For the talented 25-year-old, it might be a very fitting theme. Interstate All Battery Centers have “every battery for every need,” and those franchisees, along with all the Interstate dealers and distributors from across the country and the world, have come to learn that Busch is the embodiment of “every driver for every type of racetrack.”
This week he’ll look to get his second victory at one of the biggest of them all, the 2.5-mile superspeedway oval at Daytona.
As Interstate All Battery Centers have batteries from the smallest of the small to the biggest of the big, Busch has won at all sorts of tracks, from small to large and everything in between. While some drivers excel at one particular type of track, Busch has proven he is capable of winning at each and every type of circuit on the schedule, from the half-mile bullrings to huge restrictor-plate tracks like Daytona.
In fact, of his 18 career Sprint Cup victories, 14 of those have come at different racetracks. A closer look reveals that Busch has won multiple times on the short tracks at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. He’s also captured multiple wins at the 1-mile Dover (Del.) International Speedway, and one win apiece on the flat 1-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon and Phoenix International Raceway. He’s also won on the tricky 1.33-mile, egg-shaped oval at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
Want a driver who can win on the 1.5-mile or 2-mile high-speed ovals? Busch is also your man. He has scored victories at the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., the 1.5-mile ovals at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., and his hometown Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Want a road-course ringer? No problem there, either. Busch captured both road course Sprint Cup wins in 2008 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., and Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, respectively.
Finally, want a driver who can win on the biggest of the big. Busch has done that, as well. He has 2008 wins at the 2.66-mile Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and the aforementioned win, in Interstate Batteries colors, at the 2.5-mile Daytona oval two years ago this weekend.
So, with Busch getting some extra backing from Interstate All Battery Center locations (www.allbatteryfranchise.com) across all 50 states, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic, he knows they have every battery for every need, and that he is their driver for just about every racetrack.
Does your approach at Daytona change from the Daytona 500 to the Coke Zero 400?
“No, not really. Your strategy doesn’t change a whole lot. Forty laps, I think, is the distance change. It’s not a lot – just one pit stop – so you have a little bit shorter time there. The other thing you deal with is just the track conditions being the way they are and the summertime with it being so hot and slick. It tends to have the races kind of run a little bit more strung out than is typical in February. This is the last race on that surface of the racetrack in Daytona. I will miss it. Hopefully, some of the other drivers will, too. We’ve got to make the racing surface right so we don’t have another problem like we did in the 500. I’m looking forward to it and hope we can have one more good run there before they repave it and it races a lot like Talladega. I haven’t been able to get Interstate Batteries in victory lane in a while, so I hope we can for Norm (Miller, Interstate Chairman) and the Interstate All Battery stores.”
Of your 18 Sprint Cup wins, 14 of them have been at different racetracks. What has made you so good at every kind of racetrack?
“A lot of it has to do with just good equipment from Joe Gibbs Racing. The more experience I get on these racetracks, the more I learn. Pocono used to be one of my worst tracks, but Dave (Rogers, crew chief) and everyone at JGR gave me a really good car there a few weeks ago and we finished second. Whether it’s a test or a race, I learn something new every weekend. I learned a lot about Pocono from tire testing with my truck there and to finish second to Denny (Hamlin), who is so good there. It was a really good day. As far as restrictor-plate racing goes, we have good cars, but I think everyone knows you have to put yourself in a position to win at those tracks and hope you pick the right lane and drafting partner at the end. At Daytona in February, we had a pretty good car, but we got caught in the slower, bottom lane for those last restarts and we just couldn’t go anywhere.”
Do you think the new spoiler has been the reason for so many race winners this year?
“I think it’s just purely circumstance. I don’t think there’s really a lot to it. Unfortunately, there haven’t been more winners, but I wish my name was up there a little bit more often than what it is. We’ve had some good learning experiences going from the wing to the spoiler, and we’ve got, hopefully, some more to go, still. That will always change the action, anyway. Some guys might pick up on something and be really, really fast, and then you’re chasing them. We just have to play it out and keep trying to race.”
“If you could have everything, you want both. You want to be prepared, you want to be ready to go, but you also want to have as many bonus points as you can. You would want to go in there with a big lead, somewhat similar to what I had in 2008. Jimmie (Johnson) is always going to be right there with you. He’s got four wins, and Denny (Hamlin) has five. Those guys are pretty close. We’ve got two, a couple of other guys have one, some have none. The bonus points can mean a lot when it comes down to it, or depending on how you run through the Chase, they can mean nothing. If you peak at the right time and you win five out of the last 10, then, boom, you’ve got a big advantage going through the Chase.”
You’ve got the Interstate All Battery Center paint scheme this weekend. Since they’re best known for having every battery for every need, what’s the one battery-powered device you can’t live without?
“That’s a no-brainer. I couldn’t live without my cell phone. I’m always checking my e-mail and texting, so I run through a lot of batteries just by doing that. We forget how many things we use every day that use batteries, so it’s nice to have an Interstate All Battery Center around the corner. I visited the All Battery Center convention earlier this year, and I got a lot of encouragement from all the franchisees who were there. We’d really like to get Interstate Batteries back in victory lane this weekend at Daytona.”
Kyle Busch Press Release from True Speed Communications
Kyle Busch Press Release from True Speed Communications
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