saying, "Alright, thank you," and storming out.
What many didn't hear was the barage of obsenities he had on the radio.
That was the typical Busch we all know, but Sunday he went beyond what we expected.
Now, let's be realistic, we would probably not be talking about what happened if his actions were not caught on live television. However, that is irrelevant at this point, because even if it was not caught, we would find out about it quickly.
However, after his speeding penalty, he took out his frustration in probably the only way he could. The closest person in NASCAR at that time was the official holding him in his pit box, so he let him have it.
Not just once, but twice.
Two middle fingers, not blurred or "pixilated" because of a young audience, were shown to the official. That is a direct violation of a NASCAR rule, and Tharp made it clear after the race that penalties could be coming.
"Any time you make an obscene or inappropriate gesture to one of our officials, which he did, you're subject to penalty," Tharp said. "We penalized him during the course of the race. We held him two laps. But I tell you what, we're going to go back this week when we get to Concord, N.C., and we're going to review this situation and there could be further penalties regarding the No. 18 car."
Whether if Busch should be penalized, or how much, is not the point. The point is he did the one gesture that is universally understood, and universally hated.
Busch said it was "freedom of speech" in regards to him flipping off the NASCAR official. Speech, really?
Whatever the case, Busch was not "rowdy" at Texas; he was obnoxious. There are some things that shouldn't be done towards other drivers, and especially at NASCAR officials.
An apology afterward is not enough this time, he will be put in his place thanks to NASCAR. They have the final say, no questions asked.
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