KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Skittles Lime is Back Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing
What are your expectations for this week?
“Just learning about the track and seeing about where all of the changes are. Looking at it and taking it all in. It’s a pretty good reminder of what it was last year – it’s very similar – with some added grip through the esses. It’s much faster through there – that’s about it really. I didn’t run a truck here last year, so trying to figure out that and how different that is compared to what I remember from the Xfinity and Cup car from last year and get ready for some extra track time.”
What is your mindset in the Cup Series?
“I think the car is fine. We are all trying to figure it out and learn what it potentially is and what it is that makes it go fast, what the knobs are that you need to turn at particular places. I feel like we’ve had decent speed everywhere we’ve been except Phoenix. Phoenix was really bad. Vegas we were fast – coulda, shoulda, woulda. California, we were okay, worked on it and came back from five laps down. Picked up 10 spots in five laps. Last week was fast. Probably one of the fastest cars in the field and just got caught up in a wreck. We don’t really have anything to show of this year, which is disappointing. No stage points. That’s about it.”
How does the track being dry this season affect braking zones?
“You are ever learning and ever changing each lap. Fresh tires, you can barrel it off in there as far as you can carry it. As tires burn off and you wear them, you have to back off your corners because you will lock it up or wheel hop. So, you are always changing, trying to figure out where that’s at. As the track picks up more rubber this weekend as it’s getting hotter throughout the days, it’s also going to slow down and get slicker so it’s just always about trying to find that grip, where it’s at and how hard you can push.”
Will we see some improvements with the Toyotas this week?
“That’s a relative term – what improvements you can exactly make. As you know, these parts are all bought from the same supplier, so it’s just about trying to figure out how to assemble them a little bit differently. Get your sim a little bit differently and try to find tune some of the setup tweaks that you can make on these cars to better your cars for the racetracks you are coming up to.”
Is there anything you have seen with these younger drivers with their success?
“No, they are doing a good job. They are getting the job done when it matters most – and that’s the last lap, taking home the checkered flag.”
Has your position road course racing changed?
“I’ve always enjoyed the road racing. Back years ago, when we had two on the schedule – Sonoma and Watkins Glen – it was kind of fun because it was like an off-week. You would go and enjoy the experience and try to learn and get better at it each time that you would do it, but now that there is six of them on the schedule it’s definitely more loaded towards needing to be good at it. Not wanting but needing with the amount of road course races we have. I feel like I’m a decent road racer and would love to have a chance to showcase that here on Sunday.”
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