On the radio boadcast of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup race Sunday, one of the announcers said it would be an upset if Kyle Busch won the race.

My family and I said, “Huh?”

The talker’s rationale was that Busch had started at the back of the pack (because of an engine change after having won the pole Friday) so a victory from the back would be an upset.

Our rationale for the “huh” response was that Busch can drive the wheels off of any car in any of NASCAR’s series, so it’s never an upset when he wins.

On Sunday, the upsets were what happened behind him in the pack.

Here are a few from Left Turn’s Rearview Mirror …

– David Reutimann, in fourth: The driver of the Michael Waltrip Racing 00 Toyota had his best finish ever in a Cup race.

– Bobby Labonte, in fifth: The former Cup champ had his best finish since placing third at Martinsville in 2006. 

– Jeff Gordon, in sixth in the race and now leading the points race: A large portion of Gordon’s left-front quarter panel got wiped out on Lap 220 when his tire exploded after he locked the brakes in trying and failing to slow down to pit. Yet, he drove the bucket of bolts into te top 10.

– Jamie McMurray, in ninth: This is only sort of an upset, because McMurray has been running well this year but just hasn’t had a good finish until Sunday.

– Dale Earnhardt Jr., in 10th: For this team, this year, this was a huge upset. Jr. and Jr. (the latter would be Tony Eury Jr.) ranked 35th in points heading into the race.

– Matt Kenseth, in last place: Kenseth looked unbeatable in winning the first two races of the season. But a blown engine made him the first driver to retire Sunday.

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