Kyle Busch has started the Chase off strong with three top fives in the first three events. However, this weekend, he heads to one of his worst tracks on the current schedule – Kansas Speedway.
“Probably going to be our second biggest test, we feel like, in the Chase,” Busch commented. “We’re ready for it. We’re focused and excited about being able to get there and have a great weekend in Kansas.”
Busch added that he feels Talladega is the biggest test, simply because you don’t know whether to lay back or not, and the question of possibly getting in someone else’s mess.
“There’s so much unknown in that race, I think that’s the biggest test for everybody,” he added. “But if we had to pick a second biggest test, it’s probably Kansas.”
In 12 career starts at Kansas Speedway, he has only finished in the top 10 twice. The last two starts there he has crashed in both of them. One of the things he has going for him was he was one of the drivers that got to attend the tire test back in July and experience the new tire for the first time.
“We felt like with the unsuccess we’ve had the last couple times being there since the repave, the tire combination we had, it was just really, really hard for me to get a feel for the tire and the racetrack that I was looking for,” he commented. “We could run fast laps, post quick times in practice and qualifying. Just in the race when you get in traffic, everything starts changing, the rubber starts going down, it would throw us for a little bit of a curve.
“This time around, getting the tire test done, getting some information with the car, getting me more suited to the racetrack with a different tire combination, we felt like it was a positive for us. Certainly we hope those results will be indicative of how we run this weekend and we can have a better go of it.”
Busch knows he has to keep the momentum going, but he also has to win some races. He says that Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson are his championship competition. With Kenseth winning the first two followed by Johnson winning Dover, he knows that he has to win.
“There is no doubt that’s what it’s going to take, and I’ve said that from the beginning,” he commented. “It’s a matter of continuing to knock out these top fives right now, and when our wins come to us, hopefully they do, those will be the bonus points and those will be the extra points we need to get ourselves further up the ladder.
“Whether those guys finish second, third or further back, us winning races is what’s going to get us most points. That’s what it comes down to. Right now it’s not make-it-or-break-it time, it’s certainly the time to keep getting solid finishes and keep doing solid runs throughout the races in order to get ourselves down into Texas, Phoenix, Homestead.”
If he can make it through Kansas, then he’ll head to Charlotte where he has done better – 11 top 10s in 19 starts. In his last four starts, he has finished in the top five three times. He finished 38th earlier this year due to an engine failure.
“We’ve run really, really well there in the past few races,” Busch commented. “We’ve had a lot of top fives and top 10s there and we’ve led a lot of laps. You would hope with all those things considered, the way we’ve been running so far in the last few weeks, maybe a win is on the brink in Charlotte, but we’ll just have to wait and see.”
