The Coca-Cola 600 was Monday and once again, Kyle Busch started at the pole position. The man some still call “Shrub” led the NASCAR Sprint Series points and was tied with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. with eight top 10 finishes.

The difference is that Busch has finished first three times and Junior has extended his winless streak to 73 races.

NASCAR couldn’t have dreamt a better scenario, not even in Humpy Wheeler’s best “I want to be P.T. Barnum” fantasy.
Let’s recap the last couple weeks. It was 600 miles, folks. We have time.

Richmond International Speedway. Denny Hamlin led most of the race then blew a tire. With three to go, Busch and Junior are running side by side for the lead. Busch puts Junior in the wall and Clint Bowyer wins. Say hello to NASCAR’s official new villain.

As a fan of the No. 88, I’m often asked if I hate Busch and his No. 18 for ruining Junior’s chance to win. Maybe I have better perspective on this than the rest of Junior Nation. Rubbin’ is racin’. That’s how it is and when the day comes that you can’t punt someone into the wall on the last lap for a win, well, that’ll be the day I start watching Formula 1 instead.

Junior’s old man was never afraid to pop another car in the quarter panel to get it loose and he’s often revered for it now. Then again, he didn’t like it when someone hit him.

Since Richmond Busch has heard more boos than cheers. The boo birds even came out on Mother’s Day as he was introduced with big brother Kurt and their mom.

Come on, people. You can’t boo somebody when he’s hugging his mom, can you?

Busch is getting booed for two reasons and hard racing isn’t one of them.

He is winning — that’s reason one. Just like Jeff Gordon used to get booed — I wonder if he misses it — winning every other race, Busch is feeling the resentment factor.

Reason two is that he is beating the most popular driver in the sport. Despite all his efforts, Junior hasn’t been able to beat Busch head-to-head yet.

It’s like Carl Edwards — he’s won just as many races this year as Busch, but you don’t hear anyone booing him, do you?

“I feel bad for him, loosing a motor like that. I wanted to beat him on the track,” he said during the All-Star Race.

Junior has had chances for retaliation, too, and some of the fans are actually hoping he’ll take the opportunity to bash Busch’s door in.
He won’t. He’s too smart for that. If he did something like that, he wouldn’t win a race. Right now, winning is what matters. He didn’t climb to his highest points standing in four years by being stupid.

The way both of these drivers are running, the time will come again when they are side by side, running to the checkered flag.
I can’t wait for it to happen. I think the best thing that could happen is for Junior to have an open window to put Busch in the wall and not take it. Race him clean, Junior. Beat him straight. Don’t hit him unless he hits you.

And since he probably will, then by all means, punt that little punk.

The beating, banging and booing for all its distraction, brings in fans. They need someone to hate just as much as they need someone to love. Darth and Luke, Batman and the Joker, Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon make things interesting. Sometimes the line between the good guys and bad guys gets gray.

Yes, there are people who love Busch and hate Junior. NASCAR would be a boring place if everyone had the same favorite driver.
I don’t plan on wearing a No. 18 M&Ms hat anytime soon — ever, actually — but I am happy he’s in the sport. I’ll be even happier come November when Junior wins the championship and Busch finishes second.

Third would be fine, too.

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