NASCAR 2005: Fast friends

Thursday, March 10, 2005 | 8:41 a.m.

The story of Kurt and Kyle Busch is not unlike that of the host of other brothers who have raced against each other on NASCAR's premier stage, now known as the Nextel Cup Series, except that the Busches hail from the unlikely racing breeding ground of Las Vegas.

In most cases, NASCAR's racing brothers have been supportive of each other -- as in the case of the infamous 1979 Daytona 500, when Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough got into a fistfight after crashing on the final lap and Bobby Allison stepped in to help his younger brother.

The uglier side of a NASCAR sibling rivalry surfaced in 1994 when Brett and Geoffrey Bodine wrecked during the inaugural Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the brothers let what had been a private family feud spill into the public spotlight.

Kurt Busch insisted that his relationship with younger brother Kyle is more like the Allisons' and not remotely close to the Bodines'.

"A sibling rivalry will develop from it, but yet it will be a friendly one because we both know and respect one another on what it takes to get to this point," Kurt said. "The brother tie that we have is very strong as far as our relationship and over time, it will develop into wins in both of our columns and possibly championships in both of our columns to be compared with the greats that have come through NASCAR -- with the Labontes, with the Bodines, with the Waltrips ... it's a unique time.

"Having Kyle out there, it's not a stat or a special number that you can have; it's something very special between brothers and, of course, with the history of NASCAR and the group of legendary brothers that have come out of this sport is phenomenal."

Spend a few minutes with the brothers and it becomes clear that Kurt is proud of Kyle and that Kyle idolizes his older brother. They act more like best friends than brothers separated by nearly seven years; when Kyle won his first Nextel Cup pole two weeks ago at California Speedway, Kurt was among the first on the scene to congratulate him. In his post-qualifying press conference, Kyle jokingly credited Kurt for his pole-winning run.

Kyle, 19 and in his rookie season on the Nextel Cup circuit, said he has gone to his older brother for advice since before he was named to replace Terry Labonte in the No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. Kurt, 26 and in his fifth full season in Nextel Cup, said he is only too happy to serve as a mentor.

"Last year, we started with it a little bit, with just being able to communicate as brothers and know that we can't share specific numbers but we definitely can share experiences and what we go through and what I've done in my rookie year and the years after that," Kurt said. "I'm just trying to help him forecast certain events, to know when there's going to be a hurricane and he's sitting in the eye of the storm and know that it'll be over soon.

"Just small things that you can do as a family to stay tight within this strong world. It's tough to keep up with Cup racing some days and the mentor hat that I can wear with Kyle will definitely be a new challenge for me. He's one that's just open to anything and he just absorbs as much as he can and he's open and willing to that advice. It's a great brother relationship that we can share without having to get into the specific numbers of it."

They can't share specifics in terms of their racecars because Kurt drives Fords for Roush Racing while Kyle pilots Chevrolets for the rival Hendrick Motorsports, but Kyle said Kurt is always there to offer advice.

"I lean on Kurt a tremendous amount -- as I do (teammates) Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Brian Vickers, as well," Kyle said. "There's times that I'm able to catch up with Kurt because he's family and I've got his cell phone and it's always on for me, so it's easy for me to give him a call.

"Being able to learn from Kurt and know all of the experiences and everything that we went through (has been helpful). Obviously he's got that five-letter word -- champ -- next to his name and yet still, to me, he's still the brother. I consider him one of the greatest of the sport but also he's still my brother so I can still make fun of him and beat up on him in private and stuff like that."

Since the time that Kyle started racing six years ago, the brothers shared a dream of racing together -- a goal that was realized last year in the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway when Kyle made his Nextel Cup debut. Now that the two have raced against each other eight times, Kurt and Kyle have another shared dream -- to join Terry and Bobby Labonte as the only siblings to win NASCAR Cup championships.

"It's definitely inspiring to have a brother who's a Nextel Cup champion and a NASCAR champion in general," Kyle said. "It's been a dream of ours forever (to race at this level) but now to be here and Kurt being a champion, it's very inspiring for me.

"Competition is so high right now. It would be great to say '06 would be our championship year but we'll think in realistic terms and probably look at '08 or '09."

Kurt earned a ride with team owner Jack Roush in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2000 and responded with four victories and was the runner-up for the series championship. By the end of that season, Kurt had replaced Chad Little in the No. 97 Cup car for Roush Racing.

After a rocky rookie season in the Cup Series, Kurt broke through in 2002 and won four races and finished third in the championship. He won the inaugural Nextel Cup championship in his fourth full season in the series and comes to Las Vegas this week as the series points leader -- a position he held for the final eight weeks of the 2004 season.

Kyle credits his older brother for opening the doors to NASCAR to him, but Kurt insisted that Kyle made the most of his opportunity when it presented itself last season.

"The doors may have been opened, but it was a matter of him walking through it," Kurt said. "He's definitely made a name for himself and he'll create an identity for himself. The doors that I opened will still continue to be opened for him.

"I don't try to burn the bridges when I go through there, so I hope that I'm still able to help him out. It doesn't end today just because he made it to the top."

And if the brothers should happen to have a run-in or two on the track as Kyle is learning the ropes, Kurt said it wouldn't affect their relationship off the track.

"Kyle is going to make mistakes, just as any other rookie -- hopefully less than me -- and hopefully I can help protect him from some of those," Kurt said. "We may have a flat tire that comes up from some his debris or we get wrapped up in a wreck, but it definitely won't reflect anything different as far as our relationship and the way that I'll react to it.

"Most times when you have a run-in with a rookie, it's real easy for the veteran driver to go up to him and tell him that what they did wrong didn't necessarily mean harm to me, you just try to help them so they don't do the same mistake twice."

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