Kyle Busch Beating the Heat

Each and every week in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Kyle Busch sets out to beat the other 39 competitors in order to be the one driver to take home the checkered flag.

 

The 2015 NASCAR Cup Series champion did so for the fifth time this season last weekend at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. Not only did he come home victorious on Sunday, but did it in dramatic fashion with some last lap fender rubbing with the talented Kyle Larson.

 

Not only did he beat Larson to the line at Chicagoland, but Busch beat the heat as well with ambient temperatures in the upper 90’s and temperatures inside the car topping 150 degrees. So as the driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR)looks ahead to Saturday night’s traditional midsummer Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway he knows he not only needs to beat his fellow competitors, but also the Florida summer heat.

 

This part of the season happens to the hottest for Cup Series competitors, with select race venues seeing record temperatures, but also for those who are heading out on their summer road trips. The summer months can be taxing on both man and machine, whether it’s on the road or at the track. Caring for the latter is one of the ways JGR founding partner Interstate Batteries leverages its NASCAR program, through reminding consumers to have their batteries checked during the hot summer month’s at a local dealer prior to any summer road trips.

 

Interstate Batteries’ colors are already in the win column in 2018 via Busch’s victory in April at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth in the backyard of Interstate Batteries’ corporate headquarters in Dallas. Busch and the No. 18 team look to add another victory Saturday night at Daytona, where they head with a little momentum on their side as they are coming off the aforementioned thrilling win at Chicagoland last weekend.

 

When it comes to Daytona this weekend, Busch is certainly no stranger to victory lane in the Coke Zero Sugar 400, having won the July 2008 race behind the wheel of – yes – the Interstate Batteries Toyota. The Las Vegas native has fared much better in his summer races at Daytona during his career as the track is much more slick thanks to Florida’s July heat. He has five top-five finishes in his 14 July starts at the track.

 

With all of that on his side, Busch hopes to have a strong car and track position in the unique restrictor-plate style of racing, where a driver not only has to be good, but must have good fortune to go along with it. He would like nothing more than to start July in the best way possible – by bringing the Interstate Batteries green-and-white-striped paint scheme to victory lane Saturday night. Even though Busch is focused on beating the rest of the field, he and Interstate Batteries will also look to beat the heat during the remaining months of summer.

 

TSC PR