KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing What do you think about Ron Hornaday earning his 50th win in the Truck Series last weekend? “It’s certainly a milestone for Ron (Hornaday) and what he’s been able to accomplish in the Truck Series over the years. It’s been pretty fun to watch. Certainly, I remember watching back in the 90’s when it all first started — him racing the Papa John’s truck and then the NAPA truck and all of that stuff. Always a threat to win. Him and (Mike) Skinner kind of going after it, but Hornaday has been the best at it for a long time.”
Do you think the championship points are closer this year than in previous years? “I think it’s an illusion. Nineteen points is 19 spots. So, if you look at it — what’s the math before between 19 spots? I think for a win you could get 190 and for 19th it’s probably 54 or something like that — so it’s a long way.”
Does it help your team to run twice at Kansas Speedway this year? “I think it should make it a little bit better, but I don’t know. Certainly with running here the first time, guys kind of getting a feel for the place, and now being able to run here again — they’ve gone home and done their homework and revisited a lot of different things about how to go better and how to make their car better. And what things guys were missing in the spring. Was it fuel mileage? Did you make that better? Was it turning the center? Did you make that better? All of those things.”
Have you ever been in a high pressure situation where you feel like you didn’t perform to the best of your ability? “Every week. There’s 43 guys out here every week that if they don’t win they didn’t meet the potential that they wanted to. There’s been times where we won races and we didn’t feel like we reached everything we needed to reach. It’s high pressure, it’s high stakes, there’s a lot on the line and this is a big performance business and certainly you’ve got to make the most of it. We’re trying every week.”
Are there any races you really need to focus on more the remainder of the year? “All of them. None of them are any special or you could relax anymore at any of them.”
Do you enjoy the night race at Charlotte? “Charlotte is always fun because it’s cool for us. It’s my favorite track, but it’s cool for a lot of teams because it’s kind of quote-on-quote — close to home. I like going there. It makes things interesting with the night race. Practicing during the day and racing at night and the cooler temperatures and everything. You’ve got to put your best foot forward and work as hard as you can.”
