Toyota Racing – Kyle Busch
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Indianapolis Motor Speedway – September 9, 2018
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch was made available to the media at Indianapolis Motor Speedway:
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Caramel Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What are the advantages of starting on the pole here?
“It’s really good for us to be able to start on the pole. We qualified on the pole here last year I believe it was, so being able to get out front and get out in that clean air, obviously it helps you, helps your day. When you’re out there though you’re kind of in clean air. You’re racing yourself essentially and time, but also when you get back in traffic later on in the event, you still have to have a good handling race car. Without having any practice and without having any opportunity to get out there behind people or around people, it’s going to be a big difference today throughout the day.”
What’s the challenge of next week and getting a good start in the playoffs?
“Going to Vegas, it’s not one of my best race tracks for some reason. I’ve won there before, but it was a long time ago. We finished second earlier this year. We struggled early, but came on late and we’d love to have the opportunity to go out there and win and just move ourselves automatically through to the next round and not have to worry about the Roval. Thankfully with our season and our success that we’ve had with the 18 team, we’ve got that point cushion and we hope to come out of Indy with an extra 15 bonus points and carry that on through.”
How will it feel to win the regular season championship?
“It’s going to be awesome. It’s just another goal that you have and another opportunity to be able to go out there and score a win. Not only for myself or our team or M&Ms or whoever, but it just gives us that extra motivation to bring home a trophy. They certainly stepped up the trophy game for this year, so that’s nice and looking forward to those bonus points too.”
What are your biggest challenges with the upcoming tracks in the playoffs?
“I would say the Roval is the biggest challenge just because it’s such an unknown. Nobody knows what’s going to happen there and then of course Talladega is always a crapshoot race for many of us. Love going to Kansas though. Martinsville is good and finishing out the year at Homestead and hopefully being able to go and race for a championship.”
What’s the mindset of the No. 18 Camry team as they close out the regular season?
“Today it’s just Indy. It’s a big race here to come to Indy to try to win this thing and unfortunately we’ve been plagued all weekend by weather, so hopefully that will get out of here and we can go racing.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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