NASCAR CUP SERIES
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY R.C.
VERIZON 200 AT THE BRICKYARD
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 12, 2023
KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 3CHI CAMARO ZL1, met with the media prior to the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. Media Availability Quotes:
THE LAST THREE YEARS, INDYCAR AND NASCAR HAVE BEEN AT THE SAME TRACK RACING AT THE SAME TIME. ARE YOU A FAN OF THAT WEEKEND.. HAVE YOU ENJOYED IT?
“Yeah, I would say so. I think it’s pretty cool – kind of unique. But you know, if I’m being selfish, I think many of us drivers, crews and everything else, we’d rather be coming here and racing around the oval with the prestige and the history of what the oval is. Even though we’re at Indy, it just doesn’t really feel like it’s the same thing going the wrong way.”
LOOKING AT THE SCHEDULE NEXT YEAR, YOU GUYS ARE MORE THAN LIKELY GOING TO BE ON THE OVAL AND THIS WEEKEND IS PROBABLY GOING AWAY, AT LEAST HERE. IS THIS SOMETHING THAT YOU’D LIKE TO SEE INCORPORATED ELSEWHERE, WHATEVER TRACK THAT IS? IS IT SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE CONTINUED GOING FORWARD, EVEN IF IT CAN’T BE HERE?
“Well that’s for way smarter people in higher powers than me to make that decision. If it works for INDYCAR and it works for NASCAR, then I would say sure.. why not. There’s plenty of places that we can do it – we can do it together, stuff like that. You could even do it at Watkins Glen (International) together if you wanted to – where all you have to do is move some cones and the INDYCAR guys can run the boot and we can run our normal course, but you can be on the same essential track during the weekend. So there’s definitely plenty of opportunities to continue the comradery between the paddocks and garage area to have an INDYCAR / NASCAR double.”
YOU’VE BEEN VERY OUTSPOKEN IN THE PAST ABOUT RESTARTS ON ROAD COURSES, INTO TURN ONE PARTICULARLY, WHETHER IT’S HERE OR COTA. WITH THE RESTART ZONE BEING BACKED UP BETWEEN (TURNS) 13 AND 14 THIS WEEKEND, IS THERE ANY OPTIMISM THAT WILL HELP AT ALL FOR TURN ONE?
“Possibly a little bit. I think the only other way to help it even more would just call it right now and just go single file, and make it single file starts going down the frontstretch into turn one. You have to separate these guys and give them some separation because they have absolutely no respect and they just drive over each other. We see it every week. We see it on ovals. (Ryan) Blaney wanted to be mad last week, and yet he crashed me and he almost crashed the No. 7 (Corey LaJoie) and he’s mad, so it makes no sense. The fact of the matter is – yeah, everybody goes down into turn one, they know you have to be on the inside and you just pile-drive through from the inside and push people off.”
ON THE SINGLE FILE RESTARTS, ELTON SAWYER HAD SAID ON SIRIUSXM RADIO EARLIER THIS WEEK THAT IS SOMETHING THEY WILL KEEP IN THEIR BACK POCKET FOR THIS WEEKEND – NOT JUST FOR WEATHER. SO YOU WOULD LIKE THEM TO CONSIDER THAT MORE, MAYBE ON THESE ROAD COURSES IF IT LOOKS LIKE IT’S GETTING OUT OF CONTROL TO KIND OF SAVE YOU GUYS FROM YOURSELVES?
“1,000 percent, no question. Yep, got to make the call. Don’t be afraid to make the call.”
TO ADD ONTO THAT, IN ADDITION TO THE ROAD COURSES, ESPECIALLY THE ONES WITH A WIDE TURN ONE, ANY LATE-RACE CAUTION CAN OFTEN LEAD TO SOME PRETTY CHAOTIC RESULTS. YOU MENTIONED BEING IN SUPPORT OF SINGLE-FILE RESTARTS. IN THAT CASE, WOULD YOU BE SUPPORTIVE OF SINGLE-FILE RESTARTS REALLY UNDER 10 LAPS TO GO AT ANY RACE?
“No, no I don’t think so. Obviously, yes – it would be easier if you’re the leader, but it would probably diminish the show. We’re in an entertainment business, I’m learning. We want to be able to put on, whether it’s a good show or a bad show, it’s debatable between opinions, right? But we want to be able to put on the best possible show for the fans that we can. I think that would be a deterrent to many of the races that we go to, but like Kelly said, save us from ourselves to just now allow calamity to ensue.”
WHEN SVG WON AT CHICAGO, THERE WAS A LOT OF FOCUS ON HIS RIGHT FOOT, HEEL-TOE BRAKING TECHNIQUE. DO YOU KNOW HOW TO HEEL-TOE?
“No, not successfully. I know how to do it and I can do it, but it’s very clunky. I am not a smooth operator when it comes to having to do the heel-toe. I did it years ago when I first kind of came in – like I was learning from Boris Said, Ron Fellows and a couple of those guys, just talking with them. Wheel-hop issues with the old car, it would really kind of help subside that. But then we just went to work on the car, the braking and everything else. To me, every time I’m able to just maximize my left foot for brake, I’m way better off, so I’ve kind of gotten away from it.”
SO IT WOULDN’T EVEN REALLY BE WORTH THE TRADE OFF OF TRYING TO DO IT OR TRYING TO LEARN IT?
“Right, yeah. For me, no. The Chevy guys – thanks to Chevy for letting us come over here – we ran some street Camaro’s around here and I tried it. Like I tried to do the right foot over, brake, use the clutch, do the downshifts and stuff like that. I was like a half-second slower than just using the brake and matching the RPM’s for the downshifts.”
About Chevrolet
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