Kyle to F1? Say It Ain't So!

When word broke today that Kyle Busch's agent said the driver is "leaving the door open" for a switch to Formula One racing, there were -- most assuredly -- legions of NASCAR fans who heaved a collective sigh of relief and muttered a "good riddance" under their breaths.

This news was probably also viewed as a providential blessing straight from the throne of heaven by the small, struggling Camping World and Nationwide teams who are dog-tired of gazing at Kyle's bumper, while their opportunity to impress potential sponsors grows bleaker with each race he wins.

Yes, Kyle is arrogant, at times mean-spirited, and he often acts like he's God's gift to motorsports. However, the loss of Kyle Busch to Sprint Cup racing would be a terrible blow to the series.

Imagine the Sprint Cup Chase without Busch. Who would fans boo with snarls of disdain? Who would they blame for every wreck, spinout and caution that hampered their favorite driver? And who would take his place as King of All Things Theatrical and Antagonizer of Earnhardt and Edwards?

Though Tony Stewart has had his moments, and Denny Hamlin can be obnoxious when necessary, there's just nobody like Kyle for racing excitement, quotable interviews, and sheer blood-boiling drama.

Don't believe me? Just imagine how much fun we would have missed without moments like these:

"Some guys having some bad days and not doing their best out there, just made their bad day our bad day. It's just a shame. It's just unfortunate that two guys got together that were a lap down that were fighting over nothing."

“It's unfortunate that a guy that's messed up his whole day on pit road and screwed up that he has to make our day worse.”

"He hit me getting into Turn 1. Whatever. Carl's going to say he's sorry, that he didn't want to race that way, but he always does. We'll take it, we'll go on and we'll race him that way in the Chase if that's the way he wants it.”

"He was slowing me down a tremendous amount. I was either going to move him out of the way or he was going to get out of the way."

"I left a lane for him on the outside because I knew he was going to have a good run coming off the corner. He ran me over for no reason whatsoever.”

"He'll always come back and say he's sorry, He did it at Milwaukee and he's done it a few other times. It's just his normal fashion. That's fine. I've grown to know that now."

“I guess Harvick didn't have very nice things to say, and Carl got his feelings hurt.”

"Walking down pit road, [when] saying congratulations to Jeff Gordon, I got blown off. I guess I'm the outsider looking in now and I'll probably not be invited to the team meetings next week."

Yes, Kyle is the man we love to hate. But let's face it. We'd all hate it if he left.

Is Kyle Busch Bad for Business?

You're darned if you're good and you're darned if you're not. And I hate to criticize a driver or a team for being too good. However, based on Saturday's races I've come to believe there is such a thing as too much perfection.

Kudos to Kyle for dominating both the Camping World and Nationwide races. But he was SO dominant, that for most of the day, his competitors didn't stand a chance. At one point during the Nationwide race, the car in second spot was 10 whole seconds behind him. And if this stays true for the rest, or even the first half of this season, fans will be so bored, they'll be reluctant to pony up the cost of admission tickets. In short, Saturday's outcome does not bode well for the two race series that will likely struggle the most with America's economic downturn.

Even the commentators on Saturday found it difficult to infuse some excitement into their Nationwide coverage. Their attempts mostly consisted of comments like: "the fans here have got to appreciate the enormous talent they've seen on display today." Sure, fans may appreciate it -- but no fan goes to a race to see the same car take the lead in the first lap with nary a challenger.

You could argue that there's still good racing going on back in the field. Which was true in both cases. But if those drivers don't stand a chance to take the checkers...who cares?

The attendance at the track on Saturday was clearly lackluster. The stands didn't even look packed around the start/finish line. And this is troubling. If the other teams can't get themselves in a position to best Busch (and soon) I'm afraid attendance will only dwindle as the season goes on.

And that's bad for NASCAR, bad for race fans, and bad for business.