Busch vs. Busch: Will Kurt or Kyle Have a Better 2015 NASCAR Season?

It’s rare when you have to say that both Busch brothers, Kyle and Kurt, had off years. But it was true in 2014.

Even though they both made the Chase for the Sprint Cup, neither was a factor in the way the championship played out.

Now we look ahead to 2015, at a time of year where every driver is equal and, at least theoretically, every driver also has the same chances as his or her peers to do well and win the Sprint Cup crown. Of course, that’s an expectation that typically falls by the wayside for many by the end of the first third of the 36-race season (including the 10-race Chase).

Let’s break down both Busch brothers over the last couple of years first, and then we’ll give our take on which will be the better bro in ’15.

KYLE BUSCH

Kyle Busch did not have a Kyle Busch-like season by any means. He earned just one win, nine top-fives and 15 top-10 finishes. And while he made the Chase for the Sprint Cup, he failed to advance past the second round, ultimately finishing 10th in the overall season standings.

That kind of performance paled in comparison to 2013, when Busch had four wins, 16 top-fives and 22 top-10 finishes and wound up a career-best fourth in the season standings.

But those two seasons happened with Dave Rogers as his crew chief. That won’t be the case for Busch in 2015, as Adam Stevens will take over in Rogers’ stead.

The younger Busch brother is no stranger to Stevens. Together, they won 19 combined races in the former Nationwide (now Xfinity) Series over the 2013 (12 wins) and 2014 (seven wins) seasons.

A case can be made that Busch and Rogers had kind of run their course and a change was needed.

Having Stevens atop the pit box could be just the thing Busch needs to get back to winning more than just one race in a season, as well as to return to being a serious contender for the championship.

KURT BUSCH

And then there’s older brother Kurt Busch.

Statistically, the elder Busch had a better season in 2013—11 top-fives and 16 top-10s—than he did in 2014. Even though he didn’t win a race in 2013, he made the Chase for the Sprint Cup—becoming the first driver from a single-car team to ever do so—and finished 10th in the final standings.

Busch’s season in 2014 wasn’t nearly as good, save for one difference: He earned his first victory since 2011, capturing last spring’s race at Martinsville.

But the rest of the elder Busch brother’s season was nothing to write home about. Sure, he made the Chase, but he finished the season with a 12th-place overall showing, with just six top-fives and 11 top-10s.

Heading into 2015, Busch will be entering his second full season with Stewart-Haas Racing, which should give him a bit more familiarity and confidence.

However, Busch starts 2015 the same way he did in 2014: with a new crew chief. Tony Gibson, who had shepherded Danica Patrick’s foray into Sprint Cup for most of her first two seasons, moved over to be Busch’s crew chief with three races remaining last season.

Gibson, who previously was crew chief for Ryan Newman, replaces Daniel Knost, who was Busch’s crew chief for the first 33 races of 2014 before he moved to become Patrick’s crew chief, a role in which Knost will continue in 2015.

Gibson is known as a driver’s crew chief, but at the same time, he isn’t the type to always defer to his driver. As a crew chief, he runs the race the way he wants to, and the driver better be on board with the strategy and game plan.

Busch should be on board, because he knows Gibson is a winning crew chief and has the experience and expertise to back up any decisions he makes.

This is really a difficult choice to make.

Kyle is coming off a season in which his organization, Joe Gibbs Racing, struggled overall, with a grand total of just two wins, compared to 14 combined wins in 2013. 

Joe Gibbs Racing has also expanded to four teams for the first time in its tenure with the addition of former Roush Fenway Racing standout Carl Edwards.

Edwards did himself no favors—both overall in the sport, as well as with his new teammates—when he boldly predicted a couple of weeks ago that he could win 10 races and the championship. That in and of itself will serve to either challenge Busch and teammates Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth, or it could result in all four JGR drivers in an every-man-for-himself situation in 2015—a very realistic possibility considering how competitive each of those four drivers is.

Kurt, meanwhile, is coming off a season that saw teammate Kevin Harvick win the Sprint Cup championship for the first time in his career—and the second Cup crown for SHR in four seasons. But Harvick’s other teammates—Busch, Patrick and Tony Stewart—all had rough seasons (even though Busch joined Harvick to make the Chase).

Boil it all down, and we believe that both Busch brothers are going to have strong individual seasons in 2015. Kurt should be good for two wins, and Kyle—particularly with his already strong synergy with Stevens from the former NNS—should be back on target to win three or four races like he did in 2013.

If we have to give one of the brothers an edge, we’re going to go with Kyle, due mainly to the Stevens factor.

That doesn’t mean Kurt won’t be able to win with Gibson atop the pit box, but until they can form some long-term communication and consistency, the elder Busch bro may still see some of the same frustration and shortcomings he did in 2014.

And we haven't mentioned it up to now, but it's worth noting: If prosecutors determine there is enough evidence to have Kurt Busch face criminal charges for alleged domestic violence against former girlfriend Patricia Driscoll in the coming weeks, that could radically alter his 2015 season, including bringing a potential suspension by NASCAR until the legal process is complete.

Any way you look at it, Kurt Busch could be facing a year of uncertainty in 2015. We'd like nothing more than to see him have a great comeback season, but right now, his season is going to take on a week-by-week basis until the issues hanging over his head are adjudicated. 

Follow me on Twitter @JerryBonkowski