Busch too comfortable wearing black hat

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A hat has been passed around NASCAR and stock car racing from generation to generation. Sized and fitted by fans, media and other drivers, it's handed out to the racer who is a talented hotshot but who is also out there on the fringe and hated by many.I don't know if Kyle Busch has been to his local haberdashery lately looking for a new lid, but he certainly is a suitable choice to wear NASCAR's infamous black hat.Kyle goes by a number of nicknames: Shrub, Rowdy and Busch the Younger come to mind. A better one may be Bart because he's suddenly become the villainous Black Bart from the old spaghetti westerns: A menacing gunslinger in town to cause trouble.But the 23-year-old is in good company.Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart all wore the sport's dastardly black hat at some point, but unlike Kyle, they all knew how to handle it, simply waving to the crowd, acknowledging the boos and going about their business of rattling cages and winning races.The No. 18 driver's biggest liability -- or asset, depending on your stance -- is that he doesn't care about perception. He confronted Steve Wallace on pit road at Richmond when Wallace loosened him up on the last lap, but got upset the following night when one of Earnhardt's crew members talked to him after Busch and Junior went spinning in the Cup race. There's some inconsistency there.Before showing he was the best driver at Darlington last Saturday -- and it was an impressive performance, despite browbeating his team over the radio with complaints of how bad his Camry was -- Kyle aped to the frenzied crowd, wiping away a make-believe tear during driver introductions as the fans voiced their displeasure at his antics this season.Who else does that? Would Waltrip, Earnhardt Sr., Gordon or Stewart -- all former champions and all the recipient of jeers -- have played up to the crowd like that? The moment had a WWE wresting feel to it: Feigning sadness just to rile the horde up even more.His older brother made similar headlines a few years back, and even won a championship. Kurt didn't care then either, wrecked plenty of cars and was finally punched in the face by Jimmy Spencer. Currently 22nd in points, Kurt has watched his time in the spotlight pass him by, and his younger brother has taken over.Kyle does make for great copy, though, and plenty of Busch-driven headlines are just waiting to be written, ranging from "Busch wrecks way to win -- again, "KOs Kyle" (fill in the driver name on that one) and "Busch clinches at Homestead."Expect some score settling, too. Waltrip said Saturday night's Sprint All-Star Race in Charlotte would be the perfect chance, and these grudges have a way of resolving themselves.Dominating races, wrecking cars, confronting rivals, holding that "I can wreck you but don't dare touch me" double standard, and egging on everyone -- and showing little care in the process -- is what comprises Kyle Busch these days. And he seems content to don that black hat and pull it down tightly onto his head.It fits pretty well, too.MONSTER OF A TIME: Jeff Gordon visited Dover International Speedway Wednesday afternoon to dedicate the new 46-foot Monster Monument at Victory Plaza."It's an amazing monument and it really symbolizes what this track is all about to the drivers and the fans," said Gordon, a four-time Dover winner. "The Monster Mile brings out the monster in all of us. It's a grueling, fast race track that is very, very tough."Gordon has his name etched on the plaque at the base of the monument.A TRIO OF TESTERS: Jamie McMurray, Mike Skinner and Bobby Labonte participated in a Goodyear tire test Tuesday and Wednesday at Daytona International Speedway in preparation for the July 5 race, the event's 50th running."It's exciting to come back to Daytona," said McMurray, last year's winner. "I came back here for the go-kart race in December and that was the first time I was back since winning (in July). I got to my hotel room last night and the 1978 Daytona 500 was being replayed on television. Daytona just has a lot of history and it's a great place to come back to."A lot of guys will joke around and say it's boring, but with the size of the restrictor plate that we have on the car to run 47-second lap times, it's pretty thrilling to go around. Its kind of fun to do that."McMurray will be attempting to join Fireball Roberts, A.J. Foyt, Cale Yarborough, David Pearson and Tony Stewart as the only drivers to win consecutive summer races at DIS.FLIPPIN' A COIN?: Lowe's Motor Speedway's H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler picked Carl Edwards, Jack Roush's back-flipping driver, to win Saturday night in Charlotte."Carl Edwards is a racer's racer in the mold of Dale Earnhardt and Cale Yarborough," said Wheeler, LMS's president and general manager. "He will put his car in places angels fear to tread, and beneath that big smile and his trademark back flip, Carl has an abnormal fire in his heart to win that I have seldom seen."(Bill Whitehead covers NASCAR for Scripps Treasure Coast (Fla.) Newspapers, The Stuart News, Fort Pierce Tribune and Vero Beach Press Journal. E-mail wwhitehe@ircc.net.)