Kyle Busch has a problem.

He has a problem with Kevin Harvick. He has a problem driving on city streets, going 83 mph faster than the posted speed limit. He has a problem keeping any sort of gentleman's decorum on the racetrack, assuming he has a free pass to play bumper cars with anybody who gets in his way.

Busch is like a 2-year-old without adult supervision. His owner, Joe Gibbs, certainly isn't up to the task. And neither are folks like Brian France and Mike Helton from NASCAR, who have given Busch a "probation" for some of his antics.

But a NASCAR probation is much like giving a little one a two-minute timeout in the corner of the room. It's largely ineffective.

In the absence of anybody willing to step up, Richard Childress decided corporal punishment was necessary when Busch tapped one of Childress' trucks on the cool-down lap after the Camping World Truck Series race last weekend.

Childress, 65, took off his rings and started beating on Busch, all of 26.

Childress has been docked $150,000 for his actions. It probably is deserved because fists usually are not the recommended method of addressing conflicts.

But there's a reason why most of NASCAR Nation is celebrating the moment. Childress was man enough to stand up to the punkish Busch, something Gibbs or NASCAR should have done a long time ago. Busch's behavior has been a point of contention for years.

"I think there is part of your personality that is there at the beginning of your career and goes all the way through," Jeff Gordon once told me. "You can't change it."

Gibbs and NASCAR have let too many incidents slide, empowering Busch every step of the way. Gibbs, who once had a reputation as a no-nonsense coach in the NFL (apparently those standards don't apply in NASCAR), should have parked Busch for a week or so to let him think about the consequences of his actions. Helton had the same authority to do as much.

So Childress was left on his own. He didn't hesitate when Busch bumped rookie Joey Coulter. He already had warned Busch to leave his expensive cars and trucks alone after Busch wrecked Harvick in Darlington a few weeks ago. Enough is enough.

"I can relate to Richard Childress' frustration and motivation behind punching Kyle Busch because of all my years spent as a crew chief and my 11 years in the broadcast booth," said Larry McReynolds, Speed/Fox Sports analyst and former crew chief for Richard Childress Racing.

"We all preach this, but I've probably preached it the loudest: You don't use your racecars or trucks for retaliation. They're so delicate and so expensive to repair. I think Richard just had enough of it."

A lot of people have had enough of it.

But apparently not Helton nor Gibbs.

Somebody else had to play the role of Kindergarten Cop and deal with The Problem.

Childress was up to the task.

gdiaz@tribune.com