NASCAR's new criminal — Kyle Busch

For one of the few times in his career — and certainly the first time in several years — Jeff Gordon won’t have to worry about being the No. 1 villain heading into Saturday’s Sprint Cup race at Darlington Raceway.

When it comes time for the public-address announcer at Darlington to introduce the competitors in the race, it’s a pretty sure bet that Kyle Busch will receive the loudest boos of any driver.

And don’t be surprised if those boos are accompanied by the tossing of beer cans and other trash onto the track. Frankly, Saturday’s race is shaping up to be ugly.

The reason is simple: Busch’s spin of Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Richmond has quickly become one of the most talked about battles on a race track this season.

While the most diehard Junior fans don’t want to hear about it, the facts are pretty simple:

Kyle gave Junior plenty of room, but Earnhardt still chopped down on Busch, leaving the latter literally no place to go. If you’re able to obtain a video clip of the fateful wreck, it’s very apparent (using slow motion) that Earnhardt not only cut down on Busch, but that Busch’s wheels were turned to the left at the time of impact, not cracked to the right as some critics and conspiracy theorists might believe.

And in just a matter of seconds, Earnhardt went from looking like a sure winner to a dejected and disappointed hulk of himself.

But, to his credit, Earnhardt acknowledged that the wreck “was not intentional.”

Given the fury of the Junior Nation, Kyle Busch is not going to get off the hook very easily at Darlington. Like one e-mailer who wrote me at Yahoo the day after Richmond, one misdeed done to Junior is one too many.

So does that mean that Earnhardt will finally snap his two-year-long, 72-race winless streak? He’s had mixed success at Darlington, certainly nowhere near the talent his late father displayed there.

One thing’s for certain: When Busch and Earnhardt start the motors on their cars Saturday evening, they will be scrutinized and watched closer than perhaps any two drivers in the past decade.

Not only will Busch and Junior be watching themselves, but fans of both drivers will be trying to keep up with the race, as well as the media and their respective teams: Joe Gibbs Racing (Busch) and Hendrick Motorsports (Earnhardt).

Ironically, it was Earnhardt who replaced Busch at HMS after team owner Rick Hendrick felt his organization could be even more successful if it had Junior.

A few negotiations back and forth, and Earnhardt found himself in the Hendrick fold less than two months after announcing he would be officially leaving Dale Earnhardt Inc.

And while Earnhardt and Busch have both been outstanding — Busch is atop the Sprint Cup standings and Earnhardt remains third — one can’t help but wonder if the animosity and frustration over how the switch of teams came about doesn’t leave a sore spot within Busch that he refuses to talk about.

But disregard that line of thinking. The main thing is, if given a chance, we’re going to see another great battle between Earnhardt and Busch. And isn’t that what racing is all about?

So we could have one of the best races the sport has ever seen on Saturday night. But no matter how it turns out, one thing is guaranteed: Both drivers are going to give it their all.

And if Junior or someone else other than teammates Denny Hamlin or Tony Stewart tries to sneak by Busch if he’s in or near the lead, wish them well.

They’re going to need it against the kid from Vegas.

Jerry Bonkowski is national NASCAR columnist for Yahoo Sports and a featured contributor to Gatehouse News Service. He can be reached at NASCARColumnist@Yahoo.com.