Among the milestones NASCAR is approaching this year is one that may not be on your radar – 26-year-old Kyle Busch is just one win away from matching his 32-year-old brother’s win record.
The two brothers had equally meteoric rises through the NASCAR ranks, beginning at Roush Racing. Kurt in 2000 and Kyle, at age 16, in 2001. When NASCAR started requiring drivers to be 18 or older, a direct result of Kyle’s six-race stretch in a Roush truck, he stepped away from NASCAR. He returned full-time in the Nationwide Series in 2004 with Hendrick Motorsports.
Kyle made his Cup debut in 2005 and won two races before the season was over. Meanwhile Kurt was already an 11-time Cup winner and the reigning champion. Kurt’s falling out with Jack Roush and his unceremonious exit from the team following a reckless driving charge in Maricopa County, Arizona was the talk of the end of 2005. He took over Rusty Wallace’s famous #2 Miller Light Dodge at Penske Racing the following season.
Kyle experienced a similar falling out with Rick Hendrick in 2007 – he took over the #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota from J.J. Yeley the following season.
Even with the bumps in the road, the two Busch boys have racked up pretty impressive stats. Collectively, since 2000 in the Cup Series, they have 45 wins, 162 top-fives, 281 top-10s, 22 poles and one championship in 628 starts.
Statistically, Kyle has the edge on his brother. He has the better average start at 15.1 (Kurt’s is 15.7) and the better average finish at 15.5 (Kurt’s is 16.8). Kyle also averages wins more frequently than his brother – every 11 races compared to every 16.7 races for Kurt.
Interestingly though in the six full seasons the two have raced together, both average the same points finish of 11th and both brothers have missed the Chase just twice in their careers (Kurt in 2006 and 2008; Kyle in 2005 and 2009).
The two have had very similar paths up to this point and have undoubtedly found success on their own terms – both with two different organizations. In the coming weeks and months, with the Penske teams on the upswing, it’ll be interesting to see if Kurt is able to maintain his Cup Series win lead over Kyle. If history is any guide though, it’s only a matter of time before baby brother overtakes him.
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One of the biggest storylines of the 2010 season has been the conflict we’ve seen between high caliber teammates. First, it was Jeff Gordon taking exception to some moves that Jimmie Johnson made at Texas and Talladega. Both races resulted in destroyed race cars for the Dupont team, and Gordon didn’t hesitate to tell everyone who he thought was at fault. It appeared that even Gordon was starting to suffer from the JJ fatigue that some fans complained about regularly. The most recent example we’ve seen is the trouble brewing between Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch following a run-in at the All Star race. Busch felt Hamlin blocked him on a late race pass attempt, and subsequent contact with the wall would later result in a cut tire for Busch. Since the incident, the feud appears to be an on-again, off-again affair, with each driver taking shots at the other via the media.
In both cases, some were calling for Rick Hendrick and Joe Gibbs to step in and fix the situation between their drivers. The fear was that conflict between the drivers would hurt the organization as a whole. While I don’t know the extent to which both got involved, I’m sure there was at least conversations that happened. I’m not so sure they were necessary though.
Unlike traditional sports, it’s not vital to the success of a race team for teammates to get along. If Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin never speak again, there is no reason to think they couldn’t still contend for championships. The people within a race team who’s collaboration is necessary to success are the crew chiefs, mechanics, and engineers. They need to share information and work together towards making the equipment better. That is where races and championships are won. Besides at maybe a restrictor plate track, drivers like Hamlin and Busch don’t work together on track anyway.
Where a problem between two teammates could become an issue, is if the conflict spreads from the drivers to the teams. There have been cases before where two teammates have tangled on track, and the incident spawned discontent between guys on the teams and in the shop. When the teams quit working together, the advantages of being a multi-car operation go away. I actually wrote a post about this exact topic a few years ago (see it here).
If I’m Mr. H. or Coach Gibbs in either of these situations, I’m monitoring my employees to ensure the conflict doesn’t spread. I may also step in to make sure that these “feuds” aren’t affecting my sponsors. And while I certainly don’t want my drivers to hate each other, I don’t mind if they don’t hang out when they leave the race track. Besides, a little rivalry between my guys might actually push them to be better.
What are your thoughts? If you are a fan of a driver that has tangled with a teammate, were you worried about how it would affect the team? What would you do if you were an owner and two of your drivers tangled?
Filed under: Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin
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Filed under: Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing