Modern Day King of Bristol

Kyle Busch vs Kurt Busch

The Bristol Debate

By Richard Tix

The days of Cale Yarborough and David Pearson are long gone. The days of Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, and Rusty Wallace have passed. It now could be the Era of the Busch Brothers at Bristol. Since 2002 Kurt and Kyle Busch have won at Bristol Motor Speedway a combined 10 times. That is 10 times in 24 races, which is an astonishing 41.66 percent of the time.

After letting that sink in, take into account since leaving Penske Kurt hasn't had the same kind of quality out of his cars that he once had and is now moving to a new team (Add onto this though, Kurt has had a very slow start at SHR). But when Kurt took steps backwards, Kyle came and stepped in to keep the family name alive at Bristol. Also, neither has won in the last 5 races at Bristol. So has there era ended at Bristol? Or are they just getting going? NASCAR Behind the Wall will take a look at both drivers career at Bristol thus far, and speculates which one will take the crown in the brotherly battle.

Kurt Busch

Really, Kurt's dominance at Bristol came when he was with Jack Roush. He won 4 of his career 5 races at BMS with Roush and the remaining one was in his first year with Penske. So has Kurt lost his touch? It is so hard to tell because for the past two seasons he has been in an outcast car, small team, with lesser parts. Last year he still managed to finish 4th in the first stop at Bristol with Furniture Row. Now he moves on with Stewart-Haas Racing and a new fresh start. This could be the turn around to make this sibling rivalry finally come full circle. (It's interesting to note the whole SHR team has had a slow start in 2014. Other than Kevin Harvicks Phoenix win everyone has struggled).

Kurt's Bristol days were from 2002-2006 when he won 5 races, had 5 top 5's, 8 top 10's, and an average finish of 7.11 in 9 races.

Kyle Busch

Unfortunately for NASCAR fans, Kurt's hay day at Bristol ended right around when Kyle's started in 2006. With Kyle we can talk about his full career at Bristol. He hasn't moved teams as much (Hendrick for his first 3 years, Gibbs the remaining) and he hasn't hit too many low points here.

But as was mentioned, Kyle's Day at Bristol started in 2006 and is still current (even though he is in his longest drought at Bristol in his career, 5 races). Since 2006 (16 of his 18 career starts here) he has an average finish of 7.31, 5 wins, 8 top 5's, and 12 top 10's.

Head to Head

After taking a look at the separated, lets put those stats together and start to get a look at who may end there career the King of Bristol (between the Busch Brothers, not NASCAR History). Kyle has proven he has been consistently good at Bristol for longer, because we can add in all of his starts at Bristol (except his rookie year/we also threw out Kurt's Rookie year because neither ran well and too be fair).

Even if we take Kyles best 9 consecutive races (because Kurt's best stint came in a 9 race stretch) he still has the better stats as seen in the table.

Best 9 Race Stretch in Career at Bristol
Driver	Years	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Poles	Average Finish
Kyle	2007-11	5	6	8	0	4.66
Kurt	2002-06	5	5	8	0	7.11

Either way you look at it, both drivers have run very well at Bristol during the best parts of there career here. Kyle does seem to edge Kurt in this stretch run. What about when we look at there overall careers?

Career Statistics at Bristol
Driver	Races	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Pole	Average Finish
Kyle	18	5	8	12	1	9.9
Kurt	26	5	7	14	1	14.0

Still after looking at the career stats it seems little brother has an edge over big bro at Bristol. Maybe some of this has to do with moving from team to team. Maybe some of it has to do with Kurt's Outlaw ways which have sometimes lead to team headaches (Not that Kyle is an angel). 

NASCAR Behind the Walls Take:

After taking everything in and thinking about it, #NBTW is pretty excited for the next 5 to 10 years of Bristol racing between the Busch Brothers. Now that Kurt Busch has a new home with SHR he may regain his one time dominance but Kyle wont give an inch. I think that Kyle will get back on track in 2014 and win at least one of the two races at Bristol and continue his edge over Kurt. There are some other factors like Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth, and maybe some young guns who want to prove themselves against The Busch Brothers. But one thing is sure, these two brothers know how to wheel it around Bristol with the best of them. 

What do you think? Let it be heard on Twitter! Who be better in 2014 at Bristol? Will either one win this year here? Who will end up with the better career at Bristol?

**Update: NASCAR is heading back to Bristol for the second time. This article was before the first Bristol race in 2014. The article must have been a bit of a jinx as Kyle finished 29th and Kurt finished 35th, both not on the lead lap. But, both did spend some time up front. Kyle lead 73 laps (which was third most) and Kurt led 28. So, neither brother dominated like this article may have suggested, but they were a part of the race. If it happens again this time around I may have to just toss this article out the internet window, but until then lets see if one of them takes back the reigns.**


Bristol Weekend Articles (Race One):

• Bristol Preview
• Bristol Entry List
• Bristol TV/Race Schedule
• Cooling Down