Post-race attitude: What goes around comes around

Did Kyle Busch really come out of the closet Saturday night at Bristol, when he confessed an affinity for that old school sitcom featuring the talking horse, Mr. Ed?

Heck, I bet the comment went over the heads of 50 percent of those either in attendance or watching -- maybe more.

Double-heck -- I used to watch the danged show and I don't even know what he meant.

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Is Carl a horse's arse, in Kyle's opinion? Did Mr. Ed talk out of both sides of his mouth? Was he a liar? I never thought so.

And to his highly esteemed credit, Edwards made no bones about what he'd done and why he'd done it. And he was equally adamant that he wasn't apologizing for it -- and that seemed pretty straightforward to me.

Bottom line is, Busch might be responsible for two of the better scenes so far this season: His Mr. Ed reference Saturday night, which was probably more borne out of frustration for 1) losing the lead and a dominant victory 2) failing to pay Edwards back and 3) losing the post-race jousting match (watch video).

That now rates as neck-and-neck with his attitude after the Martinsville Truck race, in which he crashed Johnny Benson with a desperate last lap no-chance-of-working passing attempt only to get "Busched" out of the way by Matt Crafton, who was steaming toward the checkers. It was capped by Busch expressing his ire over himself getting wrecked in the skirmish.

It seems Kyle needs to learn that the one correct way is not always your own.

Leave it to two-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson to put Saturday night's events, and the place of rivalries in NASCAR racing, in a comfortable perspective.

In part, Johnson said that while "what Carl did [to pass Busch] was completely within reason," he also acknowledged that while it's acceptable to apply the bumper as a last resort, if you do "you know it's coming around for you."

That will make the upcoming event at Martinsville -- which happens to fall at a critical juncture of the Chase for the Sprint Cup -- extremely intriguing if any perceived debts haven't been paid back.

Considering the rates of speed at every other racetrack the series visits down the stretch -- particularly Richmond and even New Hampshire and Phoenix -- attempting payback anywhere else would be a distinctly dubious act.

Johnson didn't opine on the value of rivalries in Cup racing today, but he did say that, in light of the overall competition on the racetrack, he felt that both Edwards and Busch would put away any thoughts of payback in short order.

But since Edwards referenced a moment more than three months ago after he bumped Busch aside, it appears Jimmy Spencer is not the only driver who never forgets.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.