Toyota Racing – NCS Quotes – Kyle Busch – Talladega/Pocono – 06.21.20

Toyota Racing – Kyle Busch
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

TALLADEGA, Alabama (June 21, 2020) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch was made available to media via videoconference on Sunday in advance of next week’s race at Pocono Raceway:

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

What is it about you and your team that make you so good at Pocono Raceway?

“There’s certainly a lot of things over the years that we’ve worked on and there’s definitely things we’ve fine-tuned on gotten a lot better at. I think starting in 2013 or 2014 and then it’s evolved with Adam Stevens being the crew chief since 2015 as well, too. We’ve run really well there. It’s a good track for us. I’ve learned a lot from my teammate, Denny Hamlin, who’s won there and certainly working with the Furniture Row guys with Martin (Truex Jr.) has also brought on some new, fresh ideas which help. It’s been a good track for us and hopefully we can carry our M&M’s Minis colors to victory lane there next weekend. Looking forward to having them onboard for the first time with ourselves and our No. 18 Toyota.”

How do you learn to get better at a track, like you have at Pocono?

“There’s so many different ways you can do it. You can look at data, you can look at the driving technique. Talking is kind of the best resource, just being able to ask the guy, ‘Hey, when you do this, why do you do this, or what do you expect when you get into a run and you’re going this far and tire wear and how do you get around turn two.’ Whatever it might be. Lots of different things there, being teammates with Denny (Hamlin) for this long, it’s lended itself to myself improving at Pocono and Martinsville, places like that and him improving at places like Bristol and Charlotte from myself. It’s a good take there and then having Martin (Truex Jr.) now, having him on board who is really good everywhere as well has definitely brought a good basis to our team as well as having our past teammates like Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards – so it’s been good.”

You make Pocono look easy, but what is still tough about Pocono even for you?

“Every time you go there, it’s a bit different. The bumps change, the characteristics change. Where the bumps are. Are they getting bigger? Are they getting worse? Is there more adding? That turn two tunnel turn is always a culprit for the bumps and for the harsh winters up there really changing the race track. Then, what happens in turn three, where the wind is blowing and stuff like that is always kind of a convoluted piece to Pocono and how you get through turn three versus turn one versus two. There’s three distinctly different corners, there’s definitely going to be compromise.”

Do you see race two is the same as race one since they are on the same weekend, or will they be different?

“I think you will have to make some changes to your stuff. The first race, there’s only going to be the Truck Series rubber, it’s only 60 laps, so there’s just going to be a little rubber down. Then, we’re going to put a lot of rubber down with our race. Then you’ll have the Xfinity race the next day and then you’ll have our race. Over the course of all those miles, I think the main similarities between the two days is going to be just that – they’re a day apart rather than a month apart. There’s a difference between the Pocono racetrack when it’s a month apart, but when it’s day one to day two, there’s going to be big differences in day one to day two, so you have to take a lot of different things into account.”

Are you doing the Xfinity or Truck race at Pocono, or just the two Cup races?

“Just the two Cup races.”

What are the most critical adjustments you can make between each race at Pocono?

“Obviously springs, shocks, bars, whatever you can change all that sort of stuff. Making some adjustments. Knowing how much that track changes in that first race will give you a basis to how much you expect it to change in the second race barring any weather or the track. It’s a 68 degree one day and a 90 degree day another, there’s going to be some big differences you’re going to want to adjust for and compensate for. Having a good notebook is certainly I think help with us and our team and Adam (Stevens, crew chief) being on board since 2015 since we started running good there. I think we could have a good idea of what to do.”

Are you trying to conserve yourself at all in Saturday’s Pocono race to be ready for Sunday?

“That and you have an invert, right? Kind of depends on what’s going on and what’s happening. If you’re struggling along or pit strategy throws you off and there’s three to go and you’re back in 15th, maybe you want the pole for the next day. We’ll see what happens with that. Obviously you want as many points as you can possibly get. We’ve run real well there the last few years there. We definitely want to keep that going and try to get a win. If you’re up in the front or up in the top five or whatever, you’re going to try to get as much as you can get there and not worry about the next day, you’ll just refocus the next day.”

What do you have to do to beat your brother at Kentucky?

“I’m not sure. There’s going to be other guys who have shown speed this year that we’re going to have to contend with. Looking back at last year, the 1 (Kurt Busch) was really fast, they were good. They showed good speed on the front side and the long run, so they not only had a good car that was trimmed out for the long run, but they also were good for the short runs, too. The 22 (Joey Logano) was really, really fast so I think he had the field covered and had the race won barring that late caution that came out, which did come out then on the restart Kurt was able to attack really hard and shuffled the 22 and get him out of there and then he and I raced for the win. Those same principals are going to apply. It’s just going to come down to the right situation at the right time. I think we kind of saw last year the outside was pretty gripped up with all the PJ1 and everything that was sprayed down, so it seemed like it had some good grip and I would expect it to be somewhat similar this time around.”

How has Martin Truex Jr. helped you, or built himself into the Joe Gibbs Racing team?

“Ever since Furniture Row joined with Toyota, he’s always been in our team meetings, so he’s always felt like a teammate from that front. Nothing really changed. He’s just brought in a new dynamic, him and Cole (Pearn, former crew chief) obviously had a great relationship and dynamic that was very good at executing, especially at mile-and-a-halves and things like that and getting the most out of their cars, building speed into their cars. We were able to learn some of the things from them on that front. As he transitioned full-time into Joe Gibbs Racing and having Cole on board again, that obviously helped and further developed the relationship between the crew chiefs I believe. As far as the driver stuff goes, he’s one of those guys – he doesn’t work out, he likes to go home, he likes to go fishing, he likes to chill, he doesn’t like to do a whole lot of stuff as far as physical exertion I guess you could say, the most you can get out of him is racing on Sundays. That just goes to show you there’s different mindsets and different ways of being successful in this and when you have good people around you, and good cars to drive, you don’t have to be a Carl Edwards type or a Tony Stewart type, you can be anybody and go fast. He’s done a really good job as executing as a leader and doing good with being able to help us as a whole in not only making our cars better, but making our teammate communication a lot better, too.”

Can you carry anything over from Pocono to Indy since there’s no practice now?

“That’s definitely a question for Adam (Stevens, crew chief). I can do my best here, but I would think there’s definitely some similarities in setup you can kind of look at and we’ll definitely take notice of those from day one to day two. Is Indy typically closer to our first Pocono race or our second Pocono race that’s on the schedule, I’m not sure. Do we take some of those setup concepts from the first one to the second, again I’m not sure. As far as the overall skeptic of it, you would think whatever you have or some ideas you have that are good at Pocono can transfer to Indy and having back to back weeks could act as somewhat of a simulation to where you’re fine tuning our stuff from the simulator to the real thing at Pocono and then having someone go back and redoing the simulator to make sure it’s right and then the data that they are looking at to get ready for Indy is the exact stuff that you want.”

Do you have aspirations for what your team is capable of achieving at upcoming tracks like Pocono and Indy?

“Certainly, going to Pocono has been a good place for us, Indy has been a good place for us. Although last year when we were at Indy, we struggled. We didn’t have the practice, we got rained out on practice, so we just got in and raced. We were eighth to 11th most of the day, that was the best we could do. We couldn’t muster up much more than that. Our teammate in the 11, Denny (Hamlin) was really good and probably had the shot to win the race. We have to look at some of that stuff and as to why and try to figure out a way to get ourselves where we belong and that’s leading laps and running up front.”

How will the heat and humidity at Talladega play a role in the race day environment?

“Thankfully I have plenty of hydration going on, so I’ll be alright. That’s part of it, it’s getting warmer. We’re going to tracks that we’re not accustomed to going to when it’s hotter out. I look at Indy, typically we go there July or August, it’s going to be July 4th so it will be pretty similar, but you have back to back days at Pocono, you’re going to have back to back Dovers, back to back Michigans. Some of these places the weather is typically warm this time of year will affect its toll on the cars, the drivers, the handling, things like that. I think being in the gym and working to do all you can do for myself then also staying hydrated throughout the week is the best I can do to get ready for these races. So far, of all of them that we’ve had, Atlanta was a little warm. Martinsville was probably the worst conditions because there’s not a lot of airflow in the car or circulation in the car because the right side windows are in and it just feels like you’re in a steam bath. That one was probably the worst one. Some of these bigger places you have a little bit of time to breath during the straightaway, so hopefully it won’t be too bad.”

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About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 40 million cars and trucks in North America, where we have 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama (10 in the U.S.), and directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold nearly 2.8 million cars and trucks (nearly 2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2019.

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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com

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