NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
FEBRUARY 11, 2026
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet – 2026 DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes:
What has it been like working with (Jim) Pohlman (new crew chief)?
“Working with Jim has been good. He’s a very determined guy. He wants to make a difference and be the difference maker here at RCR and the 8 car and having us have a better chance of being able to reach Victory Lane each and every week. It’s all about being able to extract the most out of the people, whether it’s everybody at the shop or whether it’s your team at the racetrack, the pit crew, all those guys. I feel like he’s got everybody really looking up to him and believing in him and his way. That’s been good.”
Some drivers what to run up front, some want to be further back. What is the strategy? Where do you want to run during the race? Where do you want to be at the end of the Daytona 500?
“I don’t know. Two years ago, when we were here, Austin Dillon and myself got the lead. We were in the control of the race. We were running first and second when we came off of Turn 4. I saw the white flag in the flag man’s hand, and unfortunately, a caution came out as we got to the front side of pit rod entry. And after that, we weren’t able to hold the lead on the restarts, but I led mile marker 500. That’s just the way it goes… you just never know how it’s exactly gonna end. So, to be out front, you feel like that’s the safest spot to be, but sometimes you see guys spun out of the lead and they’re not the ones to win. There are guys that win coming out of Turn 2 and they’re in 7th place or they’re in 11th place, It just depends, you never know.”
How long into the season will it take before you can assess and gauge the new Chevy body?
“I think we’re going to see some speedway prowess of how good it is. When we get to Atlanta, same thing. And then we get to some short track stuff, and we’ll see how the downforce on it is.
Obviously, you look at over the years, the brands that have come out with new bodies have been pretty competitive. Although, you look and you see Kyle Larson won the championship last year with the oldest body out there. Now, we’ve got a fresh one, and a new one, and maybe the advantages on Team Chevy.”
How do you feel about this year with the challenges you’ve had? Challenges can make you stronger and probably the best thing for you…
“Challenges can be tough, it’s just the nature of how well you handle those challenges. You can obviously beat yourself down and get low. It’s all about trying to build yourself up and keeping yourself at the top level that you can be to go out there and achieve success. It hasn’t been the greatest the last few years. We’ve had some close calls and sometimes where maybe we could have won a race. We certainly haven’t been dominant forces of being up front leading laps and having those chances be at the regular each and every week. If you only have two opportunities to win races through the year versus having 20 opportunities to win races through the year, you’ve got a bigger opportunity, a bigger window, to get those wins having the 20 chances.”
About General Motors
General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.
