All-Star good time for bad blood between brothers

CONCORD, N.C. -- Finally, the world knows of someone who can get through to Kyle Busch.

It's Grandma.

Asked Friday how long it took him to patch things up with big brother Kurt after the two wrecked each other during the final segment of last year's All-Star race at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Kyle admitted that it took some seven months to set it straight (watch video).

"To be honest with you, it was probably December," Kyle said. "Grandma asked for a Christmas present that we both get along and go to Christmas dinner together, so that was her present."

Not that it was a slam dunk that they were going to get along, even after they finally sat down to break bread together. Truth be told, the two brothers have never been particularly close.

"It was a little edgy to begin with because that was about the first time we'd ever sat down together," Kyle said. "The more it went, the more it kind of got back to normal and friendly or whatever.

"By the end of the night, we were playing games and everything anyway. We ended up playing a couple pool games together. We played some -- well, we call it 'redneck horseshoes -- it's that bean-bag toss. What is that called? Corn hole? Yeah, that's it. And then there were Pictionary championships that night, too. It was the guys versus the girls. The guys won, so we had to play nice together."

Redneck horseshoes? Corn hole? Pictionary championships?

Geez, Grandma, what have you done? It sounds like a bad Busch Brothers reality television show.

Fact vs. fiction

There is no truth to the rumor that Kurt tried to stuff Kyle through one of the Corn Holes, or vice versa. No truth to the one about them fighting over the pencil to see who could draw first in Pictionary; or that once they did wield the mighty weapon, it was used to produce disparaging caricatures of each other.

It has been one year since Kurt and Kyle tangled during the All-Star extravaganza. And truth be told, Kyle is still a little rankled about it. He clearly thought -- and still thinks today -- that he was so much faster than Kurt that night that his older bro should have given him more room to race by.

"I got going down the back straightaway and Kurt was trying to pass Jeff Burton. They ran through [Turns] 3 and 4 together side-by-side and they didn't come off the corner with a good run," Kyle said. "I got through there by myself, got a great run off the corner and was able to make it down the front straightaway about 5 miles an hour faster than they were, probably.

"I made an evasive move to Kurt's inside while he was just about to clear Burton. It was kind of a staggered three-wide and then he saw me coming and went low to block me and put me off in the grass a little bit. Then coming up the front straightaway, normally you go back out to the wall and you swing wide in order to get a good arc to get back to the corner. He never made that wide swing; he kind of held me low a little bit -- and when we touched doors, that took all side force off my car that I had down the straightaway and it just basically broke the whole car loose instantly. I spun out and took him with me, and we both crashed (watch video)."

Kurt has long contended that Kyle was at fault simply because he was too aggressive. Kyle may not have brought this up over Pictionary -- and certainly wasn't going to broach the subject over Christmas dinner with Grandma in the house -- but he obviously doesn't agree with that assessment.

"You can look at it and say it was my fault for making an aggressive move, but it's the last segment of the All-Star race and you've got to go," Kyle said. "Or you could say it was Kurt's fault and he didn't give me enough room getting into the corner when I didn't have enough air on the side of my car -- because he had a car-width before going out to the outside wall.

"He blamed it on his spotter, saying he didn't know if Burton was still out there or not -- which means I guess he needs a better spotter."

All-Star Race

SPEED will again broadcast the Sprint Showdown and All-Star Race. Tune in at 7 p.m. ET on May 17 to watch rivals race for $1 million -- and the fireworks!

• All-Star coverage

Calling Grandma

The beauty of this simmering blood feud -- you don't really think it involved bean bags when they agreed behind Grandma's back to settle it "the redneck way," do you? -- is that there is nothing like the All-Star event to bring it to a boil again.

With one million dollars set to go to the winner again this Saturday night, you can bet that neither brother will be willing to give so much as an inch if they find themselves in a similar situation again. It's just another added subplot to others that tend to make the All-Star deal one of the most popular of the year, at least with the fans and many, if not all, of the drivers.

And with Kyle Busch seemingly winning everything else these days, plus the fact that only two points races ago he arguably wrecked the most popular driver on the circuit in Dale Earnhardt Jr., young Kyle, who just turned 23, is at the center of all the good ones.

"It's a different atmosphere," Kyle said. "It's a different way of racing for everybody who is included in the All-Star race. It's just that it's a non-points race; the pure fact that you're going after a race just for bragging rights, I guess, and a million bucks. That's what [Saturday] night's all about."

Well, that and beating your brother, of course. Neither has ever won the All-Star event and Kurt, the more accomplished driver of the two overall, has been struggling of late.

Kyle couldn't resist taking another shot at big bro on Friday. He hinted that he might have sat at the same dinner table as Kurt earlier, like this past Thanksgiving Day, but that Kurt did not make himself available.

"Thanksgiving we didn't have because Kurt was in Virginia Beach," Kyle said. "I was with the parents, though. I was the good son."

Kyle the good son? To hear him tell it, he's the good grandson, too.

But if the two brothers get their cars too close to each other again in the final 25-lap segment this time, look out. Even Grandma may be hard pressed to fix whatever happens next.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.

• Also: Kyle on All-Star pole, Kurt to start third