Gordon: Busch could be the best

Many NASCAR pundits picked Kyle Busch to win this year’s Sprint Cup title. Busch won eight races in 2008 and has won in all three NASCAR divisions this year, but has yet to show, at the time of writing, the consistency of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. Gordon rates Busch highly, but thinks he still has rough edges that need smoothing.

“Kyle is one of the most talented, if not the most talented driver I’ve ever seen,” said Gordon (above right with Busch). “But that doesn’t make him the best driver I’ve seen. Sometimes his strengths are his weaknesses and many of us have the same thing. I like to see a guy who’s got a lot of talent, who’s got that winning ability, but is also able to control his emotions.

“Where Kyle is getting much better is he’s more mature and on an even keel, and if he can control those things that’s what’s going to impress me more than even his talent. We’ve seen him cut his own tyre because he got mad at a guy and drove into him. Those are the types of things that are holding him back from being one of the best ever. But you go wheel-to-wheel with this guy and he’s amazing. He does things that will absolutely boggle your mind.

“With experience you realise there are moments when you need to be aggressive and moments when you need to be patient, and you have to pick and choose those moments. I see Kyle picking them a little better now. That happens to a lot of us when you’re young. If Kyle learns those lessons, he’s going to be amazing.”