Earnhardt avoids Busch controversy

The Hendrick driver has again refused to criticize Busch for the incident that cost both of them a shot at victory, despite pressure from the media to try to ignite a feud between the two.

"I don't want to make an issue worse for me," Earnhardt said while speaking to reporters at Darlington Raceway. "I don't want to give anybody ammunition for me. We've got a lot of critics out there and a lot of supporters too, and I know they would have rather me have been a little more vocal and a little more angry about it.

"But there are just a lot of different reasons. I've got better things, more important things to worry about and if I let that get under my skin, everything I do this week is going to be a pain in my butt so it makes for a long week."

Earnhardt says that having reviewed the incident on video, he can understand why people want to blame Busch for intentionally taking him out of contention for victory, although he stressed he doesn't think that's the case.

Earnhardt Jr replaced Busch at Hendrick Motorsports this season and he says that explains somehow why people want to create a big rivalry between them. He reckons that right now Busch is the driver to beat, but he says he won't lose his head by just focusing on beating him.

"Yeah, I mean, we sort of pinned ourselves in that situation with the changes that were made for me and for him this year," Earnhardt added. "And in a lot of ways there is a competitive 'us versus them versus us spirit' between him and I and between maybe the teams I guess.

"Mentally, you handle your business and you don't let it become a distraction. If Kyle outruns me or beats me or wrecks me and wins the race I've got to go out next week and just concentrate on what I'm doing.

"If I start trying to outrun him and beat him in every practice just to prove a point, I'm going to start wadding up race cars.

"He's fast, you know. He's an amazing race car driver with a lot of talent... And if he's going to be the guy to beat, which I think he is right now, everybody is going to be watching his lap times and watching how fast he runs and stuff."

Some pundits have suggested that Kyle Busch's aggressive racing style - which had a lot to do with their Richmond incident - is reminiscent of that of the late Dale Earnhardt, something that Earnhardt Jr himself doesn't deny.

"On the race track, there may be some comparisons there," Earnhardt said. "He's fast. He's running well. He's quick. He's aggressive. This is Dale Earnhardt in '89 and earlier.

"Daddy quit doing that stuff after a while, you know. But that's the way Dad raced and Kyle has that same style. He's very aggressive."

Earnhardt Jr currently ranks third in the drivers' standing, 104 points behind leader Kyle Busch.