'Guitar Smashing' Busch Alienates Fans [video]

interveiw with sam bass, designer of nascar/nashville prized trophy

tennessean.com Kyle Busch always has bucked the system, embracing the notoriety that comes with being NASCAR's newest bad boy. He doesn't care if race fans dislike him — and boy, do they ever — and he makes no apologies for knocking people out of his way en route to Victory Lane. His rejection of conformity is genuine, and Busch does everything he can to avoid being grouped as just another politically correct NASCAR driver shilling for a sponsor.

So if he's aware of the growing backlash surrounding his guitar-smashing celebration after a Nationwide Series win at Nashville Superspeedway, it's doubtful Busch even cares.

But this time, even his most ardent supporters wonder if Busch went too far.

See, it wasn't just any guitar that Busch whacked three times against the ground before tossing the chipped steel instrument aside. No, it was a revered Gibson Les Paul guitar that had been hand-painted by longtime NASCAR artist Sam Bass and has become the symbol of Nashville Speedway.

On Monday, however, Bass told NASCAR Scene he was heartbroken to see Busch destroy the trophy.

"It was stunning, absolutely stunning to see that thing destroyed within seconds of him getting it," Bass told Scene. "It's his trophy, he can choose to do with it what he wants. But I'm not going to lie about it. If he had asked me, 'Hey, I'm thinking about destroying that trophy guitar whenever I win it, what do you think?' Of course I would have told him, 'No! Please don't. Let us give you a prop guitar.' "

In an interview with WSMV Channel4 News, Nashville, Bass tells how he approached Kyle after the incident to ask him "what he was thinking". When I took a picture with Kyle as I traditionally do, the first thing he said to me was that there was no disrespect to me or the trophy or the speedway or any of the sponsors," Bass pointed out.
"He just said that he told his guys that he was going to give each one of them a piece of the trophy whenever he won the guitar.

While Busch’s explanation may have made Bass feel better, it was the talk of the garage in Pocono Sunday morning. Many viewed his actions as highly disrespectful and disgraceful.

Asked at the end of the interview , the commentator found it was worth between $25-30 thousand dollars.

WSMV Interviews Sam Bass After 'Busch Guitar-Smashing' Incident