Dodge Motorsports PR Kentucky Speedway Quaker State 400 Kurt Busch Open Interview NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
KURT BUSCH (No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T)
HOW DOES THE LAST SIX TO EIGHT WEEKS VINDICATE YOU AS A DRIVER AND WHAT HAS CHANGED AT PENSKE TO IMPROVE YOUR PERFORMANCE? “When you know you’re looking at struggling because of ideas or procedures and you sit and beat your head up against the wall for a few months, I didn’t want to see up slip out of the top 10. I didn’t want to see us being one of those guys looking for a win just to qualify for a wild card. I want to go in as a favorite. I want to go in to have a shot at winning the championship and bringing home that first title for Penske Racing. We weren’t doing the right things. So it’s great to see it turn around. Who knew that we were so close to finding the right setup? Right around the corner is where we needed to be. And so, now, we just need to continue that run. Being a veteran driver and trying to make sure that we’re doing the right things within the organization, there’s different ways that people look at it. I might be a bit brash or a bit rough with the way that I go about it. At the end of the day, we need to get results. The results are moving the needle for Shell and Pennzoil and Dodge. Hearing the way that the Shell Saver Card was activated by people on Wednesday when we won, there was seven times the amount action on that Shell Saver Card on that Wednesday after we won a race. That’s moving the needle. That’s what we need to do for our sponsors. That’s what makes it come full circle in this world of NASCAR racing.”
WITH THIS BEING THE INAUGURAL CUP RACE AT KENTUCKY, IS TOMORROW’S RACE ANOTHER WIN OR IS IT MORE SPECIAL? “It’s huge. This is an inaugural event. I got the opportunity to race here in the inaugural Truck Series race; Greg Biffle won that race. I ended up pretty smashed up in the Turn 3 fence because I was trying so hard. When you get those inaugural wins, they stick in your mind more potently than other wins. It’s the reason that we all race – to come out on top. When you do it first, it makes it that more special.”
YOU GUYS HAVE TESTED A LOT THIS YEAR; HOW MUCH WILL THAT CARRY OVER TO THE NEW HAMPSHIRE RACE NEXT WEEKEND? “I feel like we have more tools in our tool box to work with right now. Where we were a few months ago, we were out of ideas. We really didn’t have a direction. What can we do to find an opportunity to find more things to work with? So testing has done that for us. No matter what race track it is, whether it’s a road course or mile-and-a-half or short-track, we always have to continue to find things. It’s amazing that what is current is the most important thing. We’ve won at New Hampshire before, but when we look back at that setup it’s like, ‘wow, we’re not even close to that anymore.’ You always have to continue to revolve.”
WHERE’S THE BALANCE BETWEEN WHEN TO REPAVE A RACE TRACK? “It’s different. All of us just have an open, carefree feeling for this weekend. If we had raced here for years, I think we’d go, ‘hey Bruton (Smith), where’s the repave? Let’s put together a better surface. What were seeing here are all the changes that Bruton and his company have put into place and we’re giving him praise for this special event and I know there are steps that are going to move it forward. The character in the track, it’s fun, different. You have to drive it very differently. Maybe it will allows us to rough each other up a little bit – give ’em that door doughnut by accident because, with the bumps, you can’t predict which way you’re going to slide and move around. I think everybody just has an open feeling of, ‘hey, let’s put on a great race. Maybe if it’s one of the best races this season, they’ll leave the track alone for next year. Who knows?”
