I do believe Kevin Harvick has taken a Shining to Mr. Busch

[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”214″][/media-credit]Kyle Busch sits in the corner of the room, chanting “Redrum. Redrum. Redrum.” Meanwhile, someone is hacking at the door, splinters fly, and finally the hole is big enough for a familiar, smiling face to appear.

“Here’s Kevin!”

Once again, Busch awakens from the nightmare that has been his since Darlington. You can argue that Kevin Harvick started things Saturday night with a bump to the rear bumper, but no one can doubt that it was Busch who purposely spun the 29 even as Clint Bowyer was still bouncing off the inside wall. When Harvick wanted to play, Busch stayed in his car. When Harvick came out to punch, Busch hit the gas, hit Harvick’s now empty car to send it rolling into the pit row wall, and took off for healthier climes.

It kind of reminded me of August 17, 2003. One talented, but very mouthy, driver was taunting a bear, only to have a big paw reach in and shut that mouth up, if only for a moment. Jimmy Spencer might have gotten suspended from the next race at Bristol, the big mouth might have won that next week but, after all the whining and playing loose with the truth about the incident, the fans turned ugly on Kurt Busch. So much so, the boy underwent a bit of a transformation to eventually become a man. Me thinks his little brother is cruising for a similar bruising.

Kevin Harvick. Of all the guys to tangle with, Busch the Younger takes on the man with the smile that makes even Jack Nicholson stand back. At least Montoya had the brains to take on a Ryan Newman, take a punch, and carry on. Is Harvick tough? Ask Carl Edwards. Payback is a bitch, and she is coming.

If it wasn’t the feud, the story at Darlington was a call for no tires, no pit stop, and a Southern 500 win for Regan Smith. It was the first Cup win for the 2008 Rookie of the Year, and the first in 137 races for the Colorado-based Furniture Row Racing, running just its second full-time schedule. A one car team that finally made good, keeping a charging Carl Edwards at bay as the boys had at ‘er behind him. Smith was right when he commented on the four crown jewels of Cup racing; the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400, the World 600, and the Southern 500 at Darlington, and he claimed one of the big ones.

You might argue that any race at Daytona, Charlotte, Talladega, or Bristol should be added to that list, but when it comes to places that get the juices flowing, Dover is not one of them. They head to Delaware this Sunday afternoon, where Jimmie Johnson (15th at Darlington) has won three of the last four. Kyle Busch was the winner there last spring, but he might be listening for footsteps most of the day.

They have been coming here since 1969, a track where Richard Petty claimed seven victories, and Kyle Petty one. Ken Schrader won there, as did Benny Parsons. Even the first dozen races were won by future Hall of Famers, or will be after Cale Yarborough joins Petty, Allison, and Pearson next year. Well, look at that. I just got my juices flowing. The action begins on FOX, starting at 1pm, Eastern, this Sunday afternoon.