Kyle Busch didn't make the Chase, and that's a darn shame

So Kyle Busch fell just eight points short of making the Chase, the smallest margin ever in the history of the event. Had he finished just a couple places higher at Richmond -- or had he not decided to take an idiotic dive for the lead back in July at Daytona -- he'd be in and Brian Vickers would be out. But to paraphrase The Wire's Marlo Stanfield, even though he wanted it that way, it's the other way.

So now the Kyle Busch haters are out in force, celebrating in the streets like Detroit just won a championship. To which I'd say: you're missing the point. The Chase is far worse without Kyle in it.

Look, I'm no Kyle apologist; I've gone on record saying that he's got to knock it off with all the whining and complaining about everything that's gone wrong with his career, real or imagined. But the guy can drive the wheels off a car; he's got to be among the top three most purely talented drivers in NASCAR. And more importantly, he brings a hell of a lot of jazz to NASCAR; he has a way of getting under the skin of both fans and fellow drivers in a way that the sport desperately needs.

Every story needs a hero and a villain, and for too long NASCAR has been a collection of gleaming, blow-dried heroes. We need somebody to step up and call out the rest of the field, we need somebody to mock the fanbase and still win, we need someone to be the heel. Kyle Busch plays that role to perfection, and he does it in a way that old-school NASCAR drivers would approve of. He's a showman, a performer, a whiner and an annoying personality, yes, but all of those are secondary to the fact that he's a serious driver.

Without his on-track skill, he'd be a Kimbo Slice-type overhyped cartoon. With his talent, he's one of the most fascinating figures in NASCAR. Regardless of the self-inflicted reasons, it's a shame he's not in the Chase.