Busches are good, but not yet best band of brothers

These days, it seems everyone is trying to beat the Busches. Kyle won two weeks ago at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, picking up where he left off before a string of mechanical failures derailed his 2008 championship. Kurt won Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, powering to the front on an afternoon where Dodge and Penske Racing looked like real contenders again. This must have been what it was like years ago at old Pahrump Valley Speedway, when everyone racing dwarf cars was trying to catch the two ornery, headstrong kids from Las Vegas who weren't shy about trading a little paint.

Granted, Kurt still has a little ways to go before he returns to that automatic championship contender status that little brother, Kyle, currently enjoys. Still, Atlanta harkened back to the days when Kurt took NASCAR's premier series by storm, winning 14 races and a championship between 2002 and 2005. And it served as another reminder that the Busch boys -- still only 30 and 23 years of age, respectively -- might just be the best brothers ever to suit up and slide into stock cars by the time their careers come to an end.

But they're not there yet. And this off week, when many of the major players in NASCAR are lounging on a beach somewhere in the Caribbean, seems the perfect time to delve into the record books and rank the 10 best bands of brothers the sport has ever seen.

10. The Woods: Glen and Leonard

Their exploits behind the wheel weren't bad, with Glen accumulating four career wins in 62 starts on NASCAR's premier series, and notching five more victories on the convertible tour. But they were at their best outside the car. Glen and younger brother Leonard were the whiz mechanics behind what would become the Wood Brothers racing team, one of the more successful organizations in NASCAR history. The duo from Stuart, Va., eventually turned their No. 21 car over to other drivers like Cale Yarborough and David Pearson, freeing them to build superior engines and vehicles and invent the modern pit stop. Their struggles of late lead people to forget their 99 career victories or their reputation as innovators. No, they weren't drivers. But their indelible imprint on the sport puts them on the list.

9. The Pettys: Richard and Maurice

Everyone knows about the King, and his seven championships and 200 race victories. Fewer know about younger brother, Maurice, who made 26 premier-level starts between 1960 and '64, with a best finish of third. But Maurice's greatest accomplishments came outside the car -- he was the chief engine builder for the powerhouse Petty Enterprises team, as well as lead mechanic for his older brother. People will sometimes argue that Richard won a lot of races because he had better cars. Well, those cars were often set up by Maurice. Veteran racing writer Tom Higgins tells a story about Maurice whacking an angry Bobby Allison fan over the head with a helmet as the man moved in on Richard after a race. Who knows how many race wins and championships that intervention might have preserved.

8. The Bodines: Geoffrey, Brett and Todd

This trio of brothers from Chemung, N.Y., has been a fixture in NASCAR since oldest brother Geoffrey broke into the sport with Jack Beebe's team in 1979. Geoffrey has since enjoyed a long and decorated career, winning 18 times -- the 1986 Daytona 500 among them -- and being included on the list of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers that coincided with the sport's 50th anniversary in 1998. Middle brother Brett won once in what's now the Sprint Cup Series, at North Wilkesboro in 1990, and five more times on the former Busch circuit. While Todd hasn't won in the Cup Series, he has 15 Nationwide victories and 16 more, including a championship, in the Truck Series. All three are still active; Todd drives for Germain Racing on the Truck tour, Brett pilots the pace car and works as director of cost management for NASCAR, and 59-year-old Geoffrey still tries to make races. He even worked the catch-can for a shoestring team at Las Vegas. That's dedication.

7. The Wallaces: Rusty, Kenny and Mike

Has it really been 20 years since Rusty Wallace won the NASCAR championship? Sure doesn't seem like it. The eldest Wallace brother was a force on and off the track in his day, winning 55 races -- good for eighth all-time -- and setting a standard for drivers to come in the way he consolidated so much of his marketing and licensing efforts under one roof. While his younger brothers never broke through on the premier circuit, Kenny earned nine victories on the then-Busch Series. Mike has won four times on what's now called the Nationwide Series, and four more times in the trucks. Their television work has made them great ambassadors for the sport, and made their hometown of St. Louis proud. The next generation of Wallaces is already climbing the ladder -- Rusty's son, Steve, is a regular on the Nationwide Series, while Mike's daughter, Chrissy, has made a handful of Truck starts.

6. The Burtons: Jeff and Ward

The short track in South Boston, Va., has long been a breeding ground for NASCAR talent, none more so than the two sons of former hydroplane and sports-car racer John Burton. Younger brother Jeff has enjoyed the more successful career, with 21 Sprint Cup and 27 Nationwide victories to date. He finished third in championship points in 2000, and has become a consistent Chase contender since joining Richard Childress Racing. Older brother Ward has only five career Cup wins, but two of them are whoppers -- the 2002 Daytona 500 and the 2001 Southern 500. Ward doesn't drive anymore, but remains active as an advocate for conservation issues. Jeff, who's never met an issue he didn't have an opinion on, is the conscience of the garage area and may have politics in his future. Not bad for a couple of boys from South Boston.

5. The Busches: Kurt and Kyle

Love them or hate them, there's no denying the Busch brothers' talent. Older brother Kurt scored his 19th career victory Sunday in Atlanta, and won the series championship by eight points over Jimmie Johnson in 2004, the inaugural year of the Chase. But as of late, younger brother Kyle has been the more dominant sibling, with 13 Sprint Cup, 22 Nationwide and 11 Camping World Truck victories to his credit thus far. Rarely does a NASCAR weekend go by that Kyle doesn't win in something. Last year he won 21 events in the three national series combined, eight of them coming on a Sprint Cup Series where he was the driver to beat until an ill-timed spate of mechanical breakdowns. He doesn't have a championship yet, but that seems only a matter of time. As does the idea of the Busches eventually ascending to No. 1.

4. The Waltrips: Darrell and Michael

For years the Waltrip brothers were known for the gap that stood between them, and we're not talking about the 16-year difference in age. Older brother Darrell emerged as one of NASCAR's greatest drivers by winning 84 career races and three championships. Younger brother Michael, meanwhile, toiled through a 463-race winless streak that seemed to define his career. Now Michael has four wins, including two in the Daytona 500 -- one more than even his illustrious brother. They've been involved in team ownership, worked in television, and stand as perhaps the most popular racing brothers NASCAR has ever seen. We'll see Michael stumping for NAPA and hear Darrell calling "boogity, boogity, boogity" for a long time to come.

3. The Allisons: Bobby and Donnie

Like their one-time nemesis Yarborough, the Allison brothers will always be connected with what happened in the aftermath of the 1979 Daytona 500, that swirl of tempers and flying fists that galvanized a snowbound nation and launched NASCAR into the mainstream. But they were about so much more than that. Bobby's 85 career wins, three Daytona 500 titles and 1983 championship stand on their own merits, as does his longevity -- he won his last race in 1988 at the age of 50 -- and his perseverance in the face of so much personal adversity. And don't forget younger brother Donnie, who won 10 times on NASCAR's premier circuit, three of them in one five-race span in 1970 that must have had even Bobby doing double-takes. Not even the 1979 fight can overshadow that kind of success.

2. The Flocks: Tim, Fonty and Bob

They were called the Fabulous Flock Brothers, and they lived up to their name. Each experienced a degree of on-track success; oldest brother Bob won four times on NASCAR's top circuit, middle brother Fonty won 19 times and was championship runner-up in 1951, and baby Tim won 39 times --18 of them coming in one dominant season with car owner Carl Kiekhaefer -- while claiming two series titles. But the racing was only the half of it. This eccentric Atlanta family had it all. Bob and Fonty were drivers for their bootlegging uncle, the infamous Peachtree Williams. There were five more Flock siblings who raced speedboats, walked high wires, and performed various other acts of daring. And then there was Jocko Flocko, the monkey who sometimes rode in Tim's race car. Legend has it that Tim once lost a race because Jocko broke out of his cage and grabbed the driver around the neck. Oh, to have covered that one.

1. The Labontes: Terry and Bobby

Championships are ultimately what it's all about, and the Labontes have them to spare. Who knew what Bob Labonte was starting when he put his oldest son Terry in a quarter-midget car back home in Corpus Christi, Texas. Soon they were moving to North Carolina to chase the dream, and youngest son Bobby was tearing up local tracks in a go-kart, and NASCAR's most successful pair of brothers was on their way to greatness. Terry has won 22 races and two Cup championships over the course of his long career, which continues to this day with occasional spot duty. Bobby has won 21 races, and his title in 2000 made him and Terry the first brothers in NASCAR history to each wear the crown. "Big Bob," as their father was known around Corpus Christi, was a former Navy man who for a while managed the family's Busch interests. And in the process, created quite a legacy in the form of his two unparalleled sons.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.