It’s Time For Busch & Edwards To Go For Broke

“Here it goes! See the back of the ‘18′ kick out…..OK, He (Edwards) got into him, moved him (Busch) out of the way. Took the lead! Here comes Kyle, back at him again, He’s gonna get to him, give him a little shove. Ah, the ‘bump and run’ Bristol move!”

It was one of the finer moments of 2008: Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards trading paint under the Saturday night lights in Thunder Valley. Click here to see some cool footage of the race on YouTube. 

Now that’s racing!

For the fans, for Kyle Busch and for Carl Edwards, a re-match at Bristol Saturday couldn’t come at a better time. Each party mentioned would stand to gain from another classic battle between the hard-charging Busch, the high-rolling Edwards and a NASCAR nation longing for “old school” paint trading.

From this observer’s perspective, its “Hail Mary” time for Kyle. 70 points behind 12th place Mark Martin, he’s not in a hopeless position, but if Busch were like a football team, he’d be like a team trailing by 6 with 2 minutes with the ball on his own 20. He can do it, but he has to do a lot right.

A re-match at the front between Busch and Edwards would mean Rowdy is squarely back on the march for a chase spot. In many ways, I think the upcoming schedule plays into his hands. We know Kyle is fearless in traffic and he’s at his best when he’s going for broke.

Busch just isn’t a “points racing” kind of guy. When he’s going for wins, he’s in his element. Doing otherwise would be like asking the Oakland Raiders of old- with the “Mad Bomber”, Daryl Lamonica- to go into the “dink-n-dunk” West Coast offense. Being patient may work for other drivers…but it isn’t Kyle.

Edwards finds himself in an entirely different boat. 204 points ahead of Martin, “Flipper” sits safely nestled in fourth place in the standings. He’s kind of like a football team up by 7 with 5 minutes left in the game. He can either play the “prevent” defense and let the small stuff go in order to play it safe and hope to run out the clock. Edwards could just coast along and wait until chase time to get hot….but it isn’t Carl.

You know it has to be eating at Edwards that he hasn’t won this season, when he and so many others thought the likes of he and Busch would be bearing down on Jimmie Johnson for a Cup title. While Busch has battled ill-handling cars, Edwards has been overcome a lack of speed. While you need a certain amount of speed at this short track, this is a driver’s track in that you need a certain amount of physicality and a bit of an attitude to be a winner here.

As for the fans- especially the ones who remember the exploits of Yarborough , Waltrip, Earnhardt and Wallace- they need a good, old-fashioned “smash mouth” race. After the wide open spaces of Michigan, the exotic road course of Watkins Glen and the tricky triangle of Pocono, they are seriously overdue for a “punch you in the mouth” kind of race, something like what we had late in the race here in August, 2008.

Both have done it. Both have two wins at Bristol- most recently, Busch was a winner in March and Edwards won this race last August.

Busch needs a win, Edwards wants a win, and a full house of fans are hoping that these rivals, or someone like them, will deliver “a real corker” as Big Bill would say.

Everybody would be a winner with that kind of outcome.

COMING TOMORROW- CONTEST ON BUMP DRAFTS:

Tomorrow, I will be doing my weekly “Picks ‘n’ Previews” column for Bristol. In the article, I will be asking a trivia question. Everyone is invited to answer the question in the “Comments” section. Everyone who correctly answers will be placed in a drawing to win a $25 gift card from NASCAR.com. Check in tomorrow for details. The “Picks ‘n’ Previews” article will “go live” Friday, August 21 at 9 PM Eastern, 6 PM Pacific. Limit one entry per person. Winner will be notified by email on Sunday, August 23rd. Bump Drafts authors, contributors and their families not eligible.

PHOTO CREDITS- Edwards and Busch racing, cool down sequence by Bristol Motor Speedway. Edwards celebration by Ford Racing. To see more, visit flickr. com or click on the links.