CHARLOTTE, N.C. --- Kyle Busch deviated from his traditional victory celebration when he spotted a crying fan in the grandstands and tried to hand her the checkered flag through the fence at Bristol Motor Speedway.
He was at Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, Tenn., the next day for a late model race sponsored by the Kyle Busch Foundation. Handling problems forced him out of the 150-miler, but he still went to Victory Lane to present the guitar trophy to the winner.
Such is the enigma that is Kyle Busch lately.
He's sullen and surly some days, to the point rival Brian Vickers repeatedly characterized him as an angry person living a miserable existence. But other days he can be charming, charitable and gracious. His mood mostly reflects the most recent race results, and when Busch isn't winning, he makes no apologies for being upset.
"You know, I am who I am," he said Sunday in Nashville, where he arrived fresh off of Saturday night's critical NASCAR victory in the Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol.
"It is what it is. I go out there to do my best week in and week out to win races. I'm a guy that loves to win. There's nothing else to me but the feeling of winning."
In other words, he's a racer. But in his struggle to balance the highs and lows of his high-profile NASCAR career, Busch has made several missteps that have cost him on and off the track. Fans despise him for myriad reasons, ranging from on-track tangles with Dale Earnhardt Jr. to his aggressive racing style and arrogant attitude.
They also find him to be a petulant whiner who finds fault in someone else every time he's denied a victory.
When he's winning, he doesn't really care about the backlash that comes from being a bad boy. But when he's losing, it's best just to get out of his way.
As team owner Joe Gibbs pointed out after Saturday's win, it's not too different from the emotional highs and lows everyone saw from Tony Stewart during the first decade of his NASCAR career.
Stewart has done OK for himself, with two championships, 36 victories, co-ownership of his own race team and the lead in the Sprint Cup standings. He has mellowed a bit with age, and at 38, he has learned how to pick his battles.
The 24-year-old Busch is still trying to find his way.
After the backlash from his smashing of the guitar trophy after June's Nationwide race at Nashville Speedway, he was determined to prove he meant no disrespect to the music industry.
He quietly donated some money to the Nashville Alliance for Public Education to provide 150 guitars to two area high schools that will create "Les Paul Memorial Guitar Labs" in honor of music icon Les Paul, who died earlier this month.
"What's neat about this deal is that there are kids that are just as passionate about music as I am about racing, and we get to give these kids an opportunity ... to pursue their passion," Busch said.
That's all Busch is doing week in and week out. The fans might not like his approach, but as he proved Saturday, he certainly keeps it interesting.
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