Toyota Racing – Kyle Busch
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
CONCORD, North Carolina (October 8, 2020) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch was made available to media via videoconference in advance of the race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course:
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What is your mindset heading into the Roval this weekend and what can you learn from your past two runs there?
“The things that we’ve learned is just how to drive the place, how to continue to improve on how to drive the place and also with the race team on trying to find more grip. The last two times we’ve been there, it just seems that we don’t quite have all of what we’re looking for. We were going to have a decent run maybe the first year, maybe a third or fourth place finish and then last year we were destined for a top-six. Each year we get caught up in stuff. The first year following everybody off the cliff into turn one and then last year getting hit on a restart with somebody making a three-wide move getting into one and caused damage to our car, got a flat tire and never recovered. Just unfortunate circumstances. We just have to keep ourselves out of trouble. That’s hard to do on such a tight circuit with a lot of stuff going on and a lot of guys making desperation moves and us needing to make some desperation moves too most likely.”
Do you believe there will be a reset in the business model to make Cup ownership more appealing?
“I have no idea on any of the specifics of any of that stuff. From just the things I’ve heard from JGR management is, I’m not sure what all the rules are going to entail as far as how many cars, but the cars are certainly going to be more expensive than the current cars that we have. As far as all that goes, again, I don’t know how the model can be sustained with these new owners coming in, especially new ones coming in right now for next year knowing that they have to buy old, useless inventory and then essentially scrap it when it’s all said and done. That to me makes absolutely no sense. We’re happy with where we’re at with Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Truck Series doing what we can do with Toyota and for Toyota in the Truck Series to continue the driver development program that continue to put butts in seats in the Xfinity Series with Joe Gibbs Racing as well as the Cup Series cars.”
Do you plan to own Kyle Busch Motorsports for a long time to come?
“I mean, long time could be next year, I don’t know. We’ve been doing it now for 10 years, this is our 10th season doing it and unfortunately the last two years haven’t quite gone to the way that we would like to or the way we’re accustomed to in being able to have drivers contend for championships, be up there racing their way all the way to the final four and being in the championship race. We certainly have a little bit of work to do as an organization to continue to get our stuff better. There’s always guys that are playing catch up and all that sort of stuff so maybe they have caught up to us. We see each and every week, GMS is putting four or five trucks on the race track and they’re all running within the top-six, seven or eight spots. That’s certainly to be commended and obviously, we see that and we’re not doing that. We’ve got work to do.”
What is your goal on points to try to obtain throughout the stages on Sunday?
“Don’t have any. Just race it out. Race as best we can, as good as we can. I felt like at the Daytona Road Course, it was going okay for us. Made a lot of mistakes early on in the race and we were still up to second and trying to chase down (Chase) Elliott there towards the end to gain some of those seconds that he distanced us and the rest of the field by on a restart when I had to slice through traffic a little bit to get to second and then we ended up having all of our brake failures. For as far off as we’ve been at the Roval, that was certainly a big step in the right direction at the Daytona Road Course so we’re taking some of that similar philosophy there in order to see if we can’t improve on how our cars drive at the Roval.”
Is the struggle this season a team problem or a manufacturer problem and can you comment on David Wilson’s statement on this year’s performance being ‘unacceptable’?
“I’m not sure exactly. I did see or hear from David (Wilson, TRD president). Dave and I had conversations back at Dover and then again a couple weeks ago. We certainly understand and see that we’re a little behind the eight ball when it comes to sometimes unloading, sometimes being good enough right off the truck at the start of some of these races. It was a bit rougher earlier on, it’s been a little better more lately. I don’t know if that’s simulation improving or what we’re reading in the simulation or if it’s just more guesswork and the guesses are going right, I’m not exactly certain as to what’s been a little bit better. Obviously, it hasn’t lended itself necessarily to wins. There’s definitely probably two or maybe three wins that we, the 18 team, coulda, woulda, shoulda had, barring a little bit different circumstances this year. But that’s not talking like last year there was probably 12 or 13 wins the 18 car could have had. There’s a lot of different things that are going on for us this year, I’m not sure why or what. Next year is going to look awfully familiar to this year with no practice and all that. We definitely have to do some catch up here. Simulation is a big part of that right now. Everything is simulation, that’s the only tool we have. That’s the only practice we have. If the Ford guys or the Chevy guys are doing a better job of being on the simulator and getting better notes and being able to feel that better and make better changes on the simulator in order to have their stuff more prepared and ready to go when the race starts then by golly, we better figure out how to do the same thing. That’s the only tool and resource that we have. But if the sim is telling you the wrong information, then obviously there’s something wrong within the settings, within the sim that we also have to make sure are right.”
Do you feel this year is just not ‘Kyle-like’?
“For sure. The laps led, the running up front – I’m sure the average running position is horrendous this year from what it’s compared to be in years past. Definitely, I feel as though some of that might be due to the competition kind of catching up. Last year, this new aero package and everything, everybody was kind of trying to find their tune as far as downforce or less drag or what kind of car you would bring to what track. It seems like a lot of people are a lot closer to that and when we’re at Las Vegas for instance, just a couple weeks ago. When we all dropped the green flag and we all kind of got spread out a little bit, I was running second at one point and the third-place guy was running me down and caught up and then stalled out and couldn’t pass me and faded back. Then the fourth-place guy ran into the third-place guy and the fifth-place guy ran into the fourth-place guy, but nobody was passing, nobody was going anywhere. It just showed us the competition has equaled out and it’s hard to make up spots. My brother and myself were running for 12th and 13th with John Hunter Nemechek with about 30 (laps) to go. We, the 18 team, pitted and got our fresh tires on and then the caution came out. Kurt (Busch) had stayed out, was able to inherit the lead, came down pit road, got his tires, was able to inherit the lead on the restart, control the rest of the race, won the race. So a 13th place car went from running 13th to the lead and won the race. Just drop anybody out front and that’s possibly where they can ride.”
Why did you make the statement that you wouldn’t expect to transfer out of this round and that you didn’t care?
“I guess yes to all. Certainly, there’s reasons to believe and based off of past history, reasons as to why I said what I said. Having Talladega and the Charlotte Roval both in the same round for us is worst case scenario that’s absolutely possible. It’s a tough round for us and this team with the luck we seem to have, especially this year. But anything can happen. You can go into this race and work your guts out and finish second in each and every one of the stages and yet still get beat out by somebody else by points or finish second to the 88 (Alex Bowman) car winning and he transfers on or whatever it might be. The fact of the matter is that it’s going to come down to attrition and seeing what happens in the race and just playing it out the whole way and hoping that you’re not in the attrition.”
How much do you care about making it through to the next round?
“That’s a surprising question coming from you Claire (B. Lang, SXM). We all care and I wouldn’t be continuing to go to the race track each and every week and pouring my heart and soul into this and taking time away from my family if I didn’t care. Obviously, there’s M&M’s and Interstate Batteries and Toyota and everybody else on my race car and at Joe Gibbs Racing that supports us that works as hard as they do and my team and my crew chief and all my guys, they don’t spend the time and effort that they do each and every week and all year long for the years that we’ve been together for one of us not to care. That’s tongue and cheek talk and should be known as that coming from me obviously, I say a lot of dumb shit. It is what it is and we’re going to go on into this week and fight like hell and try to make it through.”
Can you explain the ‘Treat Town’ theme on the car for Kansas?
“It’s definitely going to be interesting. I’m certainly looking forward to going to Kansas and having the opportunity to run another M&M’s scheme brought to you by Treat Town. As the leader in Halloween candy, the M&M’s/Wrigley team has done a tremendous job of delivering hundreds of thousands, millions of products to homes over the years and no matter where we are or where our families are this season, Mars/Wrigley is a trusted resource for them. Obviously with social distancing, trick-or-treating options on October 31, Mars/Wrigley is launching Treat Town. The first ever virtual trick-or-treating app that will allow users to connect and exchange candy with family members and friends across the country. Everybody is going to want to tune into that and on October 31, go to your app store or your Google Play in order to download the app. We’re all looking forward to being able to celebrate Halloween and trick-or-treating some way, somehow and in some sort of fashion with everything that’s gone on here in 2020.”
What will your mindset being heading into Kansas?
“Going to Kansas, I’ll have a whole different perspective as to what’s going on come Monday. As to what my mindset is going into Kansas. I think next round is actually a pretty pleasing round for the 18 car barring us getting through this round. If you all remember correctly, I talked about insurance premiums and how my premiums were going to go up last year in Las Vegas. Well, I didn’t even buy insurance this year. That goes to show you how important insurance is, not having any of those stage points, not having any of those race wins to have those stage points to fall back on. Obviously, that’s going to be a tough act to follow this weekend with being able to transfer through, but hopefully we do. That will give me the precedence of what to expect going to Kansas, Texas and Martinsville and so on.”
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