Toyota Racing – Kyle Busch
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

AUSTIN, Texas (May 22, 2021) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch was made available to media via videoconference prior to the Circuit of the Americas race earlier today:

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

How was it out there?

“It’s interesting just with the wet. It’s been a while since we’ve been in the rain. I guess the ROVAL last year we had some race in the rain but haven’t really ever practiced in the rain to get a better mindset for what it takes and get a better feel for what it takes. So far today, so good. Felt pretty good out there being able to get some laps with the Cup car and then go out there and qualify the Xfinity car and now get ready for both races.”

How were conditions overall in the sense, did you feel safe, were there times you couldn’t see, do you have major concerns or are you good if it rains the rest of the weekend?

“You definitely can’t see. It’s not terrible seeing through the esses when you are following a couple of guys, but I’ve only ever followed a couple of guys and they’ve been kind of spread out, not being 15th in line trying to follow guys, so that’s definitely going to be an issue. And then down the backstretch. As soon as you start accelerating out of turn 11 and heading down the backstretch, the spray that you see past 60-70 miles an hour, you’re just blind. I was out there in qualifying behind Harrison (Burton) and Harrison was the only one in front of me by a good stretch to the next guy in front of him and I couldn’t see. I was looking at the guardrails trying to figure out where I was. I could kind of see where the track was, but your reference points for where your breaking zones and things like that are washed out. You can’t see any of that stuff, so you are playing it by ear the whole time. If you are third on back in the Xfinity race coming off turn 11 here at the start and it’s raining, it’s going to be chaos getting down in to 12 just not being able to see. “

So, is it fun, is it a challenge, ridiculous, considering points and trophies are given?

Yea, it’s all of the above really. Is it optimum conditions? No, certainly not, but it’s the same for everyone. Obviously if you are the guy out front, you have the cleanest track, but you’ve earned that. I think just a matter of being able, wish there was a better way to see through the spray. Our cars put up such a spray and the windshield, I haven’t even run a windshield wiper because I know it doesn’t do anything, so you are just trying to keep your windshield as clean as you can and find your way without being able to see around everything. The slower sections – the 30, 40, 50 mph sections – those aren’t bad. The spray really doesn’t kick up too terrible. It stays pretty low that you have a good sense of being able to see where you are at.”

For a veteran like yourself, what was the benefit of running the Xfinity race this weekend?

“Being able to come to a new track – when everything was announced that we were coming here – I wanted to run the truck race, because I’ve never won a truck race on a road course, but they made it a Triple Truck Challenge race, so that locked me out. I had to fight Ty Gibbs for the seat of this 54 car for this weekend. Obviously, with how well he’s been running and with Coy (Gibbs) and them guys wanting him to run here and get experience. He loves road racing too. I’m glad I was able to steal that from him, but overall, it was kind of perfect scenario – being able to get in the Xfinity Series and be able to practice in both of those. It’s been a really good weekend for us.”

Even after all of this time, does experience matter?

“Absolutely, track time. When you come out here and you look at the track – yesterday, I was running on the dry, so I have all of my braking points set, my turn-ins set, everything set off of the dry and where the rubber was kind of being laid down on the track, but today, it’s a wash. It’s all water, so you are starting over, but at least you have a little bit of a sense of where that stuff is – trying to pick out those visuals that you can really count on each and every day.”

What are you doing to try to stay dry?

“Yeah, just the defog device is good to have in the car for the windows. A couple of fans so the window stays as clear as it can. Honestly, my Cup car and my Xfinity car – during practice my visor was fogging up from the inside. We’ve got a little bit of an issue on that. But I would pop my visor open, and I could see fine, but there is also water that shoots in through the window that gets on your visor, so you are always kind of dealing with water spot whether that is on your windshield or your visor. A little bit of fog on the visor. There are all those elements that are certainly a challenge that we are working through and figuring out what we can do with the helmet right now. It might just be that we run open visor and let her eat.”

Do you feel like Hendrick Motorsports is back?

“I feel like they are definitely the team to beat for 550 races. They’ve won 750 races. They’ve been really fast, those guys definitely have it turned up and have it going on. (Kyle) Larson leading the most laps, being the most competitive of that bunch – hasn’t won as much, but I still think that those guys are the top team right now. Maybe not week in and week out, but on a more often than not occasion. It’s going to be a fight to be reckoned with throughout the remainder of the regular season.”

How difficult is it to see in the high-speed portion of the track with the splitter kicking up the rain?

“Yeah, it was. When you get on the heavy brakes it kind of slams down and starts scooping the water a little bit. It happens. You can mitigate that. You can raise your front end a little bit and not have that happen as much. We might look into that as far as what it looks like tomorrow. If it’s going to be a dry race, I bet we leave it along. But if it’s going to be a wet race, we might want to pick that up a little bit. The biggest thing is when you are above 80, 90 mph you really can’t see a whole lot with the spray, but once you get down below that into the 60, 50 mph range – it’s not terrible. You can see fairly well. It’s treacherous with vision and grip in some areas over the track versus others – kind of always have to look for the lay of thee land and what the surface looks like.”

What kind of issue does weather cause when trying to find the perfect setup?

“I don’t think you can really find the ideal setup with the rain. It’s all about how you work the rain, how you work the lines, how you work the brakes, the gas. You can improve you setup a little bit, but it’s so hard to know if it’s going to be a dry race or a wet race. We are looking at the weather for tomorrow. It doesn’t look good to be a dry race, but you never know. Yesterday, it was supposed to rain all day and it was dry all day. It’s just a matter of working through all of that stuff. The tire change is the greatest change. When you put those slicks on, you just get way more grip and you get so much more weight transfer in different corners that you can really work the setup a lot more then versus in the rain, you are going so slow that it’s like ice trying to keep it going straight. I think the biggest thing that kind of plays into the craziness and the strategies of road racing is the weather, guys going off, guys running into guys, guys trying to out brake guys, contact here, whatever. We will see how that goes.”

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