Nascar’s driver of the year blows his whole season in three races

In a recent poll in Sports Illustrated, Kyle Busch’s fellow Nascar pros voted him as the most talented driver on the circuit. Had the same drivers been polled on the more subjective issue of popularity, Busch would have finished bottom of the heap. He has earned a reputation as a sulky, surly, cocky asshat, albeit a sulky, surly, cocky asshat who has won more races this year than anyone else.

At the start of the Nascar Sprint Cup Chase (Nascar’s play-off system, essentially), Busch held a big lead over his rivals, thanks to a stellar regular season. Three disastrous races into the Chase, Busch finds himself more than 300 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson, with virtually no chance of winning the title.

American prodigy prepares for first race in the big time

When 18-year-old Joey Logano won the Nationwide Meijer 300 in June, he became Nascar’s youngest ever winner. At the time, Logano’s team owner Joe Gibbs said Joey might start in NASCAR’s senior Sprint Cup series before the season was over.

Gibbs was right. Logano is entered for this weekend’s Chevy Rock & Roll 400, the main event at the Richmond International Speedway. He’ll have to qualify for the event first though, as Gibbs’s team doesn’t rank in the top 35 in owner points.