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NEXTEL CUP

Kurt Tells Kyle To 'Calm Down'

By TONY FABRIZIO The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 21, 2007

CONCORD, N.C. - When Kurt Busch had a run-in with a sheriff's deputy in Arizona and got dumped by Roush Racing a couple of years ago, then-20-year-old Kyle Busch defended the family honor, winning the Phoenix race and publicly defending his older brother.

"The only thing I'm going to say is I'm behind my brother 100 percent," Kyle Busch said at the time.

Conversely, Kurt Busch has taken up for Kyle when other drivers have bashed him for aggressive driving. Kurt Busch begged the critics to show patience.

But a crack has appeared in the Busch brothers' bond.

Both drivers had fast cars in Saturday night's Nextel All-Star Challenge, and both were taken out in the final 20-lap segment when Kyle Busch made an ill-advised move inside his brother, slid into him and caused both to wreck.

Kurt Busch joked in his Speed Channel interview that he wasn't going to eat any Kellogg's cereal anytime soon, referring to Kyle's sponsor, but he wasn't laughing about his brother's mess-up.

"I'm pretty sure we'll discuss this," Kurt Busch said. "We can't just let it go. He's wrecked a lot of Busch [Series] cars right now, I've got to say that. I've been trying to tell him to calm down a little bit and back off. Instead of running 100 percent, maybe he should run at 98. He was at 102 right there."

Kyle Busch left Lowe's Motor Speedway on Saturday night without commenting. He wound up finishing 20th with a Hendrick Motorsports Chevy that led 24 of the 80 laps and looked strong enough to win. Kurt Busch, who has been gaining momentum in Penske Racing's No. 2 Dodge, wound up 18th.

"It's just unfortunate," said Kyle Busch's crew chief, Alan Gustafson. "We had a real fast race car. We've had too many on the hook [tow truck] here lately, and we don't need that."

Kevin Harvick won the 23rd running of the non-points special event, collecting $1,031,539 - the season's second-largest winner's take. He benefited from others having problems: the Busch brothers' wreck, Jeff Gordon losing ground with a flat tire and Matt Kenseth picking up a pit-road speeding penalty before the final segment.

Harvick has carried a disdain for Kurt Busch since they were rookies together in 2001 and had some on-track run-ins. Last year at Bristol, irritated about some on-track contact with Busch the previous week, Harvick launched into a tirade about Busch and said he would "like to whip his [butt]."

Two of Busch's derogatory nicknames - "Dumbo," for his protruding ears, which have since been pinned back with plastic surgery, and "Rubberhead," a play on former sponsor Rubbermaid - came from Harvick.

"That didn't surprise you that the Busch brothers caused the first wreck, did it?" Harvick said Saturday night about the brothers' wreck.

Until the Busch crashed, the hyped-up all-star race was a dud. Racing on an ultra-hard tire compound that Gordon said made the cars feel like they were skating on ice, drivers focused on keeping their cars from breaking loose, and there wasn't much passing.

Harvick took the lead on the first lap of the final segment and he led the rest of the way, keeping defending champion and seven-time Lowe's Motor Speedway winner Jimmie Johnson at bay.

"I know I haven't been the biggest fan of the all-star race, but I guess I have a million reasons to be now," Harvick said. "Any time we come and tear our cars up and don't get anything for it, other than thanks for being here, that makes it hard to swallow just for the fact our guys have to go home and work on the car and we get a little bit behind. Being on the other side of the fence is a lot better. In the end, it is going to even itself out."

Team owner Richard Childress won the all-star race three times with Dale Earnhardt Sr. when it was known as The Winston. Harvick's win was the first in the event for Richard Childress Racing since 1993, when Earnhardt became the first three-time all-star winner.

This win also came 20 years after Earnhardt's famed "pass in the grass" in The Winston. Earnhardt didn't actually make a pass on Bill Elliott, but rather kept him at bay after getting knocked down onto the infield grass and masterfully driving back onto the track.

"To win what was The Winston and now is the all-star race is pretty huge for us," Childress said. "To watch Kevin beat Jimmie [Johnson] and the whole Hendrick crew … I just have so much respect for Rick [Hendrick] and his whole organization. This is their home track. Kevin did such a great job of driving, one of the best I have ever seen. No pressure got to him."