All season long, the only name people want to talk about in championship discussions has been Kyle Busch. When we want to talk about the evolution of the sport, again, Kyle Busch’s name is one of the first that comes to mind. If we’re talking about who can give Jeff Gordon a run for his money as the most hated driver in the sport … yup, you guessed it, we’re talking Kyle Busch.

So, basically, all the way from talking about the possibility of winning three championships in one season to his desire to test a Formula One car later this year, this season has been all about Kyle … but, the same cannot be said for older brother, Kurt. It’s funny when you think about it, really. It wasn’t all that long ago that Kurt Busch’s career was getting off to a pretty much identical start to the Kyle’s, yet Kurt now seems to be nothing more than a footnote at the end of Sunday’s races.

I mean, have we forgotten that Kurt is the one in the family boasting a Cup Series championship on his resume’? Was Kurt not originally one of the garage area’s “bad boys” himself? Heck, some of my fondest memories from earlier this decade include the battles between Kurt and Jimmy Spencer, which eventually led to a black eye on the Busch family … or, at least Kurt, anyway.

Just for turds and giggles, let’s take a look at Kurt and Kyle’s careers by comparison through their first 128 starts:

Kyle Busch – (9) Wins, (40) Top-Five’s, (62) Top-Ten’s, (4) Poles
Kurt Busch – (9) Wins, (26) Top-Five’s, (46) Top-Ten’s, (2) Poles

It should also be noted that Kurt’s 128th career start came in 2004, the same year that he later went onto win his first and only Sprint Cup championship. Coincidentally, Kyle currently leads the series point standings this year. Kurt’s performance since then has slipped dramatically, particularly since joining Penske Racing in 2006. Since making his first 128 starts in the series, Kurt has competed in another 148 events, tallying up (8) wins, (31) top-five’s, and (61) top-ten’s, though he has since won (9) more pole awards.

Post from: EveryJoe

Kurt and Kyle Busch, By the Numbers

Rookie Brawl – Five Way Elimination Match:
Patrick Carpentier and Regan Smith eliminated one another via a double countout. Dario Franchitti pinned Sam Hornish Jr via a Small Package. Then, Michael McDowell closed the match out by defeating Franchitti with his patented finishing move, the “Suicide Spin,” to pick up the victory. Following the match, Aric Almirola attacked McDowell from behind, claiming that he should have had the opportunity to compete in the match, stating that he, too, is a rookie – even if not by NASCAR standards.
Winner: Michael McDowell

East Coast vs. West Coast: Tag Team Match:
Elliott Sadler / Denny Hamlin vs. David Gilliland / Kevin Harvick
Hamlin and Sadler dominated more than half the match and appeared to have the victory well-in-hand when DaLana Harvick strutted down to ringside and distracted them. This gave Gilliland an opportunity to dropkick Sadler over the top rope, and the two proceeded to battle outside the ring. With the ref distracted, DaLana then slid Kevin a metal folding chair, which he smacked over Hamlin’s back before making the cover for the win.
Winners: David Gilliland & Kevin Harvick

Battle for the ESPN Booth:
Rusty Wallace vs. Dale Jarrett
The two battled one another feverishly, and the crowd was really getting into this battle of the legends. Late in the match, Rusty attempted to suplex Jarrett into the turnbuckles, but DJ blocked with his foot on multiple occasions before reversing it into a variation of his finishing move, “the Special Delivery.” He nailed the move and made the cover for the three count.
Winner: Dale Jarrett

Battle of the Legends … Sons:
Dale Earnhardt Jr vs. Kyle Petty vs. Casey Mears
Casey Mears was dominating the match, going to town on both of his competitors. After throwing Earnhardt Jr to the outside of the ring, he was setting Petty up for the kill. He stomped away several times to Petty’s right knee before applying the figure four leglock. Just when it looked as though Kyle was going to tap, though, Earnhardt scaled the top turnbuckle and signaled for his finisher, “the Whisky River!” He nailed it and proceeded to make the pinfall on the unconscious Mears.
Winner: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Hair vs. Hair:
Jeff Gordon vs. Jimmie Johnson
In this highly anticipated battle of the villains, the momentum switched back and forth several times, but in the end, it was Jimmie Johnson picking up the win. He was able to land his “Three-Peat” after Gordon missed with the “Drive for Five.” Fans then watched on as Johnson proceeded to shave his tag team partner bald.
Winner: Jimmie Johnson

Loser Leaves Match:
Paul Menard vs. Robby Gordon
Despite the ramifications of this match, several fans in the arena chose to take an intermission at this time, and the pay-per-view channel itself even went to commercial. We’re told, however, that Gordon did pick up the victory and that Menard must now leave and never wrestle again. Incase you were wondering, yes, FOX coincidentally happened to have majority ownership in this ppv channel.
Winner: Robby Gordon

Tag Team Match:
the Busch Bros (Kyle & Kurt) vs. the Waltrip’s (Darrell & Michael)
Coverage of this event finally returned about five minutes into this matchup, at which time the Waltrip Brothers were well in control. They finally polished their foes off when Darrell reluctantly took Kyle out with the “Boogity Slam.” After the match, Darrell attempted to befriend Kyle, but the youngster just stormed out of the arena, refusing to offer his comments to reporters.
Winners: the Waltrip’s

Cage Match:
Jack Roush vs. Lee White
As several of the Roush and Toyota drivers surrounded the ring on the outside of the cage, these two enemies battled ferociously back and forth. Both men tried to escape the cage several times, only to be dragged back down. Finally, a bloodied Lee White attempted to crawl out through the cage door, only to have it slammed in his face by Carl Edwards. The impact knocked White out cold, and Roush was able to escape the cage with the victory!
Winner: Jack Roush

#1 Contenders Match:
Carl Edwards vs. Ryan Newman
Edwards stormed the ring like a madman and absolutely pounded Newman from pillar to post, scoring several near falls in the early goings. About 15 minutes into the match, however, Edwards appeared to be getting a little too cocky. As he was posing to the crowd, Newman staggered to his feet and attacked Edwards from behind. Newman’s offense lasted several minutes before setting Edwards on the top turnbuckle for a superplex. Edwards was able to push Newman away, however, and then proceeded to turn around and … he nailed Newman with a backflip from the turnbuckles! He made the cover and scored the win to earn himself a match with the winner of the Heavyweight Title match!
Winner: Carl Edwards

Heavyweight Title Bout:
Tony Stewart vs. Jimmy Spencer
The two men beat each other to a bloody pulp in an effort to be crowned as the first-ever DYN World Heavyweight Champion. Both men came close to getting the three-count on several occasions in this matchup that last nearly a half hour. In the end, though, it was Stewart walking away with the hardware after he punished Spencer with his devastating “Smoke Screen.” Stewart was immediately interviewed by Marty Smithson in the middle of the ring. As he drank his Coca Cola and snacked on two Subway Subs, the Champ talked about how he was looking forward to his upcoming match with #1 Contender, Carl Edwards. We’re still not really sure what it has to do with anything, but in the interview, Tony made several comments about blown tires and give ‘n’ take.
Winner: Tony Stewart

Post from: EveryJoe

the Big Ten: NASCAR Mania – Results

My, how things can drastically change in a three-year period. The 2004 Daytona 500 saw the usual restrictor plate duo of Dale Earnhardt Jr and Tony Stewart battle amongst each other for the majority of the second half of the race as they pulled away to a rather sizeable lead from the rest of the pack … except for the lapped car of Kurt Busch, then running in the no. 97 Sharpie Ford owned by Jack Roush. If you recall that race as I do, then you’ll be quick to remember that Busch had all of three options available to him … a) Attempt to get around both cars, which would leave him alone and without a drafting partner and still 40-some-odd seconds away from the leaders; b) push Dale Junior and hope that a caution eventually came out; or c) push Tony Stewart and hope that a caution waived. Busch chose option “C”, although it wouldn’t be enough to keep Stewart in front of the powerful DEI motor in Junior’s car that day.

So, what happened between February of 2004 and February 2008 that caused Tony Stewart to allegedly (has yet to be confirmed) punch Kurt Busch inside the NASCAR hauler last weekend? 2007’s what happened … and, it all started with the “Great American Race” last year. With Busch and Stewart battling back and forth, both clearly the dominant cars that day in Daytona, the two cars got tangled with 50 laps remaining, and ultimately took each other out of the race. Naturally, both drivers’ stubborn personalities forced them into placing blame on the other, and things just sorta took off from there.

After a series of incidents, things really escalated in June of last year at Dover when Stewart refused to make room for Busch on the track, eventually leading to yet another accident. Busch retaliated by trying to chase the #20 car down on pit road, and in the process nearly [inadvertently] hit Stewart’s jackman. Busch was levied a $100,000 fine and docked 100 points by NASCAR for the incident. At that time Busch issued statements comparing Stewart to the “Rosie O’ Donnell of NASCAR”, while ‘Smoke’ made several statements of his own talking about how hard Busch had tried to race him every lap that season and that he was adopting the philosophy that he was going to race other drivers the way they raced him. “It’s all about give and take,” Stewart said.

Well, the incidents during the first half of 2007 took both drivers straight to NASCAR’s probation list, which they remained on until the completion of the calendar year. Of course, that means anything goes in ’08, especially with NASCAR’s new attitude in which they want to encourage drivers to be who they are. “Bring back the drama.” “This is the NASCAR everyone fell in love with,” they say. Well, they definitely brought the drama when they wrecked in Friday’s practice session for the Budweiser Shootout. It’s been talked about all over the web by now, so you don’t really need me to recap for you … but, I’m going to anyway.

After the two drivers got tangled yet again, Busch again chased Stewart down on pit road, banging the side of his car three times. Stewart retaliated by blocking Busch’s entrance into the garage, and as one my suspect, both drivers were immediately pulled from the track and summonsed to the NASCAR hauler. There have been numerous unconfirmed reports that Stewart slugged Busch in the side of the face while in the hauler, but as I stated – those allegations have not been confirmed nor denied. Adding to the mystery of it all is also the fact that NASCAR has not publically handed down any fines or penalties yet, just a warning (though penalties could still very well be on the way). The two managed to avoid each other on the track during the actual running of the Budweiser Shootout on Saturday night, but one has to believe that their paths are likely to cross in a very nasty and vicious manner yet again at some point in the ’08 season … it’s just a matter of when. It’s not the first time that Stewart has punched another driver (ie, Brian Vickers) and it’s not the first time that Busch has been put in check by another driver (ie, Jimmy Spencer), so I’m sure there are plenty of arguments to be made for both sides – or, rather against both sides. I’m personally looking forward to seeing this saga unfold as 2008 progresses.

“DYN Imposes”: This week, Do You NASCAR also asks …

1) Who is at fault for the Kurt Busch / Tony Stewart feud? 
2) Should either of the drivers be fined and/or penalized for Friday night’s incident? If yes, which driver(s) and what should the punishment be?
3) Does a feud like this hurt NASCAR or help it?
4) What is/are the best one or two driver feud(s) so far this decade?

Post from: EveryJoe

The Stewart – Busch Saga Rages On