D2
EZ SU AUTO RACING
The driver whom fans love to hate Sprint Cup contender Kyle Busch won’t back down to anyone, including his brother
BY TARIK EL-BASHIR IN DOVER, DEL.
er introductions. If the Joe Gibbs Racingstardrives theNo. 18Toyo- ta to victory, he’ll hear the combi- nationagain. FromDaleEarnhardt toDarrell
A
Waltrip to Jeff Gordon, NASCAR always has had a villain, a driver manyfansandcompetitors loveto hate.Thesedays, that titlebelongs to Busch, who’s every bit as cocky and brash as he is focused and determined. “I got that reputation when I
got here,” said Busch, who will start eighth at the AAA 400 on Sunday as he aims for his second win of the season on the concrete oval dubbed the Monster Mile. “I can’t change thatnow.” To understand one of stock car
racing’s most complex personali- ties and to gain an appreciation for arguably its most talented driver, you first must know what drives Busch: racing and, more specifically,winning. Just ask Brad Keselowski. In
theNationwide series race atBris- tol last month, Busch and Kesel- owski were battling side-by-side for theleadwith31 laps remaining when the cars touched.Busch slid up the track; Keselowski seized the lead. Not for long. One turn later, Busch intentionally spun Keselowski, sending himinto the wall. After the race, Busch acknowl-
edged that he “dumped” Kesel- owski, adding that he took um- brage with Keselowski’s maneu- ver. Before the Cup race the follow-
ingnight,Keselowski grabbedthe microphone during driver intro- ductions and said, “Kyle Busch is an ass” to the roaring approval of more than 150,000 spectators. Busch was later asked what he thought of Keselowski’s pre-race jab. “Who?” said Busch, who
claimed an unprecedented sweep of the Cup,Nationwide and Truck races at Bristol.When the report- er reminded himthat Keselowski drives the No. 12 car, Busch cracked, “I sawit.But I passed it.” “I hate to speak for the whole
garage,” Keselowski said this week, “ but from what I can tell, he’s an individual with incredible talent. But in any sport, talent alone is not enough to be success- ful.” Busch’s victory at Bristol was
his third on the Cup circuit this season and his 19th career win in NASCAR’s top series. After his dominant win in the Nationwide series race here Saturday—he led 192 of 200 laps to notch a record 11thwin this season in the second tier series—Buschowns 81 career wins in the Cup, Nationwide and Truck divisions combined. He
CHERYL SENTER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kyle Busch, after a Truck Series race atNewHampshire last weekend, strikes a familiar pose.He has 81 career victories in the Sprint Cup,Nationwide and Truck series, including aNationwide win Saturday.
does not apologize for the aggres- sive manner in which he has amassed those impressive figures or his tell-it-like-it-is approach. “I’m not going to sit there and
sugarcoat things and lie to you,” he said. Busch’s controversial reputa-
tiongainedtractionin2008when he incurred the wrath of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s legion of fans after wreckingNASCAR’smostpopular driver at Richmond. They had beenracingfor the leadwiththree laps remaining. Busch recovered to finish second; Earnhardt’s fans never forgave him. Busch’s own brother also has
experienced the business end of one of Kyle’s fenders. In the 2007 all-star race at Charlotte, the brothers were racing each other hard when their cars collided, knocking themout of contention. “We were going for a million
bucks,” Kurt Busch recalled re- cently. “I blamed him, he blamed me. I said, ‘Heyman, I’mnot com- ing off my horse.’ And he wasn’t
coming off his horse, either. It came all theway down to Thanks- giving when Grandma had to say, ‘Hey, I’m not going to have my Thanksgiving ruined by you two bickering.’ . . . We’ve developed more a friendship and a bond because of thatmoment.” According to those who know
Kyle Busch best, his public perso- natellsonlyhalf thestory.Thereal Kyle, they say, is like any fun-lov- ing twenty somethingwhowatch- es “Dexter” and “Lost” on the couch. Kyle spends his spare time with his fiancee, Samantha Sarcinella, and his beloved West Highland Terriers, Kelly and Suz- ie. Busch and Sarcinella are set to bemarriedDec. 31. “Kyle at the track is competi-
tive, really intense and very fo- cused,” Sarcinella said in the cou- ple’s motor home. “Sometimes people take that the wrong way. He’s just like a quarterback get- ting ready for a game—he’s inthe zone.Awayfromthetrackhe’sfun, he’spersonable,hehangsoutwith
his friends. He’s a very happy-go- lucky funguy.” Don’t expect to see that side
Sunday. Busch is third in the Sprint Cup standings and, with a win, could take a significant step toward his first championship. “You can win all the races you
canwin over thewhole year, [but] tobeknownasachampioniswhat everybody wants to be known as inthis sport,”hesaid, lateradding, “When I get to the race track, I’m atwork.This iswork.” If Busch avoids a misstep,
there’s a good chance he’ll wind up parked on the front straight away, standing on his hood and taking his customary post-win bow. Which, of course, wouldn’t be popular this time, either. “It’s goodwhen they’remaking
noise,” Kurt Busch said. “That’s the bottomline.Dale Sr. said that. Jeff Gordon has adopted that. If you went up there and it was crickets chirping, then youwould start toworry a little bit.”
elbashirt@washpost.com
DIGEST TELEVISIONANDRADIO
NFL 1 p.m.
4 p.m.
4:15 p.m. 8:15 p.m.
Cleveland at Baltimore » WUSA (Channel 9),WJZ (Channel 13), WZAA (1050 AM), WBAL (1090 AM)
Washington at St. Louis » WTTG (Channel 5), WBFF (Channel 45), WWXT (92.7 FM),WWXX (94.3 FM),WTEM (980 AM)
Indianapolis at Denver » WUSA (Channel 9),WJZ (Channel 13) NewYork Jets at Miami » WRC (Channel 4),WBAL (Channel 11),WTNT (570 AM)
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 1 p.m.
1:30 p.m. 2 p.m. 3 p.m.
8 p.m. GOLF
11:30 a.m. PGA Tour, Tour Championship » Golf Channel 1:30 p.m. 7 p.m.
AUTO RACING 1 p.m.
7 p.m.
NASCAR Sprint Cup, AAA 400 » ESPN NHRA, Fall Nationals » ESPN2
PGA Tour, Tour Championship » WRC (Channel 4),WBAL (Channel 11) Champions Tour, SAS Championship » Golf Channel
Baltimore at Toronto » MASN2,WTNT (570 AM)
Atlanta atWashington » MASN, WXTR (730 AM), WFED (820 AM, 1500 AM) St. Louis at Chicago Cubs » WGN San Francisco at Colorado » TBS
Boston at NewYork Yankees » ESPN, WWXT (92.7 FM),WWXX (94.3 FM),WTEM (980 AM)
BASKETBALL
U.S. women beat France to win group Diana Taurasi scored 15 points
to help the United States beat France, 81-60, and finish first in Group B at the women’s basket- ball world championships in Os- trava, Czech Republic. Candice Dupree and Tina
Charles each added 10 points for the Americans (3-0), who came into the game averaging 103.5 points.Dupree has shot a sizzling 84 percent fromthe field over the first three games. Endene Miyem scored 15 to lead France (2-1). Australia, Spain and Russia
also won their groups in the opening round. The U.S. team will play Canada, Belarus and Australia in the second round. France and Greece also advanced to play in that pool. Both Belarus and Greece are playing in their first world championship. Spain and Russia are in the
only from Comcast.
other group along with South Korea, Brazil, Japan, and the Czech Republic.
The top four teams from each
second-round group will play in the quarterfinals that begin on Friday. The semifinals will be played on Saturday and the gold medal game on Sunday. . . . Although Andrew Bynum
showed up on time for training camp with the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers, he’ll be back on the court later than expected. The Lakers’ starting center said he won’t play until at least late Novemberwhile recovering from surgery on his right knee.
SOCCER Newspaper polls suggest nine
in 10 Argentines don’t want Di- ego Maradona back as coach of Argentina’s national soccer team. Maradona saidFridayhewant-
ed to return and would consider getting rid of hismuch-criticized assistants. He was almost plead- ing in a TV interview, saying, “I’d givemy life” tohave the jobagain.
A poll in the Saturday edition
of the newspaper Clarin found that 91.1 percent of about 10,000 people who responded did not want him back. In a similar poll by the newspaper La Nacion, 93 percent of the 6,185 who replied were againstMaradona’s return. Argentina’s famous No. 10 was
dismissed as coach after a 4-0 loss toGermany intheWorldCup quarterfinals. Sergio Batista is the interimcoach.
AUTORACING Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso
captured his second straight For- mula One pole Saturday, leading the top five drivers in the cham- pionship standings onto the front of the grid for the Singapore Grand Prix. Alonso, who won the inaugural Singapore GP in 2008, beat out Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel. The German dominated the practice sessions but brushed thewall on his last lap in qualify- ing around the Marina Bay cir- cuit. . . . Two-time Scottish rally champi-
on Jimmy Girvan was killed after crashing during the ColinMcRae Rally in Glasgow, prompting or- ganizers to cancel the race. Gir- van’s car hit boulders, left the road and hit trees. The 56-year- old driver died at the scene. . . .
MISC. Boston Bruins center Marc
Savard is going tomake sure he’s all right before returning to the ice after he dealt with post-con- cussion syndrome in the offsea- son. Savardsayshe cameback too early when he played for the Bruins in the playoffs following hisMarch 7 concussion. . . . The U.S. Olympic Committee
passed a resolution to take a leadership role in promoting safe training environments for Olym- pic athletes. The board of direc- tors approved the measure after reviewing findings from a task force that made recommenda- tions on how to prevent sex- abuse cases in Olympic sports.
—Fromnews services
booming round of booswill mixwith cheers the instant KyleBuschappears fordriv-
JOEL RICHARDSON FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
“He hasn’t looked out of place, I’ll tell you that,” Capitals Coach Bruce Boudreau said of 19-year-old prospect Cody Eakin, above.
Eakin performs above his age group for Caps
Forward may return to juniors, but he’s impressive so far
BY KATIE CARRERA Coach Bruce Boudreau no-
ticed early on during official workouts that one young pros- pect wasn’t content to simply enjoyhis timeatKettlerCapitals Iceplex and accept any precon- ceived conclusion that he couldn’t stickwiththeWashing- tonCapitals this season. In the twoweeks since rookie
camp opened, Cody Eakin has beenallbusiness.Heknewcom- ing in that he might be a long shot to reach the NHL at the start of this season, but he has demonstrated poise beyond his 19 years with his work ethic. Veteran teammates are im- pressed with how rapidly he is adjusting as he tries to give the Capitals every reason to consid- er not sending him back to ju- nior hockey. “Something’s gone right so
far; I’m still here,” Eakin said before theCapitals’ secondexhi- bition game, against the Nash- ville Predators, on Saturday night. “But I know if I don’t perform I could be sent home tomorrow, so I just keep work- inghard. It’snice todowellnow, but this is rookie season in my mind. I want to be here for the regular season. It’s all a step- pingstone.” The quick-footed center, easi-
ly identifiable by both his speed and the red hair sticking out from his helmet, has done a thorough job of helping observ- ers forget thatheis stillateenag- er. But his age gives him a re- maining year of eligibility in the juniorhockey leagues, andcom- plicates his chances to land in Washington. TheNHL’s collective bargain-
ing agreement prohibits Eakin, because of his age, fromplaying with the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League until his junior seasonis complete.By all appearances, and consider- ing his brief stintwith the Bears late last year, Eakin would be ready for the AHL, but he has only two options:make theCap-
itals roster orbe sentback to the Western Hockey League’s Swift Current Broncos, where he would be captain this season. There is also the chance that
EakincouldremaininWashing- ton for a prolonged tryout of sorts.Thethree-year,entry-level contract Eakin signed in Octo- ber 2009 could extend another year into the future if he is returned to juniors before play- ing 10NHL games in a season. Whether Eakin gets that op-
portunity though, comes down to his ability to continue im- proving against older, more physical players. Boudreau said hehopes toseeEakinplay sever- almore preseason games. “We’ll see how he goes,” Bou-
dreau said. “He hasn’t looked out of place, I’ll tell you that. It’s not like youcantellhe’s an18-or 19-year-old; he’s hung right in there. . . .Hismaturity, I think, is beyond his years, too, so that’s really good.” During the 2009-10 season
Eakin led Swift Current in points (91), goals (47), power- playgoals (17)andshort-handed goals (4). When he joined Her- shey for four late regular season games and five playoff games after theBroncos’ seasonended, he recorded two points and gained critical experience in learning how to play against stronger opponents at a faster pace. Eakinalsoprovedhiswilling-
ness to playwherever necessary when with Hershey, as Bears CoachMark French played him most often on the wing during theCalderCupplayoffs. Intrain- ing camp and preseason games this fall however, Eakin is back at center, his natural position. “Actually, I don’t mind play-
ing on thewing. Formy game it can be fun to streak down the wall and pick up passes at full speed, but I like center,” said Eakin, who won six of the 12 faceoffs he took against the Co- lumbus Blue Jackets in the pre- season opener. “I like taking draws, I like the position. It’s a real responsible job.” Capitals note: Washington assigned goaltender Braden Holtby and defenseman Patrick Wellar to Hershey. The Bears’ training camp opensMonday.
carrerak@washpost.com
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