Who is "The Other Busch"?

Following Kurt Busch's dominating victory on Sunday in Atlanta, many news organizations took indirect shots at the oldest of the famous Busch Brothers in their headlines, calling him the "Other Busch", "Not That One", and other various clever ways to announce that it was not Kyle in victory lane. Lately, Kyle has been in the news more then Kurt. He has already won 4 races in the top 3 NASCAR series this season, and won a total of 21 last year. Kyle has 13 victories total in the Cup Series. Quite an impressive résumé.

Kurt, up until Sunday's win, has been out of the spotlight lately. He has not found the same success he had with Roush Racing since moving to Penske in 2006, but he has been in victory lane every season since 2002 with a total of 19 Cup wins (6 more then Kyle). The "Other Busch" has one thing that his younger brother does not have, a Sprint Cup Series Championship, the first crowned under The Chase format in 2004. As far as I am concerned, Kurt is not the "Other Busch". Regardless of what Kyle does in his career, unless he is crowned with a championship, Kurt is number one in the family, not Kyle.

NASCAR has had a great tradition of families in the sport, with many father/son and brother combos running in the top series at the same time, including the Pettys, the Earnhardts, the Allisons, the Waltrips, the Jarretts, and many more. If Dale Jr. was having a run on wins like Kyle Busch is now, and Dale Earnhardt Sr. won a race and was called "The Other Earnhardt" by a media outlet, they would have to install extra security in their buildings and shut down their website, and rightfully so. You wouldn't call a 7-time champion the "other" anything.

You can have a great career without winning a championship (see Mark Martin), but without one, you are not part of the elite. Kyle Busch has the talent to win tons of races, and be regarded as one of the best drivers of his generation, but his career won't be complete without that championship. I am sure some day, he will hoist that trophy in the air (unless he crosses the pond to F1), but until then, only Kyle should be called "The Other Busch".