NASCAR Cup

Bristol II: Kyle Busch preview

KYLE BUSCH 'Double' the Fun at Bristol HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (Aug. 17, 2010) - It's no coincidence that the first word that comes to mind when Kyle Busch is asked about Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway is the word fun. For Busch, winning is his ...

Published: Aug 18, 2010, 10:55 PM

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KYLE BUSCH
'Double' the Fun at Bristol

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (Aug. 17, 2010) - It's no coincidence that the first word that comes to mind when Kyle Busch is asked about Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway is the word fun.

For Busch, winning is his ultimate fun, and the driver of the No. 18 Doublemint® Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) enters Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol looking for his third Sprint Cup win in his last four starts at the .533-mile bullring.

The talented 25-year-old owns 18 career Sprint Cup victories, and Bristol is the lone racetrack where Busch has been victorious three times. In addition to sweeping both Sprint Cup events in 2009, Busch captured his first Bristol win in March 2007 and has notched an impressive eight top-10 finishes in 11 starts there.

There is a lot at stake for Busch beginning with Saturday night's event and continuing over the course of the next three races - his hopes of clinching a spot in the 12-driver, 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup. The Las Vegas native is determined to have strong runs at Bristol, Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga., and the final race of NASCAR's "regular season" at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. The outlook is certainly a positive one as Busch has a combined six Sprint cup wins at all three racetracks.

With Doublemint, the iconic chewing gum brand, adorning Busch's No. 18 Toyota at Bristol this weekend, he'll look to add to his fun and to double his pleasure in hopes of yet another win at a track where he is quite familiar with the location of victory lane.

KYLE BUSCH, Driver of the No. 18 Doublemint® Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing:

Are you looking forward to Bristol?

"Bristol is going to be fun with our Doublemint Camry. I always look forward to going there. I struggled there in the spring, for some reason. All of JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) did. We all blew right-front tires out, we all got in the fence, but we salvaged a decent day. We ended up ninth. I'm looking forward to going back. I hear there's a different tire again, so I'll get my first taste of it Wednesday night in the truck race. We'll run the Truck race, then Nationwide and Cup. We'll be there for all three. I'm looking forward to going back to Bristol and, hopefully, being able to make it - I think - three in a row in the Truck Series and three out of the last four in the Cup Series there."

How do you have to approach Bristol as far as your driving style goes?

"Your driving style has had to change at Bristol a lot. Bristol used to be a track where you could charge the corners a little bit and get it right in and down to the bottom of the track. You kind of would go through the middle of the corner and then slingshot out on the exits. And now it's just so smooth that you're easy in, you're kind of easy through the center, and easy off. The track is a little slower than I think it was because they reduced some banking in order to put sort of the progressive banking into it to make the outside groove better for the fans."

What is it about Bristol Motor Speedway that makes it so unique and a place that fans love?

"Bristol Motor Speedway is one of the best racetracks on the circuit. All the fans love it because of the excitement, the run-ins, and the close-quarter action with all the cars being packed on top of one another at a half-mile racetrack with us 43 lunatics running around in a tight circle. With the fans, the atmosphere there always makes for a good time. We have the SAFER barrier on the outside wall taking up a little bit more racing room up off the corners since they've run the wall further down the straightaway. But it's taking up some racing room and it makes the racing even tighter and we are probably going to see some more action."

What is the strategy going into the final races before the Chase?

"The biggest thing for us and the No. 18 team is to try to get another win or two if we possibly can. We feel like we've had some bad weeks here in recent weeks. But we need to try to put that away and get our cars going a little bit better here and try to make sure to find another car that we know can run well. If we can get a couple of wins before the Chase starts, that will help our seeding. But, overall if we don't, we'll probably be tied for fourth or fifth or something like that. Then we'll have to work our way back up toward the top."

You've won three Sprint Cup races at Bristol. What is it that makes you so good there?

"I'm not exactly sure what makes me so good at Bristol. I've just had a lot of success there, but I've also had some misfortune there, too. Ever since I got through my rookie year, I've just taken a liking to the place. Of course, I've been able to get some help from my brother. He's always been really, really good there. But when they changed the track to this current surface, I just really took to it right away. I really liked it and I've been fast there, but also I've had great race cars from Joe Gibbs Racing. I've been able to win the last two Camping World Truck Series races there, too, so it's just a fun racetrack no matter what series I'm running there. You really have to be on your game because, you make one mistake or someone else makes one mistake, like what happened in the fall Nationwide Series race there with a car with a flat tire coming down the track and essentially ending our day, that's it. Hopefully, we can keep that good luck going there in the Sprint Cup Series this weekend with our Doublemint Toyota."

-source: jgr

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