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CONCORD, N.C. -- Kyle Busch needed an inch, and big brother wouldn't give it to him.
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The result?
Two cars in the wall and a family feud that lasted the rest of the year.
That wreck in the final segment of last year's All-Star race nearly destroyed the relationship between Kurt and Kyle Busch. They hardly spoke to each other for almost seven months.
They put aside their differences at a Christmas gathering that started with an edge but ended with the brothers teaming to win the championship round of "Pictionary."
"Grandma asked for a Christmas present that we both get along and go to Christmas dinner together," Kyle Busch said Friday. "So that was her present."
The Busch brothers are back at the scene of the accident this weekend, and at very different stages of their careers. As they head into Saturday night's $1 million showdown, Kurt Busch has slipped off the radar while his little brother has rocketed to NASCAR stardom.
Kyle has eight wins this season spanning NASCAR's top three series and leads the Sprint Cup Series standings. Kurt has just one top-10 finish this season and is 22nd in the points.
But if the 2004 series champion is jealous of the kid he calls "The Shrub," Kurt isn't letting on.
"I'm very happy for his success," Kurt said. "Sometimes you get on a roll and you are on it, and I encourage him to keep riding this wave because Mark Martin always says, 'You've got to take the highs with the lows and draw a straight line."'
The low for the brothers came in this race last year, as they jockeyed for position in the final 20-lap sprint. With no points and a monster payday on the line, both were running hard for the checkered flag.
Their version of what happened is similar: Kurt was passing Jeff Burton on the inside when Kyle darted below him to make it three-wide.
Once they cleared Burton, Kyle thinks Kurt should have moved back up the track to give him space to slide through the corner. Kurt readily admits he didn't.
