Forget all the jokes about Ryan Truex coming up the ladder to kick his brother's butt -- whether it's in a Nationwide or a Sprint Cup Series ride.

By the time he gets there -- with dad, Martin Truex, plotting every single step -- Ryan's elder sibling, Martin Truex Jr., won't know whether to play big brother, father or competitor.

Rookie's for real

Ryan Truex posted three wins and eight top-10s in the 11-race season to capture the Camping World Series East title.

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Heck, he might even have to retire before his little brother -- about 12 years younger than he -- even gets there.

Because whatever the path, the emotional stress will be inscrutably incredible; even as Truex Jr. holds his 2010 Cup ride with Michael Waltrip Racing at arm's length as he finishes 2009.

"I had to get up on top of the truck [in the East series garage], I just couldn't stand it anymore on top of the pit box -- I had to see what was going on," Truex Jr. said when he finally appeared in the infield media center with the championship entourage. "It just kills me."

It's nothing like when "Little Martin" was just a kid, watching his father and uncle Barney from countless dusty short-track infields -- when life, and even racing, was nothin' but a party.

"There's no comparison at all, and I'm not sure why," Martin Jr. said, as he sat quietly in the middle of the media center, watching Ryan field questions from national media corps. "But for some reason when I watch [Ryan], I don't know, it's like I'm a parent, and I want to get on the radio and tell him -- because I've been in all these positions.

"When I watched my dad, I loved to go to the races and watch him -- but it wasn't like I knew what he was doing out there -- I couldn't help him. And when I'm watching Ryan I constantly want to help; but you've got to refrain from putting your two cents in."

Mind-numbingly nerve-wracking? It certainly is. But last Friday evening in Dover -- the joy was almost indescribable.

Ryan, just 17, clinched the family's first Camping World East title; after his father and brother had both won series races before him. It was the first championship of any kind for Michael Waltrip Racing.

And as it became official with the youngest racing Truex's eighth-place finish in the Sunoco 150, what had become a virtual all-star team gathered at the MWR pit stall as the race's final laps wound down, exploded in celebration.

Mikey himself was there, along with MWR executives Ty Norris, Cal Wells and Bobby Kennedy. Crew chief Mike Greci, who'd had prior East success with the Truex family, not to mention his championship pedigree with his own cars, was biting his lip as he watched the laps wind down surrounded by a bunch of others, like Clyde McLeod, with DEI backgrounds.

The Truex family was well represented, including uncle Barney, who'd had plenty of time behind the wheel of Modified stock cars banging wheels with his younger brother -- forecasting what the family has to look forward to in stock-car racing's biggest big time.

But you wanna talk about pins and needles? Young Truex's car had smoked ominously for the last 30 laps of the race -- but the crew never really told him much about what it was, and definitely not to worry about it.

"Big Martin" Truex, the hard-racing father who gave up his driving career in its prime to cultivate Martin Jr.'s climb from karts to Modifieds to the East series, and ultimately to back-to-back Busch Series championships and now in his current role as a Cup regular, was nearly beside himself after he got down off the pit box.

Ryan Truex

“

There's so many things I know I could help him with, but at the same time, there are certain things you have to learn yourself.

”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., on mentoring younger brother, Ryan

"Man!" he exclaimed. "This was way, way more -- a thousand times more nerve-wracking then anything I ever did behind the wheel. This is just crazy.

"But it's the most joyful thing you could ever do."

And missing through all of this was "Little Martin," though as we found out later, he was a bundle of nerves atop his brother's hauler. Martin Jr. was the devoted older brother who, with his success, had underwritten a lot of his little brother's racing, once he confessed that he wanted to give the sport a try.

And "try" he has. In just his first full season in full-size stock cars, he had excelled to the point of winning a title, in what may be the most-heated developmental series in the country. The next day Greci could only shake his head when he was cornered in Dover's Nationwide garage and asked, again, how much beyond his expectations Ryan Truex's achievements had been.

In a nutshell, the achievement was immeasurable.

And so it puts his dad -- who'd said earlier in the summer that he was going to inch his youngest son along, a step at a time, to see "if he can really do this, and if at any point we figure out he can't, that'll be it" -- along with Norris seeking a major Nationwide program for 2010.

On Sunday, Norris said Truex would defend his East series title, but that MWR was ardently seeking to "get sponsorship in place to run at least a half schedule with Martin and Ryan splitting time in the car. We want to try Ryan in as many as seven races, and Martin has said he'd like to do as many as eight to 12 Nationwide races."

And it won't get any easier, though the brothers will continue to spend way more time together -- and nerves aside, that's definitely good.

"We've spent more time together this year, through racing, than we have for years," Martin Jr. said. "With him living with our parents, and being so much younger than me we haven't spent a lot of time together the last six or seven years; and up until two-and-a-half years ago, he didn't seem all that interested in racing."

And now, in a rush, it's all changed.

"It's difficult, because I get way too into it," Martin Jr. said, chuckling. "Like I said, there's so many things I know I could help him with, but at the same time, I realize and understand there are certain things that go on, on the race track and in the sport that you have to learn yourself. You can tell someone a million times, but until they feel it, they're not really going to 'get it,' exactly."

And for the fans, next year watching the Truex brothers both "getting it" and getting after it, will be way more joyful than it'll be nerve-wracking, guaranteed.

Kyle Busch Victory Watch

Dover was a rough one for Kyle Busch, as he faded in Saturday's Nationwide race in which he was the defending champion; and then had an abysmal day in the Sprint Cup car on Sunday, bouncing off the wall a couple times before he ended up way behind in 31st.

The only plus in Busch's chase to eclipse his 2008 record total of 21 wins (8 Cup, 10 Nationwide, 3 Truck), is that he has plenty of opportunities left to do it; like another doubleheader this weekend at Kansas Speedway. Plus, he didn't go storming off at Dover, even though both days' races were plenty disturbing to his incessant quest for wins.

Right now, Busch remains at 15 wins: 4 Cup, 6 Nationwide, 5 Truck. Kansas is the type of track on which Busch thrives, so stay tuned to see if he can get back in Victory Lane.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.