“It was a huge win for me, personally. Las Vegas Motor Speedway had been a thorn in my side over the years. I left there every year more and more displeased and frustrated. Sometimes you don’t win at a track. Daytona took me 17 years to win the 500. I felt differently leaving Daytona. I know it’s going to happen. It’s going to happen. It will happen. Vegas, I don’t think it is ever going to happen. Vegas was that tough on me. It was an emotional tie of growing up there and having all my friends and family and people there, rooting me on, and just not being able to get the job done just felt weird. And so, it was really a spiritual moment of winning last September in the Playoffs at the South Point 400, and then not having fans and having people at the race track. I missed them and it was like boom, they zoomed in on me and we all celebrated through the TV lens. So, it was just a pretty big moment for me last year and I was just happy to win for Ganassi and to help us advance to through the Playoffs. It was a very impactful win las year.”
THERE ARE THREE UNUSUAL WINNERS TO START THE SEASON. IS IT MORE THAT THE THREE TRACKS ARE NOT TRADITIONAL TRACKS AS OPPOSED TO WHERE TEAMS ACTUALLY ARE RIGHT NOW?
“Yeah, I think you’re on the right path that it’s three unique tracks with a superspeedway, a road course, a 1.5-mile. But then the rules have stayed the same, primarily. And yet also my crew chief, Matt McCall, was telling me how some of the tech procedures have changed and different things are being enforced differently than what they have been in years past. Some of the aero advantages that some teams had, they might not be at full strength or there’s just different ways that we’re all adjusting to the sequences. And so there’s adjusting to the new but there’s also the impounds or lack of practice and the other things that it seems like other teams are finding better patterns for. I’m enjoying the start of the season and watching different guys lead leaps, passing different guys, different guys are passing me; it’s a very unique time right now. And then you have all manufacturers have won. Ford won the big 500, Toyota’s got a road course, a Chevy wins this weekend at a 1.5-mile, so we’ve got everything going for us right now. You don’t see a clear advantage for anybody.”
TYPICALLY, THE THOUGHT IS THAT WHEN NASCAR MOVES TO THE TRADITIONAL 1.5-MILES, THAT’S WHEN THE SEASON REALLY STARTS. WITH THE CHANGE IN THE SCHEDULE THIS YEAR THERE ARE STILL EIGHT 1.5-MILES. IS THE IMPORTANCE STILL THERE AND IS IT STILL AN INDICATOR OF WHERE TEAMS ARE RIGHT NOW?
“It’s hard to really put a thumb on everything all at once. I’ve always looked at the start of the year is the chunk of races before the Easter break. And that’s how a team evaluates what direction they need to go. The schedule that I’ve seen this year for everything, you have all these road courses that are part of the regular season and they can fill up with different winners towards who is going to be in the Playoffs or not. We might have somebody, new first-time winners with these road courses, that changes the way that points are accumulated to work your way in to the Playoffs. But then when you see the traditional ten races that are in the Playoffs go through those 1.5-miles, and the short tracks, too, that we haven’t even been to. And that’s how you win the championship. You win it at Phoenix. So, it’s still a lot of variety and no set patterns right now.”
DOES IT CHANGE YOUR MINDSET OR YOUR TEAM STRATEGY WHEN IT COMES TO HOW YOU APPROACH THE REST OF THE REGULAR SEASON WITH THREE SURPRISING WINNERS?
“Again, you can’t put the cart before the horse. You’ve just got to let things play out here a little bit and see how things shake out with guys that have the wins. Are they going to go after these Stage points only now to help them once the Playoffs start? You have the tracks still, that we need to, that balance out all of the off-season changes. Vegas is a high-grip 1.5-mile. Phoenix will be next week. The short tracks will start popping up. We’re going to go sling some mud at Bristol. So, a quality team like ours, we have to be in the Playoffs. We know we will. The important thing for us is to stick to our strength and that’s to gain points, methodically, through the Stages of each race, with race finishes, and if we’ve got the chance to gamble for a win at the end, we of course need to grab it. But right now, I think we’re only like four points out of being third overall with the wreck at Daytona. So, we’ve just got to keep chiseling away at getting our points built up. Then that will give us more options to do things.”
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON BRISTOL? ARE YOU OKAY WITH A DIRT TRACK ON THE SCHEDULE?
“Yeah, I think it’s going to be fun. It’s something different. Bristol Motor Speedway has done an incredible job of marketing the difference and putting dirt on it I think January 1. And then it’s like March 1st, they’re on their social. I heard the race is sold out. There’s going to be all types of other divisions racing. It’s got a bunch of hype. And they’ve done a really good job with it. And so, we’ll see how the race plays out. I think the track is going to go dry-slick and the cars are going to be super slow and sensitive. But hey, there’s points. You’ve got to get them. And there’s a chance to win and to get into the Playoffs. So, some guys are going to absorb it. Some guys are going to dread it.”
WITH THREE DIFFERENT WINNERS, IS IT GOOD FOR THE SPORT HAVING A SITUATION WHERE ALMOST NOW WE DON’T EVEN KNOW WHO HAS A CHANCE TO WIN EVERY WEEK?
“It’s like the beginning of the Kentucky Derby. You have all horses that have a shot at it. One guy leads. One guy drops back. Then by the end of those two minutes, the fastest two minutes in sports, you see your front-runners. You see who has jumped to the lead and who will get there. It’s just this is a great start to the year with the variety of tracks, the rules in place. You’re still going to have your front-runners. There’s no way that Denny (Hamlin) is not going to win multiple races. Harvick. I hope we’re in that click. I still think you’ll have your front-runners and then you’re going to have your guys that have won and then they’re going to get complacent.”
HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN TO THE RACE FANS HOW YOU TALK ABOUT A TRACK LIKE ATLANTA AND SAY IT’S WORN OUT, IT’S COMING APART, AND THE DRIVER SMILES AND SAYS, WE LOVE IT?
“The easiest way to explain it is the lap times. When you have fresh tires at a track like Homestead or California Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, you get to just barrel it down in there. And you’re running just as fast as you can go and then by lap 3, the tires go, we can’t hold that grip. What are you going to do now? And then by lap 20, you’re sliding all around and you’re like oh, this is great because I’ve still got 20 more laps to go before we get to a pit window. And so, the driver really has to work at the worn-out asphalt tracks to keep up with changing track conditions and tire wear. Some of the other tracks (like) Michigan, some of the other hybrid 1.5-miles, we basically run the same lap time the whole time. And there’s nothing we can do to manipulate the car’s speed to catch the other guy in front of us.”
SO, THERE’S NO POINT IN SLIDING AROUND WHEN IT DOESN’T BECOME FUN? OR, IS IT FUN ANYMORE?
“Oh, it’s fun of course. And that’s what makes the lower grip tracks the bigger challenge. Like Bristol going to dirt, that’s going to be the least amount of grip we’ve ever seen. So, here we go.”
TELL US ABOUT THAT MONSTER VIDEO. WHAT WAS THE PRODUCTION LIKE? IS THERE A HIDDEN MESSAGE BEHIND THAT ABOUT YOUR FUTURE?
“To me, it was a blast to assemble a quality car from Ganassi and from Hendrick engines, and to take a NASCAR car out on the open road. And to have free reign, to work with Florida and the Dept. of Transportation, the Tourism Bureau, and to work with the Highway Patrol, it was a dream of mine to do something different, to create the Monster lifestyle that I enjoy every day with the employees, with the workers, with our fans. And to see a NASCAR car going 200 mph over the seven-mile bridge to Key West, it was a theme of what is the Monster lifestyle about? And then with the Harley riders, the moto guys doing backflips over the ramps, the bridge, cameos from Monster athletes, Vanilla Ice, who is a friend of mine down in South Florida. It just tied in a story of mine as well, on my career; with race wins, the good and the bad, and just the race journey that I’ve been on. I wanted to create those moments with such a scenic drive. And then yes, at the end is my racing career fulfilled? Is it complete? There are always those things that keep drawing any racer back. And there are those subliminal messages I sprinkled in throughout it. So, it was just a blast working with everybody and having fun down in Florida. I was trying to just put together something fun.”
SO, IS THAT A RETIREMENT VIDEO OR NOT?
“It’s left to your interpretation. Replay it and watch it again and have everybody else open it up and watch for more views.”
WHEN YOU HAVE A VIBRATION, WHAT GOES THROUGH A DRIVER’S MIND? HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THAT?
‘I have flashbacks of 2004 when my wheel came apart. The center section came apart from the outer rim. You go through your memory bank of moments when there are vibrations. Is it a tire rub? Is it a loose lug nut? Is it damage from something else? You go through all these checklists and then if it keeps getting worse, you’re like man, it’s not going to make it with the amount of laps that are left based off of how the vibration feels in the car. It’s the worst feeling in the world when you pull in and they go yeah, everything was tight. And my crew, now that I’ve learned a little bit more of what was going on after that pit stop, it was loose. They just didn’t want to tell me. They were just hoping that it would go the distance because that was the end of the race. It went green all the way to the end. And the pit crew is gambling, trying to give me that track position to go for the win because we ran in the top 5 all day. And those are those moments where a team has to be on their game, but also truthful and work through the situation together. And I. said this is enough. We’re going to hit the fence and have a problem. And I did it early enough in the run to where we could still work our way back. My hope was to just get back to the lead lap and then if a yellow came out, at least we gave ourselves a chance without damage. So, there are a lot of things to evaluate. And you’ve got to go on past experience; and we pulled it together to come back and finish eighth.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU SORT OF KNOW FROM ALL YOUR EXPERIENCE? YOU KNOW TIRES AS WELL AS A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO WORK ON THE CAR. DO YOU KNOW IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY OR IS IT JUST A SHOT IN THE DARK, OR WHAT?
“I’m not going to say I’m an expert in problem solving with crappy problems (laughs) but, having loose wheels or having vibrations and understanding where they’re coming from, I’m going to give myself a report card of eight out of 10 times I’ve been right. And if you’re wrong on those other two times, you’ve just got to take it. And so, I pitted, running in the top 5, with a chance to win. But at the end of the day, if that thing would have vibrated apart and tore the fender off and we had hit the fence, we would have finished 35th instead of where we rallied back and finished eighth. Points at the beginning part of the year are very important. And you’ve just got to stick with your gut and make the call.”
FOR BRISTOL, YOUR BROTHER, KYLE BUSCH, SIGNED UP TO RACE THE DIRT RACE THE WEEK BEFORE ALONG WITH (JOEY) LOGANO AND (KYLE) LARSON. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT? DO YOU THINK IT WILL GIVE HIM A LEG-UP?
“Yeah, I’ve been researching the Bristol Dirt Race with what cars are running, when they’re running, how many laps will they get; and to me, with NASCAR somewhat unveiling our schedule now, we’re going to have practice on Friday. We’re going to have heat races on Saturday. And then race on Sunday. That helps me feel more confident that I’ll drive my Cup car on that track and go through the track’s changing conditions with the same car. If we didn’t have all that and just went in cold turkey, then I’d be looking to run other cars. And yet when you go to run other Late Models or Modifieds, wheel travel is different; side-force and downforce, everything is different. And I don’t want to develop bad habits leading into the Cup car. So, my most and best preparation and approach to this is to stick with my team, our car, and talk with Truck Series guys that have run Eldora. That’s where you’re going to learn the most in prep for Bristol Dirt.”
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