Goulds Pumps ITT Industries 200 - Kyle Busch Notes

KYLE BUSCH
NO. 5 LOWE’S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO
NAZARETH PREVIEW

Q&A WITH DRIVER KYLE BUSCH:

HAS THE REALIZATION THAT YOU WON AT RICHMOND SUNK IN YET? “It’s sunk in. It was a pretty cool win, and being able to get it done at Richmond this early in the season is definitely a big help, too. We’re looking forward to the rest of the season, because there’s plenty of races left to go get some more of them.”

WHAT’S THE MOOD AT THE RACE SHOP? “Everybody’s tremendously happy. They’re excited, not only for myself but for the team as well. We got that first win out of the way and they won with a rookie, so they’re happy about that. They’re just ready to keep moving on, and that’s what it’s all about. There’s a lot of racing left to do this season, and we want to get after it.”

YOU’VE NEVER RACED NAZARETH, BUT YOU TESTED A TRUCK HERE. WHAT DID YOU LEARN, AND WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS BEING THE LAST BUSCH RACE AT THE TRACK? “It’s a tricky little race track. It’s kind of called a ‘roval,’ it’s a road course but it’s an oval. You still set up for an oval, but you have to approach each turn differently, because they’re all unique turns.

“I think that NASCAR is doing what they need to do to relocate people to different areas of the country during different times of the year. Going to California in February may not be a bad thing, since it’s probably going to be warmer there than it would be at Rockingham. I hate it that Nazareth is a casualty of the realignment, but NASCAR is thinking more for the fans and of getting more people to the tracks. I understand that Nazareth is not one of the better-attended races, so if we can race somewhere else and draw more fans, I think that’s what we need to do.”

Q&A WITH CREW CHIEF LANCE MCGREW

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT POSSIBLY GOING TO MEXICO AND MAYBE ANOTHER ROAD COURSE NEXT SEASON? “If NASCAR does decide to send us to Mexico to do a road course, I’d much rather do two than one. You’re going to have build at least one, if not two, cars to go road racing anyway, so if you’re going to build two so you have a primary and a back-up, at least you should go race them twice. I think that the up and coming Busch drivers need to learn how to road race, because obviously the road racing in the (Nextel) Cup series is here to stay, and it’s pretty tough to go into it with no experience at all. So, it would be nice to see the road racing back in.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON LOSING NAZARETH AND ROCKINGHAM? “It’s tough, because I’ve enjoyed racing at those places. But, it’s all about the bigger markets, and right now the western United States is where it’s at, and where they’re trying to really break into and establish their strongholds. It’s a lot tougher on us, obviously, because Rockingham is an hour and a half from our shops, where California is 40 hours. So, as far as our travel and logistics, it’s definitely going to complicate things a lot. It’s going to be a lot more expensive for us, because we’re probably going to have to get a test rig and shuffle a bunch of cars back and forth with two separate rigs. But, the people that make those decisions are very market-driven, and they realize this is what we have to do to keep stepping the sport up.”

DO YOU WANT TO LEAD THE POINTS THIS EARLY IN THE SEASON, OR DO YOU THINK IT’S BAD LUCK, AS SOME TEAMS SEEM TO? “That’s like the ‘points lead jinx’ last year. Whoever was leading the points, the next week they weren’t. They would have some kind of trouble. We went into Homestead with the points lead, and everybody said, ‘Boy, I wouldn’t want to be you,’ and I was like, ‘Why?’ Basically, how I see the points lead now is that we’ve had a lot of good consistent runs and we’ve won a race and some poles and have had a lot of good top-five and top-10 finishes, and I hope that’s a streak that continues. I don’t see it as a ‘voodoo’ thing. The way I see it is, the reason we’re there is because of the way we’ve been running, and if we continue to run the same, we’ll stay there.”

ARE YOU SURPRISED AT THE SUCCESS THIS TEAM’S HAD WITH A ROOKIE DRIVER? “From the team aspect of it, no, I’m not surprised, because I feel like we’ve got a very strong team with a lot of depth and a lot of interesting characters that make it that way. It’s a real strong race team from top to bottom. We have good bodies, we have good engines, we have a good pit crew. I feel very fortunate that Kyle can sit in the seat and really get it done and bring this whole program to the next level, because it doesn’t matter how good the equipment is, you’ve still got to drive it. It’s pretty obvious that he’s the real deal and can really get it done. He’s been so smart. I’ve seen him mature a lot already this season, and I’m looking forward to going back to some of these tracks for the second time, after he’s had some laps there and can say, ‘Hey, I’m pretty comfortable in how the car’s going to unload and where we’re going to be to start with.’”

STATS & FUN FACTS

CHASSIS INFORMATION- Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 299- Chassis No. 299 is a brand-new chassis in the Hendrick Motorsports stable, and this is its first race.

DID YOU KNOW? –