Kurt Busch has no reason to be envious of the opportunity his younger brother has today.
At 25, Kurt is one of the rising stars of Nextel Cup. He has won eight times in three full seasons, finished third in the 2002 driver standings and been singled out among the small group of "Young Guns" empowered to carry the sport into the future. He starts second in today's UAW-DaimlerChrsyler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
But his brother, Kyle, has a clean slate when he makes his first Nextel Cup start - from the 18th position - today in his and Kurt's hometown. Only 18, Kyle has sparked debate over who ultimately will be the better of the talented Busch brothers. As the youngest member of the Hendrick Motorsports Cup team, he has comparable resources to Kurt's at Roush Racing.
And Kyle has not been demonized as one of the most disliked drivers in NASCAR. It's the good without the bad.
"I'd like to say that we're great racers and we're great people," Kyle Busch said. "Of course, there are a lot of other people that know us as that. But there are other people that don't know us that might say differently." Though his last name draws an initial skeptical glance, Kyle Busch has so far escaped any real public relations trouble.
Such can no longer be said for his brother. Stung by two on-track incidents last year - one in which he was punched by Jimmy Spencer and put on probation for his part - and chided and forced into a "mentoring program" by his primary sponsor, Kurt Busch looks blankly ahead when he speaks in media situations and converses in guarded, vague terms.
Gone are the snappy quotes, gone is the smart aleck. Gone, it appears, is one of the characters who makes NASCAR so colorful.
Ask Busch what he learned last year and he'll elaborate on getting the most out of a race car incapable of winning on a given Sunday afternoon. Ask how eager he was to get a new season under way and distance himself for the turmoil of 2003 and he'll lecture on softer tires and downforce.
Only in between do honest revelations emerge.
"I think there were a lot of things you can put in your pocket and take with you each and every week," he said. "To come to the racetrack and have an open mind, to be polite, to be insightful, to enjoy what is going on. I'm happy to be driving cars for a living. I'm happy to go out there and win races. Each year you try to go out there and get better and have more wisdom of the track."
Having observed Kurt's on- and off-track growth, Kyle seems more savvy about not copying his brother's mistakes as he begins his first full Busch series season. An image-conscious Hendrick Motorsports organization also provides subtle reminders.
"I think everybody has poked him a little bit and said you can spend your whole life building a reputation and you can ruin it in two sentences," said Kyle Busch's Busch series crew chief, Lance McGrew. Kyle Busch's decision to leave a development deal at Roush Racing and sign with Hendrick has helped his career in two ways. Not only did he not have to wait behind Roush Truck series drivers Jon Wood and Carl Edwards for a shot at a Cup ride, he was able to distance himself from the public negativity surrounding his brother while continuing to benefit from his mentorship privately. His father, Tom, who raced Las Vegas dirt tracks, was always there, too.
Kyle Busch won the season-opening ARCA race at Daytona International Speedway. Busch's attempt to qualify for his first Cup race in the 2003 season finale at Homestead failed with a prerace inspection.
Though the familiarity of the old town and 50 or more family and friends suggest otherwise, the brothers try to maintain that today is just another race date among many to come in two bright futures.
"There will be 41 other cars in the field," Kurt Busch said. "Yeah, it will be fun. ... We might pass one another on the racetrack, but that's unlikely. It's just another race."
But it's really not. It's a starting point, and those only come along once.
