It didn't take Kyle Busch long to settle into his new ride with Joe Gibbs Racing — just three days, in fact.
Busch paced the field on the final day of testing at Daytona International Speedway, and his lap of 188.830 mph was fastest of all 26 cars that participated in the three-day session.
The showing was a relief to the talented 22-year-old, who despite two appearances in the Chase for the championship, lost his seat at elite Hendrick Motorsports when the team signed Dale Earnhardt Jr.
"It's been a big deal to be able to come out here and run strong," Busch said after Wednesday's final session. "It's easy. Everything's going great. You know, being back at the shop, working with the guys a little bit, getting seats all squared away, everybody's been real helpful, real eager, have been telling me about how excited they are."
Few would have blamed Busch if he'd been nervous about the test session, which also came in a new car. Signed as an 18-year-old at Hendrick, he grew up in that organization and found all of his success driving a Chevrolet.
When he signed with JGR, that team also fielded Chevys. But the team later switched to Toyota, and heads into this year expected to help the automaker find success in NASCAR. Toyota teams struggled last season, its first at the elite Cup level, and the burden is on JGR to raise the performance.
So Busch's showing at testing was an exciting sign for Toyota, which saw decent performances from most of its teams - particularly J.J. Yeley of Hall of Fame Racing and A.J. Allmendinger of Red Bull Racing. Even newcomer Jacques Villeneuve in a Camry for Bill Davis Racing spent time at the front of the field.
"Overall, we're happy with how things went here the past three days," said Lee White, general manager of Toyota Racing Development. "I think all of the Toyota teams participating in this session were relatively pleased with the performance of their cars."
But it was Busch who carried the banner and provided a baseline for teammates Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin, who don't test until next week's session.
"We want to make sure we give (Stewart) and (Hamlin) everything that we've learned, so then they're coming back here the way we leave, so they can keep going on the same path that we were," Busch said. "Everybody's excited about the tandem that we have here with myself, Tony and Denny. You know, everybody's pretty pumped up and ready to get the season rolling."
That's especially true at Toyota, which had a rocky first season at the Cup level. Dave Blaney's third-place finish at Talladega in October was Toyota's best finish of the season, and its only other top-five came from Brian Vickers at Lowe's Motor Speedway in May.
But there was little consistency, as the teams struggled to make races and never sniffed Victory Lane.
Busch expects that to change in 2008.
"I'm confident enough in Toyota - because we're talking about Toyota here - that they're going to make it to Victory Lane," he said. "I feel like the Gibbs organization is ultimately going to be the telltale story of how good Toyota is going to be.
"You still have Red Bull, who has been a strong effort. Obviously, they came down here prepared and ready to go. They've been pretty fast, as well as Bill Davis. Villeneuve has been good. It's not a stretch at all to say that Toyota's going to be in Victory Lane."
That confidence has made this switch easier for Busch, who had a dream situation at Hendrick and saw it all taken away when the team let him go for Earnhardt. After four Cup wins, solid improvement in the standings every season and two berths in the Chase, he's now starting over with a No. 18 team that hasn't found consistent success since Bobby Labonte won the title in 2000.
"No regrets, no nothing," he said. "I'm fortunate enough to be with another great organization, with Joe Gibbs. The team that I'm with, the 18 team, has struggled a little bit the past couple years. I'm excited about the way all the guys are working, really digging in deep, making changes really fast in order to get out there and just get more track time."
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shrubb for championship in 08... just think it is a possibility and would be a poetic justice slap in the face to HMS! lol ( no curvy I am not gonna be a shrubb fan.....LOL )
Busch proves his worth in nearly winning Daytona 500, then calmly accepting defeat
By JENNA FRYER
AP Auto Racing Writer
February 18, 2008
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Kyle Busch sent a message to his old team, his new team and everybody else in NASCAR.
In nearly winning the Daytona 500, Busch proved being fired from Hendrick Motorsports didn't derail his career.
Or even slow it down.
Busch led a race-high 86 laps -- more than double any other driver -- while almost scoring the biggest win of his short career. But a series of untimely caution flags erased his advantage, and once stuck in traffic, Busch couldn't quite make it all the way back to the front.
He was charging around the bottom of Daytona International Speedway on the final lap when teammate Tony Stewart moved down the track in front of him. It was a tactical error that cost both Joe Gibbs Racing drivers a chance at the win.
Stewart finished third in yet another Daytona defeat, while Busch had to settle for fourth.
Hours after the finish, the kid with a history of pouting had an unusually calm sense of clarity about the outcome.
"You take 'em when you can,'' he said. "That's why it's racin'.''
It was an unexpected reaction from Busch, who has earned a reputation as a talented but temperamental young racer. His volatile behavior played a part in his dismissal from Hendrick, which deemed him expendable as the team searched for room in the lineup to sign Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The firing stunned the 22-year-old, who in four short years had established himself as a driver capable of winning every time he gets behind the wheel.
But it also clearly matured him, as Busch has been a model of good behavior since then. He successfully navigated his way through an intense free-agent period that ended when he joined Joe Gibbs Racing, a team second only to Hendrick Motorsports in NASCAR's hierarchy.
He quickly proved it was a good fit with a series of successful test sessions, and reported to Daytona as one of the favorites to win NASCAR's biggest race.
Nevermind that his No. 18 team hasn't run for wins since the last of Bobby Labonte's 2003 victories. And it didn't matter that JGR was now driving Toyotas, a manufacturer that is hoping to rebound from a difficult 2007 debut.
Busch was fast -- real fast -- and seemed hellbent on proving his worth.
It was clear all of Speedweeks, where he was the only driver to run in all three NASCAR-sanctioned points races. He finished second in both the Truck Series race on Friday and the Nationwide Series race on Saturday, and was later asked if those runner-up finishes were setting him up for a failure in the 500.
"That's what I've been saving my win for this week,'' he quipped.
He wasn't kidding.
Busch took his first lead 40 laps into the race, quickly pulling out to a comfortable advantage. At one point he was so far ahead of the traffic, spotter Jeff Dickerson urged Busch to slow it down.
"Let's take it easy and just ride around,'' Dickerson said.
"Negative, ghostrider,'' Busch replied.
The kid was incapable of taking it easy, evidenced when his lead evaporated late in the race. Pit stops mired him back in traffic, forcing him to work hard to get back toward the front. He aggressively maneuvered through the pack, slicing in and out of traffic while rapidly changing lanes.
It certainly caught the attention of Stewart, who couldn't help but watch his teammate charging from the rearview mirror.
"Dude, I'm sick, I think I'm going to throw up,'' Stewart radioed his team during the next caution. "I don't know what he's doing. Watching him, it's making me sick to watch ... like motion sickness.''
Busch was prepared to make the same charge after the final caution, which set up a three-lap sprint to the finish. But leader Jeff Burton ran low to block him, and Busch dipped below NASCAR's off-limits yellow line.
He returned to the racing surface but seemed to slide back in the pack in an apparent effort to self-penalize himself before NASCAR black-flagged him. The maneuver allowed Busch to continue to race toward the checkered flag, which at that point appeared to be Stewart's for the taking.
But as Stewart rode around the high line, the hard-charging Penske Racing cars of Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch closed in on the two-time champion. Kyle Busch was bringing a second line of cars around the bottom, and Stewart inexplicably decided to move to the front of that pack as they headed down the backstretch of the final lap.
But Kyle Busch was three car lengths away when Stewart made the move. Unable to hook up, the two JGR drivers could do nothing but watch the Penske cars drive away for a 1-2 finish.
Stewart, winless in 10 Daytona 500 tries, was devastated with the loss. But he also sympathized with Busch, who maybe could have raced his teammate to the finish if Stewart had stayed in the high line.
"To lead the most laps (and lose), it breaks your heart,'' said Stewart, who led the most laps in 2004 and 2005 and didn't win.
"You spend 10 days trying to win the biggest stock car race of the year ... and not through any fault of his own (you don't).''
But Busch didn't seem to be bothered by his weekend of near-misses. Like all good racers, he's ready for the next show.
That's the attitude he'll need this season, which has the potential to be a very special year for Busch. He has a strong supportive team around him, and a sponsor in M&M's that wants to make him a star.
Asked earlier during Speedweeks if this could be Busch's breakout year, he rambled on about all the chances he'll have to win races. Pushed to think big picture, Busch just shrugged.
"I don't know about the big picture,'' he said. "I just want to race.''
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Thanks for posting this article, a very interesting read! As for Kyle and JGR I think they will definately be a force to be reckoned with this season! I really enjoyed earlier on in the 500 when No. 11, 18 and 20 were all up at the front!!
True Speed Communicaton For Joe Gibbs Racing, Press Release
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (Feb. 20, 2008) – If you are looking for an example of what Kyle Busch has the potential to achieve in his time with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), then look no further than the career of former NFL running back John Riggins.
Much like Busch, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Riggins had high expectations as a first-round draft choice of the NFL’s New York Jets in 1971.
Following a record-breaking collegiate career at the University of Kansas, Riggins performed well in five seasons with the Jets. But the guidance of head coach Joe Gibbs helped make him an all-time great.
In a now infamous story, Riggins sat out the 1980 season in protest when he balked at the Redskins demand to renegotiate his contract. In 1981, Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke hired Gibbs to his first NFL head coaching job. One of Gibbs’ first orders of business was to settle the dispute with Riggins. After making an unexpected visit to his rural Kansas home in the summer of 1981, Gibbs convinced Riggins to rejoin the team for the 1981 season.
Just one season later, during the 1982-83 season, Riggins and the rest of the Redskins’ brass were celebrating the first of three Super Bowl victories under the guidance of Gibbs. In addition to Super Bowl XVII Most Valuable Player honors, Riggins amassed over 11,000 rushing yards and 104 touchdowns in a career that led to his 1992 induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Much like Riggins, Busch started off his career with plenty of potential with Hendrick Motorsports before signing with JGR last August. Making his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut for JGR in the 50th running of the Daytona 500, the 22-year old Las Vegas native led a race-high 86 laps en route to his fourth-place finish.
Throughout his storied coaching career, Gibbs always believed that you win with people. If Daytona was any indication, Gibbs knows that Busch is the right person to bring the No. 18 car back to its championship-winning ways.
While Gibbs retired in January from his second stint with the Redskins, his coaching expertise will again be used to motivate a young athlete full of potential.
Will Busch flourish under the tutelage of Gibbs? John Riggins sure did.
KYLE BUSCH: Driver, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet
At Daytona, you really seemed to click with everyone at JGR right from the start. Were you surprised at how quickly you and the No. 18 team got on the same page?
“I fell into place here at Joe Gibbs Racing like I’ve been here for years. Honestly, it’s been easy. I hate to say it’s been easy, but it has been. Steve (Addington, crew chief) has made it that way on the Cup side and Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) has made it that way on the Nationwide Series side. I think Joe Gibbs Racing has its stuff together. Hendrick Motorsports does, too, but it’s just seemed to come more easily here, for some reason.”
You’ve gone from one elite team to another, jumping from Hendrick Motorsports to Joe Gibbs Racing. Do you think this is the right combination to bring you from winning a few races to winning championships?
“I hope so. I went from Roush to Hendrick and ran better. Now I’ve gone from Hendrick to Gibbs to run even better. I don’t think you can go up any further from there. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with all three organizations and all of them have good equipment. So far, I’ve felt like I’ve gone upward with each move and not the other way around.”
What are your overall thoughts heading into California Speedway after testing there a few weeks ago?
“It’s just a fun place to race. Its wide-open racing and you can run from top to bottom. With the new Car of Tomorrow (CoT), we had a great test out there and the car handled well. We feel like we can make some changes on it still, and make it even better. We want to get the car close to the best car out there, which was Denny (Hamlin).”
What do you remember about that night in 2005 when you captured your first Sprint Cup Series win at California?
“We ran in the top-five all day long, but we really didn’t think we had a winning car. When we got the lead a few times throughout the race, we just pulled away and led by quite a bit. It was really cool to have a really dominant race car. I remember having to drive the car really loose. That was the loosest I think I’ve ever driven a race car that was still moving forward. It was crazy because I came over the radio and told the guys I couldn’t believe how loose I have to drive the car. But it was fast.”
There is so much that goes into running the Daytona 500, but are the upcoming races on the intermediate tracks going to be where you and the No. 18 team are going to be able to show what you’re really capable of?
“I’m going to give it until May until we can truly judge how things are going with our team and with the switch to Toyota. I think if we wait until May, when we can get more testing done and Mark Cronquist (JGR head engine builder) and his guys get more time to develop the motor, I think we’re going to be really good. Right now, I think we’re good with what Toyota is giving us. But once we get building more stuff on our own, we’re going to get even better.”
How has California Speedway changed over the last few years, going from a new track to a place that has a lot more character and racing grooves?
“That place is tough. It’s really a hard race track to get hold of, now, especially when it’s hot and the sun is out. There are two completely different types of racing when you run the top versus the bottom groove. You can run from the top to the bottom, but when you run the bottom you really feel like you’re puttering around the race track. You feel like you aren’t making up any time on the bottom, but when you are running the top groove you feel like you’re getting the job done. The guys who run the bottom have a little bit more patience and handle it better than the guys who are on the gas on top.”
You are finally going to get to compete in the first race on a two-mile oval in the Car of Tomorrow (CoT) at California Speedway. What kind of race are you expecting?
“The CoT hauls the mail down the straightaway, that’s for sure. With the old car, we had the front ends pinned down and the rear ends jacked up so there was a lot of drag down the straightaway. These cars sit more level and they go 210 mph down the straightaway, so we are going to be carrying a lot of speed going into the corners. Once you get into the corner, they feel somewhat like the old car where you can get them a little bit sideways and they’ll turn from the back a little bit. They have a harder time turning on the short tracks, but they drive pretty well on bigger tracks like California.”
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Elevation Motorsports Group For Mars, USA, Press Release
Kyle Busch No. 18 M&M’S Toyota Camry
UAW-Dodge 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
M&M’S Team Notes of Interest
· Busch enters the weekend in Las Vegas leading the point standings in both the Sprint Cup Series and the Craftsman Truck Series, and sits second in the Nationwide Series standings.
· Busch has three consecutive top-10 finishes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
· Busch’s career-best finish of second came in only his second Cup start in 2005 at LVMS.
· Busch and The Kyle Busch Foundation will participate in Sunday’s charity Track Walk.
Busch Quotes for week leading up to Las Vegas Motor Speedway
What does it mean for you to be leading the standings in two series?
“It’s pretty cool to be where we’re at right now, but it really just means that we’ve had a good start. It doesn’t mean we’ve won the championship yet or anything like that. We’re not getting ahead of ourselves. It is a fun place to be right now, but it’s not just me though. I’ve worked with four different teams in two weekends and everyone’s given me a ton of support and put me in great equipment all the way around. I wish we could run for the championship in all three series, but we’re going to have to skip some in the Truck and Nationwide series. Obviously our Cup car and our M&M’S team is our main focus. We’re leading the standings this week, but it’s going to take a lot of work to stay there. I know Jeff (Gordon) and Jimmie (Johnson) and Tony (Stewart) are all gonna be right there all year long. Denny’s (Hamlin) had some bad luck early, but I’m sure those guys will get on the right track and we’ll eventually have to deal with them too.”
How does a short week like this week from California’s rainout to Las Vegas affect you?
“This week wasn’t as bad for me as maybe it was for some other guys. We had to cancel a few things and shuffle the schedule around some, but I planned all along to stay out west and come to Vegas early. So I took a couple days off and just hung out with some friends. We took some four-wheelers out in the desert and just had some fun riding and relaxing a little bit. We did a little bit of the Vegas thing and then got back to work on Thursday. So like I said, it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. It wasn’t fun sitting through all the rain delays last weekend, but it still wasn’t as bad as Michigan last year.”
Primary Team Members:
Crew Chief – Steve Addington
Car Chief – Wesley Sherrill
Engine Builder – Mark Cronquist
Lead Engineer – Chris Gayle
Engine Specialist – Kirk Butterfield
Spotter – Jeff Dickerson
Over-The-Wall Crew Members:
Jackman – Jeff Fender
Front Tire Changer – Nick Odell
Front Tire Carrier – Brad Donaghy
Gas Man – Tom Lampe
Rear Tire Changer – Jake Seminara
Rear Tire Carrier – Kenny Barber
Catch Can – Jason Hinson
Windshield – Tom Peterson
Other Crew Members:
Truck Drivers – Peter Jellen and Bob Hannigan
Tire Specialist – Keith Eads
Shock Specialist – Jeff Price
Mechanics – Billy Plourde and Bobby Clark
Gas Runner/Pit Support – Greg Martin
IT Support – Nathan Boone
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Elevation Motorsports Group For Mars, USA, Press Release
Kyle Busch No. 18 M&M’S Toyota Camry
Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway
M&M’S Team Notes of Interest
· Kyle Busch arrives in Atlanta as the Sprint Cup points leader by 20 points over second place, Ryan Newman.
· Busch has seven previous Sprint Cup Series starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
· Busch has led in two of those starts for a total of 81 laps.
· Busch ran his first laps in his new No. 18 M&M’s car with Joe Gibbs Racing when the team tested at AMS in October 2007; Busch had the overall fastest lap of the two-day test with a lap of 29.632 seconds and a speed of 187.095 mph.
Busch Quotes for week leading up to Atlanta Motor Speedway
Are you excited to be coming to Atlanta this weekend?
“I am excited. It’s a fun race track. We’ve never been able to finish that well here in a Cup car, so you’d think I should probably not like this place too much, but I do like it. We won here last year in the Truck and we’re gonna try to do that again this year. Plus this was our first test with this M&M’S team and Joe Gibbs Racing, and that turned out pretty well for us. We’re hoping what we learned then will pay off for us this weekend. It’s an extremely fast track and there are all sorts of different lines you can take through the corners. So it’s a track where the driver can really make a difference with his talent and his driving style. It seems like there’s always a close battle right at the end. We’re doing triple duty again with all three series this weekend so hopefully we can be in some of those close battles at the end and hopefully even pull out a win or two, or three – who knows.”
You’re coming in as the points leader for the second straight week. What does that mean for you?
“It means we’re number one – right now. It’s kind of the same scenario as last week. We’re happy to be where we are in the points, but at this stage in the year it doesn’t mean as much as it will if we’re still here with a couple weeks left in the season. Last week we struggled a little bit during the second half of the race with a tire problem and then some adjustments that didn’t quite work. We just have to stay focused and stay on top of the car and the race track for the entire race. We need to put the whole thing together, and if we do that each week, I feel good that this team will be able to stay where we are in the points. But there’s a long way to go for sure.”
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Kyle Busch Food City 500 Bristol NSCS Race Preview
Elevation Motorsports Group For Mars, USA, Press Release
Kyle Busch No. 18 M&M’S Toyota Camry
Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway
M&M’S Team Notes of Interest
· Kyle Busch is coming off a win in last week’s Kobalt Tools 500 in Atlanta.
· Busch won the debut race of the Car of Tomorrow in last year’s Bristol race (March ’07).
· In six Cup starts at Bristol, Busch has completed an impressive 95.9 percent of the laps run.
· Since spring 2006, Busch has four consecutive top-10 finishes at Bristol.
Busch Quotes for week leading up to Bristol Motor Speedway
What are your thoughts on returning to Bristol, a place where you won the first COT race?
“Last year what we learned at Bristol, of course you want to take some of that to the racetrack again this year. But the first race, the race that I won last year, was still on the old concrete and the old configuration of Bristol, but we learned some stuff in the fall race that helped us some. We didn't run as well as we would have wanted to then. But when we got out front we were able to pull away from the leaders, and that was pretty satisfying. So we just need to make sure that we can go to Bristol and we try to qualify well and keep our car up front, get a good pit selection and be able to keep our car up front like we did this past weekend. I think that's the key with this car is track position. It's more vital than ever before because you can't pass as well as you used to be able to, so you have to be able to keep your car up front all day.”
How has this week been after coming off such a big win in Atlanta?
“This week has been good. I’ve been in a race car every day this week. We’ve been testing with our Late Model team in Hickory (N.C.) and then with our Truck team in Martinsville. It’s been busy so I haven’t had a lot of time to relax and enjoy the win, but that’s fine with me. But yeah, it was definitely great getting the win and taking that Snickers car and this (No.) 18 team back to victory lane for Joe Gibbs Racing. There’s a lot of history behind this team and I’m glad we were able to hopefully show what this team is made of. Steve [Addington] and all the guys have been great to work with.
Everybody’s been working so hard and I feel fortunate to be driving for this team.”
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I wanted to let you know that the Snickers Racing site has exclusive video series of Kyle Busch talking about the 2008 season and his life off the track.
We just posted a new video where he discusses this weekend’s race in Phoenix. You can watch it at snickers.com/racing.
Busch leads Daytona test, gives Toyota hope
Kyle Busch - Coaching Kyle
Kyle Busch Food City 500 Bristol NSCS Race Preview
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