'I flat out would've wrecked him' - Kurt Busch

Kurt Busch wound up second to younger brother Kyle in the Food City 500 at Bristol, but he had no intentions of playing nice if given a chance.

“I wanted to be closer to my little brother to wreck him on the last lap because I flat out would have,” said Busch with a smile. “He’s already got wins this year, and he would have figured it out. I just slipped up with about three laps to go; I couldn’t quite hang getting in to Turn 1.

“For our Monster Chevy, it’s a really good run. We’ve got a lot of puzzle pieces, [and] we’re putting them together. This is my favorite track. We almost won, but we know we’re still wanting some good.”

But Kurt Busch's Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet never quite got to the bumper of the Kyle’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Although Kurt appeared to be closing on Kyle over the final few laps, he lost any chance he had of fighting for the win when he caught the wall with about three laps remaining.

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After the race, Kurt told his brother of his intentions.

“I told him how frustrated I was [and] I was going to wreck him,” he said. “He [Kyle] says, ‘Oh really?’ I said, ‘Yes I was.’”

A second-place result is a season-best effort for Busch and his No. 1 team. In the last seven races, he has finished in the top 10 six times -- three times in the top five -- and has moved to eighth in points.

However, Busch had to overcome a frustrating Friday when he qualified 27th with a car that was too loose. A 16th-place starting spot at ISM Raceway last month is the highest Busch has started in the last six Cup Series races.

“Qualifying has been a disaster. I can’t lean on my right rear tire, and we've got to fix that,” Busch said. “When we do, we’ll restart better, too.

“Just have to thank all my guys on the hard work and the filtering through the information. It’s our first time going to all these tracks together, and another top five is a solid result. There’s got to be that point where we’re just clicking on all eight cylinders and nailing it.”