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| Kyle Busch is 15/1 to win at Talladega on Sunday. |
Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Skittles America Mix Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), will sport a special scheme that will proudly show off the Red, White, and Blue. Busch’s No. 18 racecar will feature a special Skittles America Mix scheme in Sunday’s Cup Series Geico 500. The Skittles America Mix is a must-have for summer gatherings, road trips and, of course, a great snack while watching a NASCAR Cup Series race either in person or on television. Every bag contains red, white and blue Skittles with fruit flavors that include strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, wild berry and “yumberry” – the first white fruit-flavored Skittles candy – and are available from April-August this year.
Busch has had up-and-down luck at the mammoth, 2.66-mile Talladega oval, winning just once in 23 career starts at the track. His lone win came in April 2008, and he has accumulated 10 other top-15 finishes at the track but also exited four outings early due to accidents. The 2015 Cup Series champion celebrated his 32nd birthday this past Tuesday and would like nothing more than to continue the celebration in victory lane Sunday afternoon at Talladega with his second top-series win there.
While Busch’s birthday isn’t on race day this year, he does hold the distinction of being only the second driver in Cup Series history to celebrate a victory on his birthday with a win at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway on May 2, 2009. It was a feat first accomplished by Cale Yarborough – twice. Yarborough won on his March 27 birthday at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway in 1977 and at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1983. Since then, Busch’s JGR teammate Matt Kenseth equaled the feat as he won in 2013 on his March 10 birthday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
So as Busch heads back to Talladega this weekend, he hopes the Skittles America Mix Red, White, and Blue colors bring him some added luck, not to mention a great way to keep the birthday celebration going in a colorful way on Sunday afternoon.
KYLE BUSCH, Driver of the No. 18 Skittles America Mix Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing:
What is a typical plan for the entire race weekend once you get to Talladega?
“It’s different for everybody but, for us, we just kind of go out there and definitely get in the first pack in practice because the first pack is always the biggest, so you have to be ready when practice first starts. You just kind of feel out your car and see what it’s doing. Is it into the racetrack? Is it on top of the racetrack? Are you sliding around too much? If we have some things we wanted to continue to try to feel out and get better with, we sometimes run some of the second session where other guys feel like they’re good in the first one and just quit. You definitely don’t want to take a chance on wrecking your car, and you don’t want to be put in a weird spot out there and have somebody get together in front of you and you drive into it and crash a racecar. You want to get through practice by checking to see what you have but not getting it torn up, either. Your starting position doesn’t mean a whole lot so, wherever you start, you just want to make sure your racecar checks out in practice and you’re ready to race 500 miles and hope we can get our Skittles America Mix Camry to victory lane. That’s what it’s all about.”
Are superspeedways more mentally draining than other racetracks?
“At Talladega, the physical demand isn’t that big of deal. You can run around there all day long and not break a sweat, really. Once you get down into the nitty gritty of the race and try to play the chess game at the end of the race, you’ve got to really pick and choose your spots and think all the time if you go here and team up with this guy. It really wears on you a little bit, mentally. I would say Talladega is 80 percent mental and 20 percent physical, while most other non-restrictor-plate races are 80 percent physical and 20 percent mental. We’re hoping to be in position with our Skittles America Mix Camry Sunday to give it another shot at the win.”
Is it any more special to get a win on your birthday or, in this case, your birthday week like this one at Talladega?
“I think anyone who knows me or has followed me knows that it doesn’t matter if it’s my birthday or whatever it is. I love to win and love to be able to add to the trophy case. That’s what we do, what it’s all about, and the focus each week. I think you do learn over the years that you can’t win them all, but that sure doesn’t stop us from trying. Winning is huge for our sponsors, too. It’s what drives all of us to get better each week. We have Skittles on the car this week – one of my favorites. You really have to be in the right place at the right time at Talladega so, hopefully for all of us, we are there when it counts on Sunday.”
Is it an advantage being a former winner at Talladega?
“It doesn’t matter at all. It’s such a crapshoot there in the last 20, 30 or 40 laps that you never really know who is going to win, what’s going to happen and where the wreck is going to come from.”
What is the key to pulling off a victory at Talladega?
“The key there is to somehow stay out of trouble. You stay where the pack is, generally, and we get up single file on the wall at times until it’s time to go, and you can pretty much run wide open every single lap. Everyone can run up on top of each other. When you get single file at the bottom, sometimes it’s hard to get a lane on the outside with enough good cars to get something going. It can be frustrating at times because of that. It also seems to still put on a good race each time we go there. If you can be a contender and stay in line on the bottom, you can make it a pretty easy and safe race. Normally, guys are not content doing that, so that’s when it starts to get crazy.”
- True Speed Communications
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