Toyota Racing – Kyle Busch
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Martinsville Speedway – March 24, 2018
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch was made available to the media at Martinsville Speedway:
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Caramel Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Talk about the importance of starting on the front row and how it helps out in getting that win.
“This place (Martinsville Speedway) is a tough challenging little short track, so everybody talks about the brakes and just being able to save your equipment for much of the day and being able to start up front will help do some of that. It’s such a long race here you’ve got to take your time and be mindful of the tires for the first few runs, especially after the rain that’s going to set in tonight and possibly some snow that will set in tonight with being able to get the track dry and everything, it will be pretty green and this place eats up tires as much as anywhere. I think it’s better to start up front, obviously you don’t have to chase guys down and don’t have to worry about guys coming up behind you very quickly and being able to not go a lap down.”
Was there a moment where you knew how to get around Martinsville better than previously?
“No, not really. I feel like if you look at the past four or five races here, I remember even times with Dave Rogers here – maybe 2012 or 2011, I’m not sure how far back to go. We started finishing top-fives and starting getting some fifths, some thirds, some fourths and maybe even a sixth or something in there with a late-race shenanigans or whatever going on. That’s when it started coming together. It was still frustrating because there was never really that moment where we figured it out and we could get a win. We could finish top-five and we had top-fives going so it just kept evolving and kept getting better for us and for myself and for Joe Gibbs Racing and for myself and Adam (Stevens, crew chief) especially. Adam and I have clicked here and we’ve been able to put together some wins and some strong runs. We’ve been leading a lot more laps and challenging for better finishes. Certainly want to have some more of that this time around, it’s really cool and very important when you come back here in the fall to win that race because it puts you in a free spot to Homestead.”
Do you think the track will change with the weather conditions?
“I think it certainly will change less and it will be less change than we’re accustomed to here. I feel like the colder it is, the less rubber goes down. I also think that this tire is different, it did put down a little bit of rubber today for as cold as it was today. I think that there will be some rubber that goes down tomorrow, but I don’t think it will be as dark as it could be if it were warmer outside. We’ll keep notice on that as far as the track changing and things happening to make sure that we keep up with it.”
Do you have any Easter plans?
“As far as Easter goes, no not yet, but certainly there’s airplane tickets ready to go – we’re going to the Bahamas on Monday so hopefully we get this in tomorrow and be done with that, get home tomorrow night and hang out with Brexton a little bit before bed and then we get up Monday morning and we’re heading to the airport. It’s going to be fun to just get away, relax for a few days, chill out and come back home just before Easter so we can celebrate it with all the family and everything and hopefully have some Easter egg hunts, we’ll see.”
What are your thoughts on a 13-year old racing in a top level of Late Models?
“I’ve heard of a 10-year old in a Late Model so there you go and that’s way too young. I don’t think it’s necessarily an age thing as much as it’s an experience thing. I look at go-karts, how did that particular individual do in go-karts or Bandoleros or Legend cars – what has his history been in vehicles, has he won races, has he been good, has it been worth him moving up each and every time to a new vehicle. I don’t know who you’re speaking of, I don’t know anything about them and I don’t even know who the 10-year old is, I’ve just heard that number before. I think you can’t just, I don’t know that it’s just smart to start at 10 or start at 13 in a Late Model, that absolutely should not be possible. As far as me, yeah I started at 13 in Legend cars and when I got to the Late Models for myself at 15 – 16 mainly, I finally got caught at 15, but I tested a few when I was 15, but then I couldn’t race until I was 16. I was scared to death of the thing with how much faster it is than a Legends car, how much cornering speed it has more than a Legends car and more than anything I’ve been in and more than I’m used to with the grip level and the G-forces and things that it gives you. It was just a big deal at 16 years old for me. I think that there’s kids that can handle it, obviously I don’t think that it’s all that important as young as some of these cats are getting in Late Models at 10 or 13 years old because I look at myself not being 15 doing that and I look at William Byron not being 15 or 16 and doing that, he got a late start like I did so you can still have a late start and be good and be able to make it to the big time. I don’t think you have to be so young getting in and pushing yourself along. People as me, what are you going to do with Brexton? The first thing he can get in, he can be four years old. If he wants to fine, we’ll do it, but if he doesn’t like it and doesn’t want to do it then I’m not going to force his hand. If he doesn’t want to do it at 13 or 14 years old then fine, I don’t think it matters. If you have it then you don’t have to learn it at that young of an age.”
Did anything come from your input following the post-race interview issues at Auto Club Speedway?
“There was a driver’s council meeting this week on Tuesday and I was at the Charlotte Roval test so I wasn’t able to make it, but my ideas were brought up. I made sure to speak with one of the guys that I knew from NASCAR that was going to be there and he voiced my side to the rest of the drivers and there was a discussion, but I’m not sure what all came of it. I find it unfair sometimes when you’re not the driver available for an interview and we get called out for it, but we’re standing there wanting to give an interview and TV doesn’t give one that TV isn’t called out on it. I think it needs to be both ways. It’s unfortunate sometimes that you run into TV windows that they don’t air. I’ve had interviews before that they haven’t even aired on TV. They may use it for a Race Hub show or an NBC NASCAR America show or whatever. When you’re on TV after a race, that’s a bigger impact than being on a weekly show. I don’t know where it’s all gone or what will happen on procedural changes, nobody gets back to me on anything.”
What did you think about the Roval course during the test?
“There were a couple corners that were a little iffy that I talked to Marcus (Smith) and Don Hawk about and they have an idea for changes to one of them, but not the other one. When you’re coming down onto the front straightaway and you have that zone in the infield grass and then you turn, you have a direct, head-on impact into the wall on the front straightaway there so that’s kind of a concern. The chicane on the front stretch, when you turn to the right heading head on into a wall and then you have to turn back left going along the front straightaway, when we were testing it wasn’t bad because you could hop this curve and hop that curve, but then they wanted to straighten that out more from turn seven like at Sonoma, which is more of a 90 degree turn and would make that angle worse. I expressed my displeasure with that idea and then we also had the same thing coming from turn seven to turn eight where you’re braking in a zone and heading head-on into the front straightaway wall to get back on NASCAR one. Softening up that corner as well and making that tighter and a softer corner where you can corner that and get back on the main track a little safer. Those are some instances that I felt were kind of the worst instances, other than that I thought the track was kind of okay, it’s a bit narrow and tight in places, but I think you have that at some other road courses that I have not been at that NASCAR has been at. Montreal is really narrow too and it puts on a decent show. I think it will be fine, it will just be different. I think it’s going to be about survival more than anything.”
