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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NASCAR CUP SERIES
CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS
ECHOPARK TEXAS GRAND PRIX
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MAY 22, 2021

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE, was the fastest overall in NASCAR Cup Series practice at 77.847 mph. Post-Practice Press Conference Transcript:

WAS THAT PRACTICE PRODUCTIVE?
“Yeah, I hope it rains tomorrow. It was really weird at first, just getting used to just where the best line was and getting used to the way you get around there. I’ve spent some time at the go-kart track in the rain and, honestly, you just try to adapt and learn.”

“Yeah, it was fun. It was a blast. I don’t know how it was to watch, but it’s so much fun driving.”

IF THE RACE IS DRY TOMORROW, WHAT WILL BE YOUR BIGGEST QUESTION?
“Really, none of it. I feel like the track, I’m pretty comfortable with it. The biggest thing for us is just setup-wise. We tried that second run to setup for the rain a little bit. I honestly felt like we were better the first run with our dry setup, to be honest. I felt like I just got more comfortable with the race track. So, you have to take all that into account going into Sunday. Do you want to prepare for a rain race or do you want to prepare for getting a dry line and having to switch to slicks?”

“It’s a blast. I’ve watched some Formula 1 races in the rain and I think for the fans, it would be awesome if it rains.”

ASIDE FROM THE BACKSTRETCH, IS THERE ANY OTHER VISABILITY ISSUES AND HOW IS IT WITH THE STANDING WATER AND CONDITIONS LIKE THAT OUT THERE?
“The visibility is just kind of all a matter of circumstances. You kind of get out there and if you’re going down the straightaway, you just trust that the guy in front of you isn’t stopped or slowed down. If there’s a wreck down the back straightaway tomorrow, it’s going to be a mess. You’re just not able to see. Luckily, you just kind of follow the train tracks down the straightaway because that’s where all the standing water isn’t. Again, I feel like it’s really similar to Formula 1 and some of the things I’ve watched in the past of just trying to find a drier line. The standing water isn’t a big deal. There are a couple of apex’s that you are kind of drifting through, but other than that, it’s a blast. These cars have enough movement in them to where the rain feels pretty awesome. I’ve ran a go-kart in the rain and that thing has a lot more grip, but it’s a similar concept.”

REGARDING YOUR ROAD COURSE DRIVING IN GENERAL, IS THIS SOMETHING YOU FELT CAME NATURALLY TO YOU OR IS THIS SOMETHING YOU FEEL YOU’VE WORKED HAND-IN-HAND WITH MAX PAPIS ON?
“Yeah, it’s definitely something that Max (Papis) and I have worked on. He’s been probably the best asset for me when it comes to getting comfortable with a road course and just getting comfortable with the race track. But yeah, I feel like for me, anytime that I hesitate, I’m not so great; especially in adverse conditions like the rain. I kind of felt like I was trying to feel it out there in the beginning of practice and I wasn’t going so great. And then I just started to trust it. I just started to kind of trust my feelings; trust my feeling for grip and what I feel like is a better line and what not. It changes every lap with the rain, which is cool. I tried doing one thing one lap and then I’d get comfortable with that and try to do it again and it doesn’t work. It’s cool to have that much dynamic and I feel like for me, it’s all just about trusting my instincts and my process and not trying to overthink it.”

I WAS LISTENING TO SEVERAL DRIVERS, INCLUDING YOURSELF, BUT RYAN NEWMAN SAID HE COULD NOT SEE THE CAR IN FRONT OF HIM. WHAT WAS YOUR VISIBILITY DISTANCE DO YOU THINK BETWEEN YOU AND THE GUY IN FRONT OF YOU?
“Yeah, you can’t see the guy in front of you, for sure. You’re kind of looking at how much spray he’s got and judging how far away you are in that aspect. So, if the spray is higher, typically you’re closer to a certain degree. It almost exactly simulates what aero does to the cars. It creates that wake behind a car and that’s almost exactly what it’s like when we’re racing with air; you can just see it now. So, it’s kind of that same aspect. I feel like for me, I just try to trust my spotter and if he said somebody was checking up or something or if there was a slow car in front, I’d try to plan for that. But honestly, I kind of just sent it and tried to put it in the right spot and hope that nobody was stopped in front of me.”

HOW MANY SPOTTERS WILL YOU HAVE THIS WEEKEND?
“I think I heard two voices on the radio, so probably have two, as far as I know. I know Max (Papis) is going to help with Turn 20. I’m just now learning the names of the corners; we’re working on that. But I’ll figure out how many spotters I have by the end of the weekend.”

THERE WAS ALSO MENTION ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE IN THE TRANSITIONS AND YOUR TRANSITIONS ON THE RACE TRACK WORKED SIGNIFICALLY WELL.
“Yeah, I mean I couldn’t tell you what’s new and what’s not. I came here and ran a Trans Am car here for a little bit and kind of know the track, but I honestly, I just trusted what I think I remember about the race track. It kind of comes to you once you have it memorized and stuff like that.”

“I did feel like it was weird – some places you would arc it out and cross the wet later and some places you would cross it early; it just depends. Definitely in the standing water, there’s no grip so you just have to kind of work with what you got and try to find some grip.”

HOW MANY GOOD, COMPETITIVE LAPS WERE YOU HOPING TO GET BEFORE THIS PRACTICE AND HOW MANY WERE YOU ACTUALLY ABLE TO COMPLETE?
“I think Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) did a really good job of allowing me to run. He knew it was going to take me all of practice to figure it out. Honestly, he does a really good job of just letting me run and just knowing he can change something on the car, but it’s probably just going to be better if I just run around and experience it. For us, we made one small change in the garage. It took probably 10-15 minutes and then we were out on the track the rest of the time. It was awesome that there were no cautions; glad that nobody stalled. There were some guys spun, but they just allowed us to keep running. I think I got 15 laps in, which was awesome. I think we expected to get three runs in the dry, which is about 15 laps, and we got that in the rain so that’s awesome.”

HAVE YOU MEMORIZED ALL THE TURNS YET?
“(Laughs) I can’t tell you 14 and15; Max (Papis) was on the radio telling me 14 was not so good and I’m guessing at what 14 is. I’ll talk to him and try to figure out a better name for it, but yeah, I’m going to have to do some studying on the visuals of the turns. I didn’t even realize until halfway through practice that when Tab (Boyd, spotter) was saying it was a good lap, the start-finish line was different than what I expected. So, just a lot of different stuff. Just trying to figure it out.”

GETTING THE IDEAL SETUP FOR A CAR IS A HARD TASK, EVEN IN IDEAL WEATHER CONDITIONS. HOW MUCH IS THAT COMPOUNDED BY WET WEATHER CONDITIONS FOR PRACTICE AND WHETHER OR NOT YOU’RE GOING TO GET IT FOR QUALIFYING AND RACE DAY?
“Yeah, it’s hard to know what the conditions are going to be like. So, I feel like honestly, you just try to keep your standard setups in it for the most part; maybe some small stuff you could maybe get out of the car for dry. Looking at the forecast tomorrow, it looks like it might rain again obviously and it could dry up. I just leave that up to the smarter people.”

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

About Chevrolet
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