Defense of Kyle gets split verdict

My column on Friday did not put any blame on Kyle Busch for the post-race bump and run with Kevin Harvick at Darlington, S.C. My claim is Harvick tried to start a fight and NASCAR failed to have enough officials nearby to prevent one from breaking out.

1. Defense of Kyle gets split verdict
2. Big Saturday night with Mods at Bullring
3. Another Capps racing Funny Cars

1. Defense of Kyle gets split verdict

A loyal reader, “NASCAR fan in Pahrump (Nev.)” REALLY disagreed with my opinion. With his permission, I present his view:

“Read your article in the 5/13/11 edition of the RJ regarding the Kyle Busch incident at Darlington. Saying that Busch is "innocent" is like saying bin laden had nothing to do with the twin towers.

“Busch's gutless, spineless antics on pit road should have drawn him a suspension and docking of points for an act that could have harmed or injured pit road workers.

“You must not have watched the race or the incident on pit road as nobody (even Kyle Busch fans) could say he was innocent. He deserved much more punishment than a slap on the wrist. You must be the only Las Vegas local that likes Kyle Busch and will always forgive him for his immature behavior.

“If you attended this year’s race at LVMS (as I suspect you did) you would have heard all the fans, including all the locals, give Busch the loudest, longest round of boos during driver introductions. I was standing on the straightaway right next to the stage and it was so obvious that Busch's home town doesn't even care for their home town idiot. Busch is definitely not innocent.

— Nascar fan from Pahrump”

A caller, however, agreed with me.

Score is 1-1.

Any thoughts?

2. Big Saturday night with Mods at Bullring

Weather should be perfect Saturday for the biggest night of the season so far at the LVMS Bullring.

A highlight will be the Lucas Oil Modified Series that will feature Las Vegans Doug Hamm and Dylan Kwasniewski. They have won the first two events of the season.

Hamm won on April 16 at Blythe, Calif., to record his first career win after another Las Vegan, Aaron McMorran, led 71 straight laps.

Kwasniewski, 15, won March 26 at Lake Havasu, Ariz., to post his first win in the series.

Another homeboy to watch Saturday night is Chris Gerchman, who won six times last year.

The 75-lap feature will be the first of three races for the series at the Bullring.

Also on the card: 121-lap SRL Southwest Tour stock-car race, Super Late Models, Chargers, Bombers, Legends Cars, Thunder Cars and Bandoleros.

The night starts with a 30-minute on-track driver autograph session at 5:30 p.m. with racing at 6:55 p.m.

3. Another Capps racing Funny Cars

Jon Capps is back driving Nitro Funny Cars on the NHRA Full Throttle circuit.

The Las Vegas resident and younger brother of Ron Capps advanced to the second round of eliminations two weeks ago at Baytown, Texas.

It was his first Funny Car race since 2007. He drove a car owned and tuned by veteran Paul Smith.

Jon also is competing with Smith this weekend near Atlanta. Smith is 41 and an admissions counselor for WyoTech.