Fact and fiction collide

Warner Bros. (left); Associated Press (right)

At left, Emile Hirsch plays Speed Racer in the new movie based on the Japanese cartoon. Unlike Kyle Busch, right, with whom he has much in common, Speed Racer has a pet monkey. Kyle Busch plays a NASCAR driver in reality based (loosely) on a Japanese cartoon. Unlike Speed Racer, with whom he has much in common, Busch is wildly unpopular.

By Ron Kantowski (contact)

Saturday, May 10, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Go, Speed Racer! Go!

But watch out for the No. 88 car. (You know, the one Dale Earnhardt Jr. drives.)

To mark the adaptation of the popular auto racing-themed kids’ cartoon series of the 1960s to the silver screen, Bobby Labonte’s No. 43 Dodge was painted in the red-and-white Speed Racer livery for last week’s NASCAR race in Richmond, Va.

But maybe it should have been Kyle Busch’s car, instead. The similarities between the animated and now celluloid lead foot and those of Las Vegas’ real-life Speed Racer are more remarkable than Racer X’s mask.

Speed Racer: Drives car No. 5

Kyle the Racer: Drove car No. 5 last year

Speed Racer: His car, the Mach 5, was made in Japan

Kyle the Racer: His car, the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry, also was made in Japan

Speed Racer: Letter M on his helmet an homage to Japanese film star Toshiro Mifune

Kyle the Racer: Letters M and M on his helmet an homage to his sponsor

Speed Racer: Steering wheel has buttons that activate driving aids such as auto jacks, belt tires, cutters, deflectors, an “evening eye,” frogger mode and a gizmo rocket

Kyle the Racer: Hit Dale Earnhardt Jr. with a gizmo rocket at Richmond last week

Speed Racer: Driver character based on movies “Goldfinger” and “Viva Las Vegas”

Kyle the Racer: Driver character shown the finger and told to go back to Las Vegas by Junior Nation after Richmond incident

Speed Racer: Lip movements often don’t jibe with dialogue

Kyle the Racer: Lip movements often don’t jibe with other drivers

Speed Racer: Has a younger brother named Spritle

Kyle the Racer: Has an older brother named Kurt

Speed Racer: Has a pet monkey, Chim Chim, who likes to hide in the trunks of cars

Kyle the Racer: Has a teammate, Tony, who likes to run into the sides of cars

Speed Racer: Fawns over girlfriend Trixie

Kyle the Racer: Nobody will go out with him after he wrecked Junior

Speed Racer: His rival, Racer X, described as heroic, mysterious, flamboyant, selfless, sympathetic and brooding

Kyle the Racer: His rival, Dale Earnhardt Jr., described as “being pretty (hacked) off”

Speed Racer: Learns that Racer X, his rival, actually is his brother

Kyle the Racer: Learns that Kurt, his brother, actually used to be a racer

Speed Racer: Story made into a movie by the Wachowski Brothers

Kyle the Racer: Story sort of familiar to the Waltrip Brothers