Toyota Racing – Kyle Busch
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
CHARLOTTE (September 3, 2020) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch was made available to media via videoconference during the NASCAR Playoffs Media Day:
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How important is your consecutive winning season streak?
“It’s really important. Think about it, it’s a 16-year investment that we’ve placed on that being able to win a race in 16 consecutive seasons so hopefully we can keep that going and get it to 17 and then to 18 or however many that I’m here. It would be nice if I’m able to keep winning races all the way through my career each and every single year that I’m out there. This year has just not lent itself to our favor so far, but the Playoffs start now and we’re still in this thing. We’ve got an opportunity to go out here, obviously being on the bottom side of the spectrum rather than the top side of the spectrum during the Playoffs so it’s going to be a different Playoff for us that what we’re used to. Looking forward to the challenge and if we can win it this year then there’s no reason why any year we should ever not have an opportunity to win it.”
How has this year tested and challenged you more than previous seasons?
“This year has definitely been one of the biggest tests I feel like I’ve been through. 2015, I was injured and I was on the sideline and I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to come back and I was able to come back and then struggled for five weeks just getting a footing and then finally being able to win again at Sonoma. Right there just lit a fire under us and that was all it took for the rest of the year to be a championship contender and a guy to go out there to compete with his team and be the best of all of them. This year, it’s been nothing but something else that’s in the back of your mind like, what’s going to happen next and what’s the next thing that’s going to test your patience. Just seems like we can’t shake this monkey off our back. Wherever he is, whatever he looks like, somebody tell me and we’re going to go for a few roll-arounds here and get him off my back in order go out here and have a solid, successful, productive final 10 weeks.”
Do you consider yourself a dark horse?
“With the way this year has gone, you just never know. Certainly we’re not a title frontrunner, we’re not a favorite. We are on the bottom of the spectrum and we’re on the outside looking in. I guess that would categorize us as being a dark horse or definitely being one that is not in the talks or included in the discussions of making it to the round of 12 or for that matter, the round of eight. Realistically now, all you have to do is win a race in each of these rounds and you do that and you put yourself right into the championship four. Now, all of the sudden, a crappy 2020 season is all of the sudden a championship year or can be or have the potential to be given everything goes right in Phoenix. Everything is wide open and you’re still in it until you’re not.”
How difficult is it to get sponsorship or keep sponsorship as a team owner during these COVID-19 times with limited access into the race tracks?
“Yes. The fact of the matter is that it’s definitely hurting us. One of the best sponsors we have at Kyle Busch Motorsports with Safelite Autoglass is they’re opportunity and ability to be able to bring their customers and their worker that do all the safety glass fixing and repairing to the race track. They don’t have that opportunity to do that right now and available to them. We’ve certainly had some discussions with those guys about what’s going on with their business and also Toyota/TRD, they’ve been a huge benefit in that relationship too where they’ve been able to offer them some assistance on some projects and some work with stuff like that. No question, there’s definitely been partners that have come to the table and asked for some concessions on this season in not being able to promote as well and also to be able to bring guests and consumers to the track.”
How different is the atmosphere at the track with the infield so empty?
“It’s quiet. You roll in on race morning and there’s nobody around. It’s just really quiet. It just seems like every track we’ve gone to has pretty much been a ghost town. We know how well these tracks flourish and how successful they’ve been and we get good crowd counts and I’m sure all the people that want to come to the races are just itching at the opportunity to be able to do so once everybody gets that release that it’s safe enough for everybody to come back to the track. We’re hoping that’s sooner rather than later.”
Who is another dark horse besides yourself in the Playoffs?
“I don’t know where the dark horse line is. (Martin) Truex Jr. obviously has gotten seven second or third-place finishes in a row here lately, but he doesn’t have a whole lot of Playoff points. He’s only got one win. He’s not on the outside looking in obviously, but he’s definitely a guy, him and myself included, aren’t up there with the likes of Kevin (Harvick) or Denny (Hamlin) with the amount of Playoff points. He could be a guy, but if you look further down the totem pole, who could be one? I guess Aric Almirola probably. He’s one that could pop up anytime being with the SHR (Stewart Haas Racing) guys and being as fast as they’ve been each week. Having an opportunity where he’s shown glimpses of speed throughout the season.”
Do you think you can get a run like Tony Stewart did in 2011 and upset the favorites?
“I don’t know what changed in his year or what happened, but anything is possible for sure. We’ve seen it done before. Maybe there’s another way of being able to do it again, but this time it will certainly be different than his time was or any time that I’ve ever been in the Playoffs under this structure being on the outside looking in to try to get through each round. The opportunity is there. That is certainly where we’re at is a Tony Stewart-type performance here and in the final 10 weeks we’ll certainly get it done and the last time I checked, we’re still last year’s reigning champions so we’ve got that opportunity to be able to do that. We’ve got the team behind us – the crew chief, the sponsors, everybody that we can make anything happen. We just have to go out there and do it.”
Does seeing what Tony Stewart did in 2011 or this format give you more positivity or hope for the next 10 weeks?
“Certainly it does. Definitely the first round for sure. I look at Darlington as a place we can go to and we can run top-five pretty good there. Richmond, Bristol – those are great opportunities for us to score a victory. You get two stage wins and a win at Richmond and Bristol both and boom, you’re right back in the Playoff picture. That should put us up to fourth or fifth I believe on the Playoff points structure. That would give us a good opportunity to be right back in the ballpark. Obviously, coming into that second round, we struggle at Vegas, Talladega is an unknown, we struggle at the Roval so that is definitely a round that we look towards as being a possible hiccup.”
What was your reaction when you heard the championship would be decided at Phoenix?
“I was obviously kind of not shocked, but understanding of it I guess. It’s another NASCAR track, it’s a flourishing market for us. The last few years they’ve been doing renovations at that place, it really made it very fan-friendly so it makes sense for them to have as much opportunity to be able to sell tickets and to sell infield tickets and passes to the fan zone and all that sort. Obviously, this year not being able to have much of that, it kind of takes the wind out of the sails if you will for what would or could have been this year. Obviously it will get back in the future and it will be a place of success for the fans. The on-track action, the racing aspect of it, it was a bit shocking to me just because Homestead is such a racey place and you can kind of run all over that track and there’s really good racing on restarts and such. There also is at Phoenix on restarts so that argument can go both ways. People would say that Phoenix, once you get strung out, it gets strung out, but when I’ve seen it get strung out, I’ve also seen the likes of (Joey) Logano be fast and Chase Elliott be fast. The 18 be fast, the 11 (Denny Hamlin), the 19 (Martin Truex Jr.), the 4 (Kevin Harvick) and somebody else in there too – the 12 (Ryan Blaney) – that have shown glimpses of speed. Any opportunity for any of those guys to get out front and that would certainly be a good thing for any of them to be able to win a championship I guess.”
Do you prefer being an underdog or the guy with a target on his back?
“I don’t know. Certainly I guess I look back to 2015 and we were kind of the underdog in 2015 also because people just didn’t think we should be there and didn’t think we should be eligible because I had to miss 11 weeks because of my injuries, but then was able to win our way into the Playoffs and be in the top-30 in points and all that so we met all the requirements. We went into that last race with the underdog mentality like, ‘Hey, however we come out of this, it’s great. We were here, we were in the final four, that’s cool.’ Then last year kind of the same thing. We weren’t on a winning streak or anything and we kind of flew under the radar. We were an underdog if you will at the final race and we won again. If that’s what it takes to win these things then sure, sign me up. Put me in that underdog spot and let’s go get it done.”
How important is it going to be to unload perfect in this first round?
“It’s really going to be important because starting the race off strong, you’re starting the race with all the rest of your championship contenders that you’re racing against so to be able to get those points right out of the gate, it’s going to be hard to do because you’re all starting right around each other. There’s really not a lot of opportunity at some of these places for pit stops or chances to work on your car in the first stage to get those points. That’s probably been our biggest detriment this year is even if we did have an opportunity to start up front, we would fall out of the top-10 to get any of those points to have an opportunity to get points, not even stage wins, but to get points that matter. Right now, you can still point your way through this first round, but you’re going to need some wins also. Being able to have success racing against the rest of your title contenders is certainly going to be a big challenge.”
How much did you learn from the eight Playoff tracks earlier this season?
“Darlington, we were going to finish probably third or fourth in the first race before we had a loose wheel at the end. That relegated us to I think 21st or 22nd or maybe even worse than that. Then the second race we were going to run probably second or third in that one and we finished second with the rain that came there at the end obviously. I feel like Darlington is an okay place. What I’m looking at there is just how we were, how we unloaded in the first one, how we were able to achieve on the second one and then now going back there a third time. Everybody has had the same time on the track and the same opportunity to work on their setups and kind of tweak everything so we’re not the only ones. Everybody else is going to be making improvements as well too so we definitely have to be good at what we’re reading and the simulation and what that’s telling us and understanding that sometimes the sim will lie to you. You have to know when it’s telling you a lie, it’s not going to tell you that it’s telling you a lie. You can’t read it in the eyes and listen to it’s mouth, but you have to read the squiggly lines.”
How important is Bristol as a cutoff race for you?
“It’s just a personal vendetta. You go to Bristol and it’s like, ‘Damn, that’s my track, I’m going to go there and I’m going to win that thing.’ I look at Richmond a little bit the same way. We just always run well at Richmond and we always, well not always, but we typically run top-five there and we have shots for wins. I’d like to think with the lower downforce package, that suits us, but there’s also been other guys that have been fast in that package as well this year. If we can win two stages and win the race at Richmond and Bristol, damn we’re back in the thick of things for the second round. That’s certainly obtainable and would love for that to happen. There’s a lot of other competitors out there that are going to say otherwise so we just have to work for it.”
How do you feel about less 500-mile races moving forward?
“As I’ve seen it this year, we’ve run some of these doubleheader weekends with shorter races and to be honest with you, for us being a little bit off at the start of these races, it’s like right at the end, right on that last set of tires, it’s like damn we finally just got it. So it’s like, man, I wish I had one more run. These races to me, even if they’re 311 or 330 miles or whatever some of them have been this year, to me, it’s kind of like that’s almost too short. I don’t think 400 miles is too long, but certainly the 500-mile races, we don’t need to be adding more 500-mile races. If we are adding races, they do need to be more towards the 400 range, 350 or 400 range and that’s just my opinion, but that’s how I look at it. The upper echelon races like Darlington, the Coke 600, the Daytona 500 – those races should stay those lengths, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having a few of those.”
What are you emotions right now – stress, motivation, frustration?
“Yep. Keep going, there’s plenty more adjectives, keep going. It’s all those things. It’s frustrating, it’s aggravating, it’s kind of a let-down. You’re wondering what’s wrong, you’re wondering where to look or what rock to look under to turn things around. It’s just crazy the way this year has gone for us and unforeseen circumstances really. Being one of the fastest cars at Daytona, leading the race, being up front when the time matters and in this last race we just ran, we blew up in the first one and got crashed out in this one so anything can happen. That’s racing and it’s a part of life. The fact of trying to be able to come out of this year with a victory is certainly high on my list, that might be number one on the list actually even more so than winning the championship just with the way this year has gone. Anything can happen, we just have to keep working through it and myself and Adam (Stevens, crew chief), we can get down on each other or down on our team or whatever as much as possible, but in all reality, we’re last year’s champions. We know how to do this. We’ve done it. We’ve been there and we’ve lived through the stresses and everything that it takes week in and week out to be top performers at this level. There’s nothing to say that it can’t turn back up in the right direction for us.”
How would you assess where Christian Eckes is currently?
“He (Christian Eckes) was doing really good the last few weeks of getting some good runs in and running up front, being consistent and being in contention. That’s where you have to be, you just have to be in contention each week and with our equipment and our opportunities that I feel like our stuff is capable of, that was a good stretch he was one. He was running second or third at Gateway before we had a driveshaft problem. Obviously, there was an equipment malfunction on that one, not his doing. They have no Playoff points, like myself so they’re going to start the Playoffs behind and they’re going to have to be successful and run up front to be able to transfer through their rounds as well. He’s been a good competitor. I ran with him at Texas when I was in the truck so I hope that he’s ready and prepared and can go get one this weekend at Darlington.”
How challenging do you feel it is for a rookie to get into the Cup Series?
“it’s hard. It’s really hard. The Cup level is such a step beyond what the Xfinity level is and even what the truck level is. There’s a lot there that these guys just haven’t been accustomed to or ready for so that’s definitely a big step. I feel like Cole (Custer) obviously getting a win, that cemented him in the Playoffs, which was good for him and his team. Christopher (Bell), I feel like has had moments of speed and brightness and has shown good speed, same with (Tyler) Reddick. It’s a matter of learning and learning these cars without practice and that’s tough. You get out there and you race with the competitors and you do the best you can with what you’ve got and hopefully we can get back to normal here soon. I guess next year. The sooner the better for all of that to be able to work on your chemistry with your team. Your crew chief and even though they’ve all moved up with their Xfinity crew chief, this is a different level and a different talk that you have to speak. That’s kind of got them more behind the eight-ball.”
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