Back on June 29, Fathom Events put on a one-night engagement in theaters across the United States.  The special was the limited engagement of Rowdy, a film designed to allow Kyle Busch to tell his story his way.  What makes this man tick?

I viewed this film at the Regal Cinema 13 at Colonie Center in Colonie, N.Y.  I also managed to screw up the seat assignment and picked a seat near the front of the theater instead of in the back.  Despite that, I did not have to strain to see the screen.  Still wouldn't have sat there.

The producers made a strange decision to have Jamie Little involved in the film as both an interview subject and what amounted to the narrator.  This was strange to watch in that it isn't normal.  Nothing against Little, but that introduces the possibility of Little having to effectively throw to herself and it's really weird.  It's one thing to do that on a race broadcast.  It's a whole 'nother thing to do that in a movie.  Given what Little had to offer to the film, I think she should have served in the interview subject role only.

Usually, films and specials get a narrator that isn't part of the rest of the film to narrate.  Like the time NASCAR got the late Reg E. Cathey to narrate NASCAR Masters of the Clock: The Legend of Martinsville.  Granted, it was a strange choice on paper.  Every time I see that show, I think of the 2001 film Pootie Tang since Cathey played Dirty Dee in that film.  Despite that, it worked just fine.

Busch's 2015 season is used as the crux for the film.  If you're reading you, you probably know how that year started.  In regards to that wreck, Busch described how the engine and firewall being pushed is what broke his leg.  He was only able to get out of the car due to adrenaline.  Once that was gone, the pain was intolerable.

The quest to be back in the car by Charlotte was aggressive by anyone's standards.  Busch now admits that he came back too early.  He was completely whipped after the Coca-Cola 600.

Now, the whole film doesn't revolve around 2015, but it is more or less used as a framing device for a good chunk of the film.  There is talk about how Busch made his debut in the then-NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2001 for Roush Racing and how he was competitive right away.

That ride came to an end when Busch was going to race at then-California Speedway on the undercard of the CART Marlboro 500.  Many of you may not realize that the race was still sponsored by Marlboro at that time since it wasn't referred to as such on TV, or really by CART at all (it would be referred to as "The 500," or "The 500 presented by Toyota" at the time).  However, there were Marlboro 500 banners on the outside wall at the start-finish line and on the suites.

Effectively, NASCAR was informed that Busch competing that weekend technically violated the Master Settlement Agreement between the tobacco industry and the U.S. government.  Since Winston was still the title sponsor of the Cup Series at the time and Busch is a beer, NASCAR instituted the age limit rule.

They didn't mention in the film what happened to Busch while he was on what amounted to a forced sabbatical.  He spent a full year racing in ASA in 2002 while waiting to turn 18.  It was a learning experience for him as things didn't come to him as quickly.  Still finished eighth in points, though.

My biggest takeaway is that Busch's career could have been very different had the plane crash in 2004 never happened.  Much like Brian Vickers and Dale Earnhardt Jr., Busch was very close to Ricky Hendrick.  The two of them spent a lot of time together.  He specifically references Ricky as a "calming influence."  Ricky ended up dying before Busch moved up to Cup.  Even though Ricky wasn't all that much older than Busch, he seemed to be substantially more mature.  While he hadn't actually told anyone, he was preparing to become a father for the first time.

Had the plane crash not happened, Hendrick Motorsports would be a much different place today.  It's probably one of the top three what if questions in NASCAR over the past 20 years.  Perhaps Jeff Gordon wouldn't have his current role with the organization.  Heck, Rick Hendrick might have already retired and handed the kit and kaboodle to Ricky years ago for all I know.  I can't say whether Kyle Busch would have stayed there under those circumstances, but the whole situation might have been different.

The Busch-Dale Earnhardt Jr. contact at Richmond in 2008 is probably one of the most notable moments of Busch's career that didn't involve winning.  What we didn't realize was that it was the culmination of a somewhat one-sided feud.  Busch was resentful of Earnhardt Jr., claiming that at the time, he didn't think that he deserved his spot in the sport and all the adulation.  Basically, he was jealous.

Shenanigans like that and the ridiculous issues with Ron Hornaday marked the first few years of his career in Cup.  Marty Smith noted that he had issues controlling himself and that negatively affected his career.  Heck, 60 Cup wins and two championships, along with being the all-time winningest driver in both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is nothing to sneeze at.  Imagine if he had 75 wins and three titles at age 37 instead of 60.  All but four of his 60 Cup victories have come at Joe Gibbs Racing after he struggled to a fair degree at Hendrick Motorsports.

While yes, 2015 is the biggest year of Busch's career, I'm not sure if I really agree with using the season as a framing device.  There's more to Busch than that.

Also, this was very career-centric.  It appears that he actively made the choice to not really involve his personal life in the film, with a couple of exceptions.  One is talking about the competitiveness between himself and his older brother Kurt.  Another was the fallout that resulted from the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge crash in 2007 that resulted in a mini-family feud that wasn't resolved until Thanksgiving.

We also never hear all that much about his relationship with his wife, Samantha other than the fact that she's always there and worries about Busch (she's one of the major reasons why Busch no longer races support events at Daytona and Talladega (and I guess Atlanta now) after the big crash).  This includes all the stuff surrounding the infertility issues that have marked the Busch's lives over the past decade or so.  I find it interesting that that particular topic DNQ'd the film, although he might have that it wasn't pertinent to "his side of the story."  There is always the possibility that Samantha could have vetoed it.  Maybe it's in a deleted scene.

I enjoyed watching the film, but it really doesn't humanize Busch all that much.  Nowhere near as much as Blink of an Eye did for Michael Waltrip.  Obviously, he's much more than a squirrel acquiring as many trophies as he can, like he was depicted in a feature on NASCAR RaceDay - CWTS Edition a few years ago when they put trophies all over his shop, including in the bathroom and the refrigerator.  He's got other priorities and it shows towards the end of the film, but this film is like 96% racing.

And yes, Frontstretch does show up in the film briefly.  After Busch won the 2015 Sprint Cup Series championship, the film talks about the conjecture that came out of the title win knowing that Busch had missed 11 races.  The first article that came up was 2-Headed Monster: Is Kyle Busch a Deserving Champion?, an article we ran a couple days after the Homestead finale.  Our former colleague Sean Fesko and Aaron Bearden (who still chips in at Frontstretch from time to time, as recently as earlier this week) wrote competing pieces about the topic.

I was quite surprised when I saw that and I fully admit that I looked the article up on my phone as soon as I could.  Since I was in Homestead when Busch won the title in 2015, I can definitely talk to the atmosphere at the race that day.  Lewis Hamilton was in the house.  Also, the race started late because of a thunderstorm (not mentioned).

Overall, this is an enjoyable film to watch, but I don't think you get the full story.  It's far from definitive.  The fact that it's still ongoing is just part of that, but it's not definitive of what has already happened.

Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.  Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.