CONCORD, N.C. -- While one of the racing Busch brothers was in heated conference with a teammate following Saturday night's Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the other was celebrating joyously in Victory Lane.

The singular moments, like the brothers themselves, were relative.

Kurt Busch has won crew chief Steve Addington over, making him a vocal defender.

“

That cat right there is amazing. Honestly, I have never worked for anybody like him.

”

-- STEVE ADDINGTON

Shortly after Kurt Busch hoisted one of those oversized checks for $1 million over his head, and everyone within about a one-mile radius was showered with Miller Lite beer and/or oversized bottles of champagne, winning crew chief Steve Addington sat on the edge of the Victory Lane stage and motioned toward his driver.

"That cat right there is amazing," Addington said after Kurt Busch had wheeled the No. 2 Dodge from 11th to first during the final 10-lap segment of the 100-lap event. "Honestly, I have never worked for anybody like him. I tried to figure out his emotions and stuff like that, and I just let it be now. I learned he's going to get all he can out of a race car."

Addington knows more than a little about the Busch brothers. He's in his first year as crew chief for Kurt, after having spent 69 points races over most of the previous two Sprint Cup seasons as crew chief for Kyle -- the one who sought out Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin for retribution after the two of them got together when they were running one-two with eight laps to go Saturday night.

In more than a slight twist of irony, the block Hamlin placed on the younger Busch that ultimately sent Kyle in search of Hamlin's head afterward had another residual effect as well. As they tangled, Kurt surged past the feuding pair and two other contenders and into the lead -- going from fifth to first in less than a single lap.

"It was amazing how the seas parted for us," Kurt said. "I saw Kyle up in the fence and Denny wiggling, but I was still passing [Joey] Logano and the [No.] 48 car [of Jimmie Johnson]."

Holy crap, Dodge man!

Addington was trying to figure out what was going on as his driver powered to the front. He lost sight of the No. 2 Dodge as it raced hard into Turn 1 of the 1.5-mile speedway -- and when the team's spotter, Chris Osborne, first came on the radio, Addington feared the worst was happening as the car came out of Turn 2 and headed down the back stretch.

"I couldn't see Turn 1. All I could do is listen to the spotter. When he said, 'The 2 is outside,' I was trying to figure out where we were at -- whether he had gotten loose or what," Addington said. "But then when he passed the buildings on the backstretch and I could see him from the pit box again, I saw he was passing both [brother Kyle and Hamlin] and going for the lead.

"I was like, 'Well, holy crap! Here we go! This is gonna be good.' Because I knew if anything happened and we had a chance to race anyone on a green-white-checkered, he was going to get up on the wheel and make it happen for us."

Once he got into the lead, Kurt had to remind himself that there probably would be extra laps tacked onto the event at the end. There wasn't any such trickery via the green-white-checkered format -- but only because caution laps aren't counted in this non-points event.

There still were three nail-biting restarts as it came to the finish, including one caused by Kyle finally blowing a tire as well as his stack and getting into the wall one final time to finish his night. Each time there was a double-file restart, Kurt Busch proved up to the task of fending off all challengers.

"We were probably like three seconds ahead of the field with five to go and then it dawned on me, 'Oh, yeah, you're gonna have restarts,'" Kurt said. "So I just calmed myself and felt pretty good about it because I think I'm one of the better ones on the restarts."

Giving him credit

Addington obviously felt the same way. At that point, it didn't matter that Kurt had brushed the outside wall twice himself earlier in the night -- beating up the right side of the car. In Addington's mind, all that mattered was where they were on the track, and who was in the driver's seat.

"I would rather have him than anybody else sitting in that race car, when it comes down to it," Addington said. "He has shown me a lot -- how he is patient through practice and what he picks up during a race. He's a lot smarter than y'all think."

Addington said he loves how he can sit down and exchange information and ideas with the elder Busch on a regular basis. He also insisted -- again -- that Kurt doesn't get the credit he deserves as a driver.

"I don't think he's as flamboyant as some people, as far as going out and grabbing the media's attention," Addington said. "I think that's why we get along so well. We're here to work on race cars. We're here to try to win races week in and week out. We're sitting in the lounge for two or three hours after practices, talking about how to make the race car better.

"He has taught me a lot on how to respect a driver that is just truly focused on what the team [is doing] and the cars he's driving. He just wants to focus on that, make the program better. The talent that guy's got is just unbelievable. I hope we can win enough races to get him the credit I think he deserves."

Saturday's win, Kurt Busch's first in the All-Star event in nine tries, went a long way toward that. Now it is matter of carrying the momentum earned in the final 10 laps Saturday to next Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 points race and beyond.

"Right now we're ninth in points. We're a little bit further behind than where we want to be," Busch said. "We have to build some consistency back into [the program]. ... We're going to have to continue to fight harder and get ourselves up in the mix with the Gibbs [Racing] and Hendrick [Motorsports] guys week in and week out."

That group includes his little brother Kyle. But Kurt's coming with a full head of steam, and his crew chief is betting on the Busch brother he currently works with over the one for which he used to work. When all the fireworks were done exploding over Charlotte Motor Speedway Saturday night, that suddenly seemed in the spur of the moment like it might not be a bad bet after all.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.