Burton on Kyle Busch's role as villain

YOU HAVE MENTIONED BEFORE THAT NASCAR NEEDS VILLAINS IN THE SPORT TO BALANCE THINGS OUT. CAN YOU EXPRESS AGAIN WHY YOU THINK NASCAR NEEDS VILLAINS AND IS KYLE BUSCH FILLING THAT ROLE?

“He is certainly one of them. He has that personality and the success that people are going to love or hate. You don’t sit on the fence with Kyle. He invokes passion. There are a lot of people that don’t like him at all and there is [sic] an awful lot of people that passionately like him.

"That’s the same way you feel about the Boston Red Sox or the New York Yankees and that is a good thing. That’s what makes the fans come and that is what makes sports fun because it's just as fun to pull against someone as it is to pull for them.

"I think that our sport needs those people. Kyle seems to enjoy it and seems to relish in it and many times provoke it just because he wants to. And you know, that’s his business and that is the way he wants to do it and its okay with me. I think it's funny when he gets out and bows because I know that three-quarters of those people want to throw something at him and the other quarter want to throw something at the people that threw something at him. That’s cool. That fan passion is what makes our deal work.

"I don’t think you should fabricate it. I don’t think it's something that can be fabricated because you either invoke that passion or you don’t and I don’t think he does fabricate it. I think it's just him being him. And I think he likes it when he pisses somebody off to be quite honest and he stands pat and says this is how it is, this is who I am and this is what it is and that’s okay.

From a GM Press Release

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