Juan Pablo Montoya and Kyle Busch
Montoya, Kyle Busch Keep Things Interesting
The 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup All-Star Challenge was considered humdrum by most fans, however, two drivers gave us all something to talk about.
On the first lap of the Nextel Open, Juan Pablo Montoya made an over-ambitious move heading into turn one as he blew by Dave Blaney, and overdrove the turn, sliding into the side of David Gilliland, and wiping out several drivers in the field. Paul Menard, Jon Wood, Joe Nemechek, and Scott Riggs were the ill-fated victims of Montoya’s latest display of impetuosity.
None of the aforementioned drivers were thrilled with Montoya’s driving style, and Jon Wood was his loudest critic.
"I would say the first corner of the first lap was maybe a little early -- but the fans boo Juan for a reason and a prime example of that was tonight,” said Wood.
Juan Pablo Montoya accepted responsibility for the incident, well, sort of.
"The only real guy I wrecked was the 38 (David Gilliland)...I'm the guy that caused the wreck, but get over it."
During the final segment of the Nextel All-Star Challenge, Kyle Busch, the winner of the second segment, made an aggressive move on his brother Kurt, of all people. As Kurt was passing Jeff Burton for second place, Kyle made it three-wide on the frontstretch, which resulted in Kyle losing control and crashing into his older brother. Both of the maligned Busch brothers drove their mangled racecars into the garage area.
Fans could not wait to hear the two different versions as to what transpired, but Kurt was the only one of the two that was composed enough to give a television interview.
"We got together," said Kurt Busch. "I was making a clean move on the 31 (Jeff Burton), and then I had a car to my inside when I'm on the bottom lane…I was waiting for the day when we got together and we did it when we were racing for a million bucks…That was a bummer, to have my little brother pull that move on me. Maybe I should have given an inch instead of taken an inch from him -- but hey, that's what the All-Star race is all about. I just hate that I've got a wrecked racecar and so does he."
Kyle declined to comment on the incident, so his crew chief Alan Gustafson was left to face the media, just like he was at Texas last month.
"[Kurt] was struggling to get by the 31 and Kyle got underneath him. That was the right move. I'm sure Kurt was frustrated," said Gustafson.
Kurt was dead-on when he said that it was inevitable that he and his brother would someday clash on the track. Both drivers are considered aggressive, though, Kurt has toned down a little since joining Penske Racing.
This family feud is a throwback to the 1994 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway when the brothers Bodine took each other out while battling for the lead. On lap 100, Brett Bodine and Geoff Bodine were vying hard for the lead, and finally little brother Brett tapped big brother Geoff sending him into the wall.
Geoff was less than thrilled with his little brother and his interview on ABC confirmed his frustration. However, he ended the interview with “He’s my brother, and I love him, but he wrecked me.”
Quote of the week
Kurt Busch talking about his little brother Kyle.
"We'll see what he has to say about it, and we'll see what we can do to discuss it- but right now, I'm not eating any Kellogg's anytime soon."
