I’ve been saying that Kyle Busch was a Rock Star for a while now. This week he proved it, or at least tried to. Kyle has had an awkward transition to stardom, with several bumps along the way. He has yet to define himself completely and is still forming his persona. Is he the anti-hero, black hat, bad guy “Rowdy” or the kid “Wild Thing”, who’s smarter than he should be? Neither, in this case. Frankly, I really don’t care which persona Kyle chooses for himself as long as he picks one and sticks with it.
Last weekend, Kyle decided he was going to go all “Rock and Roll” on us and smash a guitar in victory lane at Nashville. Too bad it was a one a kind “work of art” created by renowned NASCAR artist Sam Bass. Bass had literally hundreds of hours of work into the guitar only to have Kyle Van Busch destroy it. Weakly, by the way; it took several giant swings to dent the once beautiful, Gibson Les Paul. What was the reason given for the destruction? Kyle promised his guys that he would destroy it. Repeat. Kyle promised his crew that because they had done well, he would win the “one of a kind” trophy, smash it and give them all a piece. Does anybody see anything weird about that?
Kyle is on to something, though. He is tapping into some core human desires. First, everybody wants to be “Rock and Roll” and so we understand his desire to try (and fail) to be a rock star by smashing the guitar. And second, people love watching things get smashed. They like it so much, that smashing things makes you “Rock and Roll” and thus super cool. Guitars, amps, hotel rooms. Smashing stuff equals “Rock and Roll”. Kyle should just take things a little further.
If he’s truly “Rock and Roll” it can’t be a one race thing. Kyle’s got to go all out. Otherwise, he is just a phony, what some would call, a “pozer”. Busch is already a showman, bowing when he wins, but this new gimmick blows that one away. Carl Edwards has a back flip and now Kyle’s got…smashing the trophies.
The Dover monster, the Martinsville clock, those boots they give out in Texas, even possibly, The Sprint Cup, all smashed by Kyle Busch after huge wins. The public would be separated, for and against, establishment vs. anti-establishment. Kyle Busch would become the world’s most “well known” athlete if he was so “Rock and Roll” that he smashed every trophy he won. Busch victories would become the lead on Sports Center. NASCAR would grow and ratings would go up. Hippies would certainly view his actions as a symbol to the Earth that Kyle was about more than just trophies.
Behind The Music
Even the best, most extreme gimmicks are just that, gimmicks. Eventually, the smashing of the trophies would get old. Bands that seemed “Rock and Roll” in their prime look more like spandex and hairspray now, but if he wants, Kyle “Rock and Roll” Busch can still make it work for him as he gets older. He will just have to adapt his act. Think “Gallagher of NASCAR” with his SLEDGE-O-MATIC.
Hopefully, “Rock and Roll” would not make the same decision if he could go back to the moment where he decided to smash the trophy guitar, even if it was last year.
