Toyota Racing – Kyle Busch
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Martinsville Speedway – October 27, 2018
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch was made available to the media at Martinsville Speedway:
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What clicked for you at Martinsville dating back to the fall race in 2015?
“I’m not sure what kind of started clicking for us. I had a few top-fives I think before that as well too with Dave Rogers. I think that’s when it really was starting to finally set in. Maybe 2012 or 13ish, we always had decent runs going here, but we never materialized throughout the entire day and make the right adjustments the entire day to be there at the end. This track changes quite a bit throughout the entirety of the event and through 500 laps. I think just being able to give better feedback and having Adam (Stevens, crew chief) not being scared to make adjustments because he knows what’s going to happen and what he feels right in his gut that allows us to be up front most of the day.”
How do you approach race weekends knowing you have a solid record at the upcoming tracks?
“I think because the sport changes so much. What we’re doing today isn’t necessarily what we were doing a few months ago when we were here. You obviously know the sport changes, we’ve seen how well the Stewart Haas guys have gotten and all of them are now versus what the 4 (Kevin Harvick) had just shown speed for the last three years. It’s just always about trying to continue to improve and continue to get better. We know we go into some of these race tracks a little bit behind, but I feel like with Adam and myself with the way that we’re able to work together and the things we’re able to do together that we can have solid runs, solid finishes and even try to chase for wins.”
Is it different having all your teammates in the Round of 8 versus being the only car from a team?
“I think there is. I think it puts more strain on the shop obviously to have to produce more cars – more caliber cars to go to the race track each and every week. Everybody puts everything into all their stuff all the time, but there’s that added motivation when you are in the Round of 8 so I just think that compounds itself when you have to go with four versus just one. I think also too when you have four guys in there, you have four that are striving to have really, really good, solid days and the teammate game isn’t necessarily teammates. It’s all about yourself all the time when you have all four in versus when you have just myself being eligible now, even yeah there’s opportunity for me to get some slack cut my way by my teammates that I wouldn’t necessarily ask them to or expect them to. They obviously have to race for what they feel is right as well.”
What are your thoughts heading into Texas next weekend with the recent repave?
“I wouldn’t say it poses any tougher problems. That place has always been fast and it’s always been one groovish around the bottom and so far it’s kind of what we’ve got with the repave. Obviously you hope that with time and age and the asphalt surface that it gets better and more racey. Not sure we’re really there yet, especially the time of year we go there now being in November and as chilly as it is, it’s pretty cool so there’s going to be more urgence to run the bottom all the time. That’s tough and it’s always tough for raceability of the race track. It was a good place for us before the repave and now since the repave I think it’s been a pretty good place for us as well. We’ve run well there, we won there this spring and hopefully we can continue that sort of momentum there.”
What are your thoughts on the ‘Racing Wives’ show?
“I think it’s just a unique opportunity and a sneak peek into the lives of us – mostly the wives obviously – outside of racing and what we do here at the race track each and every weekend. People get 30 second snipits sometimes of drivers on camera and make their impression off of what they see there and their opinions off of that. They don’t necessarily know what we’re like away from the track. I think it’s more exciting for the girls. Samantha (Busch) is obviously huge into the IVF and being an advocate for that and what we’ve all had our challenges of conceiving our son and now with going through the second round for a girl hopefully. She’s also got some other aspirations that she’s got with her store and some other things that will come out in the show that she’s trying to do. It’s about awareness for those things and trying to help build her brand and the awareness. If we’re able to get three new viewers from that show that tune in on Sunday, then it’s a positive and it’s a win. That’s kind of how we look at it.”
Do you feel this race track changes with every visit and have to constantly change setups?
“I agree to a sense of what he’s (Noah Gragson) saying, I just think it’s like the feel that you get every time you come here is vastly different. You can come here with the same setup, but you’re constantly tweaking on it. You can end one way in a race and come here and unload the exact same way and end another way and then come back here and unload the exact same way and finish that one and make changes. You’re just always, constantly evolving and I think that’s just the sport, not necessarily the race track, but the overall change in what happens each time you come here. It’s hard to remember. You don’t race here for seven months, it’s hard to remember exactly what all you’re doing and to fine tune and get those moments exactly right. I think that’s just kind of the feel. Here at Martinsville, you’re literally trying to hit the same line all the time and you might vary six or eight inches and six or eight inches here is a big deal for lap time. You can go from running a 20-flat to running a 20.25 just by missing the bottom of one corner. It’s obviously a very challenging place and being so precise here equates to speed.”
Can your teammates be instrumental with setups through the remaining Playoff races?
“My teammates yes, they can certainly help. We lean off the 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) a bit, we lean off the 11 (Denny Hamlin), the 20 (Erik Jones) and we’ve actually leaned off the 20 a lot the last few races. I feel like yes, there’s an opportunity there for all of us to help one another, mostly for those guys to help us. They can certainly venture off in different paths and Adam (Stevens, crew chief) can certainly give them things he would like to see them try while we’re working on other things and we can kind of regroup after practice with notes and that feedback. I think that can be instrumental to us and back to Bob’s (Pockrass) point, having one car in versus having all four cars in.”
Are you surprised to be the only driver of the ‘Big 3’ that’s won a Playoff race?
“When you look at the grand scheme of things and people look at the list of winners through the year – it shows there hasn’t been a Big 3 winner, but when you look at the inner depth of how the top three have run I think there’s a different story. (Kevin) Harvick was obviously the dominant car if not the best car at Dover and possibly Kansas and just had certain circumstances not go their way to allow them to finish the day how they had been running. You look at the 4 (Harvick) car and he could easily have had two or three wins already and that’s really, really good for those guys where Richmond was really our best chance for a win and our best finish at Dover was probably going to be a third. Kansas was probably going to be a third with Harvick being put back to the leader. It’s all relative I guess to how you read what the finishing standings were.”
How do you approach this round knowing you’re in a good position with bonus points?
“I’m not so sure that you can just advance on points even in our situation where we’re at. The way that all eight of these guys have been running lately, there’s an opportunity for let’s say the bottom three guys, whoever they are – if they win and (Kevin) Harvick has a better three races than we do, he’s in on points versus us. I’m not so sure – that situation can happen – I’m not so sure that situation will happen, I hope it doesn’t, but I would like to think that you still have to go out there and kind of push the issue to win a race. That obviously just cements yourself and you win Martinsville, you get a couple weeks off and being able to focus and think about what you have to do to win Homestead the final week. Even if you don’t win those, I think it was 2015 and we were the last guy through on points to get through to the championship round and we ended up winning it in 2015. However you get there, it’s just a matter of getting there and making sure you’re eligible.”
Do you have extra confidence knowing you’ve made it to the ‘Championship 4’ previous years?
“I believe every year is a new year, but you certainly can’t forget what you’ve done and what’s gotten you to that point of being in the Championship 4. I do feel like the experience that we’ve had and the times that we’ve been there, we can lean on some of that and some of those bullet points that have given us that success to be able to get to the final four and rely on that information over again. Some of these guys that haven’t made it there, have made it to the Round of 8, but haven’t been able to transfer through. They’ve certainly learned some of the things of what not to do, but I feel like we just have to continue doing the things that we know what to do and hopefully that all comes to fruition. You can be racing a guy trying to get to the bottom here at Martinsville and cut somebody off or have somebody get into you off the exit of the corner, cut your left rear tire and spin you out and you’re day’s done and now you can be on the outside looking in for the next two races. Anything can happen, you just have to be smart and figure it all out and kind of let it play out and come to you as it will.”
