Kyle Busch had quashed any suggestion that he stepped down by leaving his old Joe Gibbs Racing team to join Richard Childress Racing by winning in his second race with the team. He followed that up with two more wins in last year’s season.
But since that storming start, things haven’t been quite as good. Busch was eliminated in the first round of the Playoffs and has started this season with an average finish of 17th.
Busch enters Martinsville 13th in points. His concern is on a long-term refocus for his No. 8 team to ensure they have consistently strong runs rather than moving straight to points racing.
“I think anytime you have good runs, you kind of know that the points will take care of themselves,” he explained. “Anytime you aren’t having good runs, you probably know that you are not in good points standing. So, definitely kind of on the back of the mind for sure. But more importantly, just trying to get our program right and up front, and in a position to where we can win a race or two and not worry about points.”
The team has especially struggled on the short tracks, and Martinsville has been no exception. Busch has won at the track in the past, so his goal is to see that kind of performance that he knows he’s capable of.
“I mean to me, I feel like I know how to get around Martinsville. I’ve won here before,” he said. “Yeah, the short track stuff though has, you know, been very miss. We’ve had like two hits I think, so you know it’d be nice to get more on the hit side and to where we have good cars that we’re able to go out there and contend and compete.:
So I think a lot of it is just the reliance on the simulation and what we’re being told in that, and making decisions based off of that – what makes you faster or better in the sim. And that is not transferring to the race track, so we’ve got to go about it a different way.”
Busch explained that the Next Gen car has required a shift in focus, which has required him to adapt not just to a new team but to a totally new driving style.
I feel like one of the biggest things that we were able to work on with the old car was figuring out ways of being able to develop some rear grip in different ways and the sustainability of the rear tires for a long run. I feel like that’s where our strength here really came in, was my ability of being able to keep the rear tires under the car and go the long distance,” he explained.
“But since we’ve gone to the new car, everything’s more similar. You don’t have your play book and your tool set is way limited on what you can do in order to find that rear grip, and I have not been able to find that rear grip for here. I can probably be fast for 20 or 25 laps maybe, and then we start throwing the anchor out and the backup light comes on. That’s been my thing, is just finding how to manage the rear tires and keep those under us.”
For Busch, finding that understanding is the key for speed. Fortunately, he has help from Chevrolet and the other Chevrolet teams.
“Well definitely, yes. We’re a key partner team with Team Chevy, so we obviously have that toolbox and the things of the sim and everything that goes along with that to compare and work with the other Chevy teams – Trackhouse and HMS. So we do that. We’ve done that a lot,” he said.
“We’ve done that about everywhere. There have been hot places where we’ve been really good, and we’ve done it on our own. And then there’s been other places where we follow suit with those guys, and we’ve been good or we’ve been bad. But the gist of it is to work together and to work as a team.”
Kyle Busch is certainly one of the most talented drivers in the Cup Series field, but the Next Gen has given him a fresh challenge. Once he understands it better, though, there’s no reason he won’t return to his winning ways.
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