Kyle Busch vs. Denny Hamlin: The Duel at Darlington

In the Nationwide Series race at the "track too tough to tame," there will most certainly be a duel to the finish at Darlington.  But teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin will also duel for sponsor bragging rights, as well as for charity.

Z-Line Designs, a designer and import manufacturer of ready-to-assemble furniture, is sponsoring not only the No. 18 Toyota driven by Busch, but also the No. 20 Toyota, which will be driven by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Hamlin.  

The duel between the two drivers will determine final bragging rights for the Z-Line brand.

Just to make the duel even more interesting, the founder and CEO of Z-Line Designs Jim Sexton will be sitting atop Busch's pit box, rooting that driver on to victory.  He will also be doing so for the charity Racing For Kids, which will be featured prominently on the car.

Atop Hamlin's pit box will be Sexton's wife Monica.  She will not only be rooting for that driver to win the sponsor duel, but will also be representing Operation Helmet, another favorite charity of the couple and company.

Even before the green flag drops on the duel, both charities will already be winners. Prior to the Royal Purple 200 presented by O'Reilly Auto Parts Nationwide race at Darlington, the Sextons will be presenting each charity with a check for $25,000.

But just to make the duel even more interesting, sponsor Z-line has agreed to award the driver who finishes highest in the race an additional $10,000 for the charity that he is representing.  

Racing For Kids is a charity founded in Detroit in 1989 that raises awareness of and funding for the health care needs of children.  Operation Helmet is a charity in Texas that provides helmet upgrade kits free of charge to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The duel at Darlington should be dramatic as last year Hamlin won the inaugural Z-Line charity battle.  Both drivers have had success at Darlington, with Busch having won in May 2008 in the Cup race and Hamlin securing victories in May 2006 and May 2007 at the track.

"I think Denny (Hamlin) and those guys are always tough because their equipment is the same as ours and we know how good that is," Busch said of the duel. "It would certainly be icing on the cake to get Jim (Sexton) and Z-line the win."

"But the important thing is Operation Helmet and Racing For Kids are each getting a lot of money," Busch said.  "So they both win no matter what happens on the race track."

"It's pretty cool to have Z-Line on both team cars," Hamlin said.  "The fact that there is a little rivalry between Jim and Monica (Sexton) makes it more interesting."

"I know Monica's going to be on my pit box and we're going to try to win the race and finish ahead of Kyle to give Monica bragging rights and to raise awareness for Operation Helmet," Hamlin said.

With Busch and Hamlin challenging each other, Z-Line sponsor Sexton was doing a little trash-talking of his own about the Darlington duel.

"Monica is going to get a run for her money if she thinks that our Racing For Kids team is going to give anything less than 110 percent," Jim Sexton said of his wife and challenger in the duel.  "We know that Racing For Kids has helped sick children get better faster and we strongly support efforts to improve health care for all children."

Monica Sexton fired back about her favorite charity in the duel, Operation Helmet.  

"My father is a retired Brigadier General with the U.S. Army," Monica Sexton said. "Anything I can do to support the troops who risk their lives for our freedom is an honor."

"Denny (Hamlin) has agreed to drive for the Z-Line Designs Operation Helmet team," Monica Sexton continued.  "And we're going to push the pedal to the metal to let the fans know about this deserving organization."

While there will be a winner in the Busch-Hamlin duel at Darlington, there is no doubt that both charities will take the checkered flag at the NASCAR Nationwide race at the "track too tough to tame."

Update:  Denny Hamlin qualified on the pole and Kyle Busch started right next to him on the outside pole.  When all the beating and banging was done, Denny Hamlin took the checkered flag, with teammate Busch right behind him.  

With the one, two finish, the Sextons decided to give both charities the bonus money.