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| Kyle Busch has been 31st or worse in 5 of last 7 at Michigan. |
Does taking the same approach you have at Kansas also benefit you at a place like Michigan?
“Our M&M’S guys have come a long way at Kansas, that’s for sure. To get a win there was a really big deal for our team. I give my guys a lot of credit for working hard to find something I was more comfortable with there. Our whole team has shown how well we’ve worked together, and that he (crew chief Adam Stevens) has been a really quick study, so I’m looking forward to seeing what he has in store for me in Michigan this weekend. I’m hoping Michigan will be at least a little bit more worn in than when we were there last fall. We are working on improving as an organization not only on the resurfaced tracks, but overall in general. Everyone is working their guts out to get our stuff better. I’m in the shop each week and you see how hard everyone is working. I do appreciate it. I’m looking forward to getting out there in practice and seeing what we can learn with our M&M’S Red, White, and Blue Camry.”
Most drivers really seem to enjoy racing at Michigan International Speedway. Why is that? “Regardless of new pavement or not, it’s wide-open racing, and you can run from top to bottom more and more every race there as the groove widens out. The biggest thing used to be to find grip there. But with the new surface, there is a ton of grip now. Before, you had grip for maybe five laps, and then you’d just be out to lunch. But now, the tire wear is all out the window and the racetrack is very fast. And the wide racetrack is good. That’s what makes Michigan so exciting and so fun. That’s the biggest deal about it.”
Do you expect the track surface to be worn in a little bit more this year?
“I expect it to be fast, still. There’s still a lot of grip, but I’m hoping it’s starting to get worn in like Kansas did. I would still expect it to be very fast this weekend. But if you’re just a little bit loose there, now you’re nervous that just any little bit of getting outside the groove or having a little bit too much yaw will lead to a wreck. It was really intense last year in our tests and in the races there. You are hauling there now, for sure, and we know that corner speeds are up overall this year at other places.”
With Father’s Day Sunday, how instrumental was your father in your racing career, and who else helped you along the way to get you to where you are today?
“Obviously, my father – he’s probably number one. He and my mom just taking all of their resources and money and everything to help Kurt (Busch, brother) and I get farther along in our careers in Las Vegas through Dwarf cars, Legends cars, Modifieds, whatever it was. Modifieds was about as far as we could go as a family – that was all we could afford. Then, past that was Jerry Spilsbury – he used to own an air conditioning company back in Las Vegas and he had a Late Model team out at the speedway the year before I ran. It was a one-car team and then, the year I ran, we actually became a three-car team. So it was Jerry himself, and then another guy named Billy Newman, and then myself who raced those cars that year. I think I finished third in the championship. I missed the first two races of the year because I wasn’t 16, yet. My birthday wasn’t until May. And then I had to miss another race when I ran out of gas in Chicago in the Camping World Truck Series race that day and we tried to fly back, but we couldn’t get out because of the weather in Chicago, so we couldn’t make that race that night. So I missed three and still finished third in points. I think Billy was second. We had a good year that year, but Jerry spent a lot of money, employed my father and just allowed me to succeed in winning 10 of 15 Late Model races that year – we finished second in three, third once and broke a rear-end gear in the other one while leading. We were plenty fast and, through racing that car that year, I think a lot of people took notice that Kurt Busch’s little brother back in Vegas was pretty good, and that’s all history, now.”
Notes of Interest: ·
With Father’s Day Sunday, how instrumental was your father in your racing career, and who else helped you along the way to get you to where you are today?
“Obviously, my father – he’s probably number one. He and my mom just taking all of their resources and money and everything to help Kurt (Busch, brother) and I get farther along in our careers in Las Vegas through Dwarf cars, Legends cars, Modifieds, whatever it was. Modifieds was about as far as we could go as a family – that was all we could afford. Then, past that was Jerry Spilsbury – he used to own an air conditioning company back in Las Vegas and he had a Late Model team out at the speedway the year before I ran. It was a one-car team and then, the year I ran, we actually became a three-car team. So it was Jerry himself, and then another guy named Billy Newman, and then myself who raced those cars that year. I think I finished third in the championship. I missed the first two races of the year because I wasn’t 16, yet. My birthday wasn’t until May. And then I had to miss another race when I ran out of gas in Chicago in the Camping World Truck Series race that day and we tried to fly back, but we couldn’t get out because of the weather in Chicago, so we couldn’t make that race that night. So I missed three and still finished third in points. I think Billy was second. We had a good year that year, but Jerry spent a lot of money, employed my father and just allowed me to succeed in winning 10 of 15 Late Model races that year – we finished second in three, third once and broke a rear-end gear in the other one while leading. We were plenty fast and, through racing that car that year, I think a lot of people took notice that Kurt Busch’s little brother back in Vegas was pretty good, and that’s all history, now.”
Notes of Interest: ·
The FireKeepers Casino 400 will mark Kyle Busch’s 441st career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start and his 25th NASCAR Cup Series start at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.
· Busch has career totals of 38 wins, 19 poles, 150 top-five finishes, 224 top-10s and 13,059 laps led in 440 career Cup Series races. His most recent Cup Series win came in July 2016 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, when he brought home his second consecutive win at the historic 2.5-mile oval. Busch’s most recent pole, the 21st of his career, came last weekend at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, his second consecutive pole position.
· Busch has one win, four top-five finishes and six top-10s and has led a total of 179 laps in 24 career Cup Series starts at Michigan. Busch’s average Michigan finish is 20.4.
· 13,000: By leading 100 laps in last weekend’s Cup Series race at Pocono, Busch bested the 13,000 mark in laps led in NASCAR’s top series. With his 13,059 Cup Series laps led, Busch became just the 11th driver to best the 13,000 mark.
· All-Star Winner: While it wasn’t a points-paying race, Busch brought home a Cup Series victory last month in the All-Star Race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. The win was Busch’s first victory in his 12th start in the All-Star Race, the largest number of starts before an All-Star Race win. The previous high was held by Tony Stewart with 11 All-Star starts before his win in 2009.
· 38 Career Cup Series Wins: With his Cup Series win at Indianapolis last July, the 38th points-paying win of his career, Busch is tied for 19th on the all-time Cup Series win list with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammate Matt Kenseth.
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