You can always count on the Busch brothers to create a little drama

By Mike Smith (contact)

Sunday, May 23, 2010 | 3:02 p.m.

Who needs to watch reality shows when you can watch Sprint Cup Racing? Last night’s Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway had more drama, tension, feuding and anger than “The Real Housewives of New York City.”

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As usual, the Busch brothers lived up to their reputations for creating drama. Early in the event Kurt and Kyle made things exciting as they battled each other for position. Kurt went on to win the race in a dramatic finish and his brother, in a fit of rage, parked his No. 18 Camry at the hauler of the No. 11 team in an attempt to meet up with Denny Hamlin. Busch felt he had been forced into the wall by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate with less than two laps to go. It was hard to tell from the replay who was at fault. But one thing is for sure. All the talk about a new, mature Kyle Busch is nonsense. When the going gets tough, you can always expect to see Kyle’s demeanor unravel.

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Kurt pulled off the victory despite a few brushes with the wall and a late-race wreck that unfolded right in front of him. And despite Jimmie Johnson’s valiant effort, he couldn’t avoid getting caught up in a wreck on lap 97. For a while it looked like Johnson would win again at the track that he has so famously dominated in the past. So much for that slump that everyone has been talking about. You can also throw out the speculation that the new spoiler is creating difficulties for the No. 48 team.

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Watching this kind of racing can almost make you wish that NASCAR only awarded point for wins in determining the Sprint Cup champion. I still believe consistency has to play a strong role in determining who becomes the champ, but I’m beginning to agree with some of my friends that increasing the number of points awarded for a win could make the racing more exciting.

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The Ford’s were running the new FR9 engine, but we didn’t see an eye-popping improvement in performance on Saturday. When is a Ford going to make it to victory lane?

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Finally, I liked the uncluttered look of the No. 20 Home Depot car. The car was painted basic orange and was free of confusing graphics. Maybe my eyesight is getting worse as I get older, but some of the paint schemes used in this sport are complicated and make it difficult to clearly see the sponsors and the numbers on the cars. The No. 20 car had an old-school look that I liked.

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