NASCAR CUP SERIES
GO BOWLING 235 AT THE DAYTONA ROAD COURSE
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
August 13, 2020
KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference and discussed the challenges of the 2020 season in general, the focus of the team, how no practice has been an added factor, his thoughts on the upcoming Daytona Road Course race, and more. Full Transcript:
WE ARE COMING INTO THIS WEEKEND AT THE DAYTONA ROAD COURSE, MAKING HISTORY. HOW EXCITED ARE YOU TO BREAK IN THIS ROAD COURSE IN A NASCAR CUP SERIES CAR?
“With unprecedented times here in 2020, I think the call from NASCAR to make this unprecedented move is brilliant. With Watkins Glen not able to host a race in upstate New York, and to have the road course available for us down in Daytona; with no practice and no qualifying and just jumping straight into the race, why not? We’ve done everything in 2020 so far to overcome all these hurdles. I think the fun-factor this weekend has got everybody’s anxiety-level up; but also the challenge that’s right in front of us because it’s basically a wild card-style race, where you could see a driver and a team that don’t normally make the Playoffs, punch their ticket.”
HOW DO YOU LOOK AT YOUR CHANCES THERE? YOU ARE A SEASONED VETERAN. A WHEEL MAN. YOU HAVE SIX TOP-10 FINISHES IN THE LAST EIGHT ROAD COURSE RACES.
“I look at this the same way as all through this year. The challenges are so different and the factors of all of these things that we’re looking at for the first time, reminds me of when I was making my first start at Sonoma in a Southwest Tour car, part of NASCAR’s ladder system back in the day. And I was so intimidated by it. I didn’t know what to expect. And my team owner said hey, just try to stay on the asphalt and you’ll be okay. You know, that’s a lot of what we’ve been trying to juggle in 2020. Just keep it simple and you’ll be in position for better things to happen. So, it’s going to be a good challenge. There are probably only going to be two pit stops. And there’s not going to be much that you’re going to change on the car. So, you’ve just got to keep all four tires on the asphalt. Don’t flat-spot them. And don’t wear out the rear tires too quickly with all the horsepower.”
EVERYBODY KNOWS HOW MUCH YOU LOVE TO RACE AND HOW MUCH YOU ARE FOCUSED ON WINNING, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE THIS YEAR YOU’VE GOTTEN SOME PATIENCE. YOU SEEM SO UPBEAT EVEN IF YOU HAVEN’T HAD A RECENT WIN. WHERE DOES ALL THAT COME FROM? IT CERTAINLY PLAYS OUT WELL FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON TO HAVE THAT KIND OF ATTITUDE.
“There are quite a few factors. Most importantly, my wife Ashley. She’s a very patient person and somebody that has a nice sense of calm around her. And when the season started off and then we had this delay, we’ve really had to hunker down and protect ourselves and be in this bubble together. And that’s the challenge that 2020 has brought us. And then once racing resumed, with all the craziness and not know what to expect, no practice. We need to build up our points base. If we can build up our points base and get some solid top 10’s under our belt, that’s going to give us a cushion when we get in these summer months, when and if we are back to practice or qualifying or crazier things can even pop up. So it’s just been about consistency this year. Even just being that leader at Ganassi right now with Kyle Larson’s incident earlier this year and trying to get Matt Kenseth up to speed, and just trying to be that stable ground. And it’s been a challenge for me to do that; I enjoy it.”
I WAS INTERESTED TO HEAR YOU SAY TWO PIT STOPS. DO YOU FEEL LIKE PEOPLE WILL RACE THIS ON FUEL MILEAGE? OTHERS SEEM TO THINK TIRES ARE GOING TO BE SO IMPORTANT. YOU’D HAVE TO PIT AT THOSE STAGE BREAKS AND THEN POTENTIALLY ONCE DURING THE FINAL STAGE.
“Yeah, that’s our first instinct; in talking with (crew chief) Matt Mccall, is to spend the least amount of time on pit road. That’s how road course races are won. But, with stage points being available and possibly a stage win, we’ll see how that plays out. I’m on a conference call later this afternoon to really go through what we’ve learned on the simulator and what they’ve learned from their modeling on lap time drop-off and then that leads to fuel mileage. So, we don’t quite have all the answers just yet, but again you’ve just got to be ready for anything. Who knows?”
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR SEASON AS A WHOLE? YOU ARE KIND OF SOLID, POINTS-WISE, IN THE PLAYOFFS, BUT HAVEN’T NECESSARILY BEEN CHALLENGING UP-FRONT. ARE YOU PLEASED? WHERE DO YOU THINK THE TEAM NEEDS TO MAKE CHANGE TO CHALLENGE FOR MORE TOP 5’S?
“I feel like we’ve had a season that I never would have expected, of course with the situation we’re all in. But with the top 10’s that we’ve accumulated with the No. 1 car, I think we’re tied for third most. But we’re missing those top 5’s, and missing those laps led. It’s so hard to break through right now against (Kevin) Harvick, (Denny) Hamlin, (Brad) Keselowski; (Ryan) Blaney should have more wins right now.
“And we had a good opportunity at Texas. We came down pit road. We knew we needed two tires or fuel only and we got beat off pit road by RCR. Both the No. 3 (Austin Dillon) and the No. 8 (Tyler Reddick) behind us and they came out ahead of us. And that put us in that sucker hole of position three on those restarts towards the end and we just didn’t quite have the muscle to get by those guys. So, we were close. We’ve been in position a couple of times, but we haven’t been in position enough. So, we’ve just got to keep chipping away at what we believe is our weak areas. Some of that’s pit road and some of that’s the short run speed.”
CONSISTENTLY, YOU CAN TAKE A 15TH PLACE CAR AND GET A TOP 10 FINISH OUT OF IT. WE’VE SEEN THAT THIS YEAR. YOU’RE ALSO OLD-SCHOOL ENOUGH TO HAVE WORKED ON CARS AND UNDERSTAND CARS. DOES THAT ABILITY THAT YOU HAVE, AND YOUR BROTHER HAS, HELPED YOU AT TIMES WHEN THERE IS NO PRACTICE. KYLE (BUSCH) HAS REALLY RELIED ON PRACTICE IN THE PAST. HAS YOUR SKILL LEVEL HELPED YOU EXECUTE TO A HIGHER LEVEL THIS YEAR?
“Well, it’s actually something that Kyle, my little brother, and I are confused about. We’ve been flying together a lot and talking together a lot because we are in our own bubble as a family, and we’re still very puzzled. I mean Kyle Busch is the defending champion of NASCAR and doesn’t have a win yet. I don’t have a win yet. And the only thing that we’ve been able to look at each other and just stare right into each other’s eyes and go, you know what? We miss practice. We miss that feel in the car to know that this is not the right way to go; this is the right way to go. And we haven’t been able to capitalize on that with no practice. So, it’s been tough. It’s a challenge. But yeah, I know what it takes to set the pre-load and the sway bar and as far as different movement in the rear end with yaw, it’s again, just got to find the right combination while the race track is rubbering in. Some of these race tracks, we’re the first series to hit the track, and then sometimes we’re the last group to hit the race track and it’s all rubbered in and different. So, lots of variables and that’s where you’ve got to find that perfect combination.”
TRADITIONALLY, YOU’VE BEEN SIGNING ONE-YEAR DEALS WITH GANASSI. AS CRAZY AS THE PANDEMIC HAS MADE LIFE IN GENERAL, HAVE YOU HAD ANY DISCUSSIONS YET WITH CHIP AS TO WHAT YOUR FUTURE MIGHT LOOK LIKE?
“No, no discussions at all. I’m very happy with where things sit and the trajectory of where things will be in 2021, and we’ll go from there.”
EVEN WITH THE PANDEMIC IN MIND, WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE TO RUN DAYTONA WITH NO PRACTICE OR QUALIFYING WHEN DRIVERS HAVE NOT RUN THIS COURSE?
“Yeah, it’s going to be pretty wild. Just driving a little bit on iRacing and the simulator with Chevrolet, having a mindset of driving the car at 80 percent pace has seemed to have provided the most stability in laps times and in as far as tire wear and just finding a rhythm. That’s the key thing. You have to find a rhythm and we’re all going to be doing it as they drop the green flag and as there are 39 other cars around us and who knows? Thunderstorms are in the forecast and we may as well throw rain tires on our cars in 2020 just to say we checked that off the box.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
