NASCAR Q&A: Kyle, Joey battle for the Brat Cup in their own unique ways

Kyle Busch or Joey Logano: Who’s it gonna be?

Darrell Waltrip introduced the villain’s role to modern NASCAR, and before his about-face to respected elder statesman, he made it an art form.

Dale Earnhardt, with his fender more than his mouth, took it to another level, though he always had half the grandstands in his favor. Tony Stewart did it his own way and was quite good at it.

But Kyle and Joey are competing for the “crown” in entirely different fashions — Kyle as the petulant man-child (or child-man?), Joey as the smiling assassin.

For the sheer irony of it all, I’ll take Joey’s big grin and huge bumper. Quite a combo.

THRU THE GEARS: Joey Logano is an idiot, William Byron is a bully, and Kyle Busch plays the villain again

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Did you sneak a peek at the F1 race?

Yes, and Martin Brundle’s pre-race grid walk was legendary — imagine Richard Simmons working the floor of a political convention (“I thought I was talking to somebody else, sorry about that . . .”).

The entire “show” was spectacular, and I’m sure ABC, Formula One and the Miami promoters got their money’s worth.

The start of the race brought its usual drama, but before long, an all-too-typical F1 race broke out, with Charles Leclerc giving way on Lap 9 to Max Verstappen, who dominated the final 49 laps.

Yeah, yeah, in the cockpit and in the garage, there’s a lot more to it, but to these North American eyes, too often it’s just ho-hum. The scenery is always nice, though.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR Battle of the Brats heats up as Joey and Kyle turn up the heat