NASCAR CUP SERIES
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
ROUND OF EIGHT: RACE ONE
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
OCTOBER 19, 2024
KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 FICO CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Media Availability Quotes:
THIS IS A PLACE THAT MEANS A LOT TO YOU AND THAT YOU’VE HAD SUCCESS AT. IT’S ALWAYS THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION WEEK, BUT DO YOU FEEL MORE OPITIMISTIC COMING INTO THIS WEEKEND TO GET THAT WIN THIS SEASON?
“Yeah, we’ve had some good runs here of late. We’ve had some really good speed here in the spring. Again, we had some good speed in the spring race at Kansas and the fall race at Kansas, so we kind of relate these two places similar to each other. So hopeful, obviously, but we’ve got to go out there and execute and do a good job. Having fast cars cures all, and we’ll find out how fast we are here in a little bit.”
I FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE A GREAT PULSE ON WHO’S REALLY FAST IN THIS ROUND. CAN YOU HANDICAP THIS ROUND OF EIGHT FOR US? WHO SHOULD WE BE WATCHING AS THE BIGGEST THREATS TO MAKE THE CHAMPIONSHIP FOUR RIGHT NOW?
“Who’s above the cutline?”
LARSON, BELL, BYRON AND REDDICK..
“Umm yeah, I would say – baring craziness, which we all enjoy chaos, I would say that the race for the final spot is between the No. 45 and the No. 11. The other three are set.”
DO YOU ENJOY THE CHAOS?
“Not being a part of it.. absolutely not, no. But I don’t really pay attention to it anyways either, you know. So when stuff does start to go down and happen a little bit – you know, earlier this year in the playoffs, there was a lot that was going on with Watkins Glen, with Atlanta and all that sort of stuff. So I kind of saw that from just doing the TV show. But besides that, I wouldn’t have paid an ounce of attention. I’ve got enough problems (laughs).”
THERE’S BEEN CIRCUMSTANCES THAT HAVE ALLOWED YOU GUYS TO GET TO THE FRONT OF THE FIELD AND YOU GUYS HAVE CAPITALIZED ON THAT, LIKE LEADING LAPS A KANSAS A FEW WEEKS AGO. DOES ANY OF THAT SUCCESS OR WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED FROM THAT RACE TRANSLATE TO LAS VEGAS, OR ARE THE TRACKS TOO DIFFERENT WITH HOW BUMPY THIS PLACE IS AND CAN BE?
“No, I mean that’s kind of what I mentioned in the first question – I do feel like these places are pretty similar. There are differences, of course. There are in any race track. But you know, having speed in the spring at Kansas and backing that up with speed in the fall, was a sense of optimism. And I would like to think the same could happen here. We were good here in the spring. We had some bad pit stops, but we were able to pass our way forward.”
WHEN YOU’RE ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN, HOW MUCH ARE YOU INTERESTED IN OR PAY ATTENTION TO HOW THE CHAMPIONSHIP IS PLAYING OUT? IS IT JUST BECAUSE IT DOESN’T EFFECT YOU, SO IT’S ONE OF THOSE THINGS WHERE I DON’T NEED TO PAY ATTENTION TO WHO’S DOING WHAT OR WHAT THE POINTS ARE AND HOW THIS IS PLAYING OUT?
“Yeah, I mean at the end of the day – I guess when you’re done with Phoenix, you’ll probably look up at the pylon and see who was the furthest ahead of the four. You know who the four are, but past that, that’s about it. Just kind of seeing who got it. But yeah, I don’t put much into it.”
FOR YOU, HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO BE THE SPOILER AND WIN ONE OF THESE NEXT FOUR RACES BEFORE THE END OF THE SEASON? DO YOU PUT ANY EXTRA PRESSURE ON YOURSELF? WHAT’S YOUR BEST CHANCE?
“You know, no – I don’t put any extra pressure. I feel like when you do do that, you can put yourself in positions to make mistakes, like Kansas. You try to kind of let everything flow together; come to you and happen naturally. But those have been my best races that I’ve had and my two championships that I’ve won, when I’ve been in that mindset. So I’ve learned in those instances on how to excel, and I would love to kind of have it be that way again to win here on Sunday. But yeah, I mean time is running out. We’re getting closer to the end of the year. I feel like this place is probably one of our best chances of being able to go out there and get that win this year. Homestead hasn’t been great to me with this new car. Martinsville, I don’t think has been great to anybody for being able to pass. And the final four at Phoenix, and being in a championship race there – if you win that race and you’re not one of the championship four guys, you’ve got something special that day.”
I IMAGINE WITH THREE OR FOUR RACES TO GO IN THE REGULAR SEASON, IT CAN KIND OF BE A LITTLE BIT OF SINKING FEELING LIKE – I MAY NOT MAKE THE PLAYOFFS. AND HERE’S WITH FOUR RACES LEFT NOW IN THE SEASON AND YOU’RE TRYING TO EXTEND YOUR STREAK OF WINNING EVERY SEASON OVER 20 YEARS. IS IT A SIMILAR FEELING THAT YOU HAVE MAYBE WITH THREE OR FOUR WEEKS LEFT IN THE PLAYOFFS, OR IS IT DIFFERENT?
“Yeah, I mean I would say it’s similar.. sure. You know, you kind of come down towards the closing stages of the regular season, and we had some pretty good runs. We’ve had a couple second-place finishes; some close opportunities and some missed chances there, which really hurt being able to get into the playoffs, for one. But two, to just scratch-off the 20 year question mark. And so here we are again – the last few weeks of the season and trying to get that victory. All you can do is try each week and go through the best you can; execute and put yourself in the right spot to have that shot to win. If it doesn’t happen, then you were beaten by others that were better than you. So it’s just all you can do.”
I RAN INTO RANDALL BURNETT (CREW CHIEF) LAST NIGHT. HE SAID THAT HE FEELS LIKE THE TEAM IS DOING EVERYTHING. HE FEELS LIKE YOU’RE DOING EVERYTHING. CAN YOU PINPOINT THAT LITTLE SOMETHING THAT’S MISSING? CLEARLY RACERS WILL SAY – WELL IF WE DO, WE WOULD CHANGE IT. BUT YOU’VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR SO LONG, DO YOU HAVE A FEEL ON WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE FOR 2025?
“A little bit.. I mean it’s been talked about. But I’m not really sure if it’s appropriate for this room. You know, we continue to talk all the time. We talk every week. It’s not just me and Randall (Burnett) talking, it’s Richard (Childress) being involved. It’s Keith (Rodden) being involved. You know, Justin Alexander being involved. So there are some new key players that come in here for next season that hopefully will be able to – maybe January 1, I don’t know when they come in – you know, that will hopefully be able to bring us some newer, fresher ideas that will give us some opportunities to have faster race cars in 2025.”
DENNY HAMLIN SAID THAT BECAUSE OF HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU, HE DIDN’T RACE YOU HARD FOR THAT LAST SPOT. HE SAID THAT THE 100 PERCENT RULE DOESN’T REALLY APPLY ANYMORE. WHERE DO YOU STAND ON THAT?
“I thought he missed a shift, so I just scooched on by. I’m glad I wasn’t close enough to him to hit him.”
I KNOW YOU HAVE SOME FOND MEMORIES OF HOMESTEAD. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT IT MOVING TO THE SPRING NEXT YEAR? ANY CONCERNS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF HOMESTEAD FOR YOU?
“Didn’t we try the spring, like two or three years ago? The pandemic year?
NO MIC..
“So it was what, March? April? Somewhere in there? It didn’t go well. I don’t see this one going well. I think that place has had a bit of a struggle some time in being able to collect the crowd that it needs, not being the final race of the year. I hope I’m wrong.. prove me wrong.”
I REMEMBER IN 2020, YOU WERE IN A SIMILAR SPOT OF LOOKING FOR THAT WIN ALL YEAR AND YOU FINAL GOT IT AT TEXAS DURING THE FALL. DOES THIS SITUATION KIND OF FEEL SIMILAR TO THAT?
“Yeah, very similar. You know, just through the COVID year, we didn’t have practice. We just lined up and raced, and so it took us awhile through each race to be able to get ourselves the balance that I needed in the race car to be able to go out there and be fast. And it was just too late in the game, where we were just too far behind, and a lot of other guys were a little bit ahead of us. Here, or this year, we’ve kind of felt like we’ve qualified well at some places, but we don’t start the race well. So we’re kind of behind and trying to figure it out; get the balance right for the end of the race. And then by then, it’s a little too late. We’ve kind of run into that same predicament some. But yeah, it’s gotten down closer to the wire, closer to the end, and we don’t have that victory yet. Again, we’ll just keep trying to work on it; execute, do the best we can and make sure we put our best foot forward.”
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