KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s 75 Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How do you feel looking back at Daytona last year?
“It was not quite the way we would have wanted to start a season here last time around 365 days ago, but things obviously turned the corner well. Was able to get through rehab and get back in the race car and then go through the season, win some races – three in a row at one point – my first Brickyard 400 and now to be Sprint Cup Series champion at the end of the season was pretty spectacular as well. We’d love nothing more than to continue on our championship celebration all the way through this weekend here in winning a Daytona 500 as well.”
What are some of the better safety improvements you’ve seen in the last year?
“I think of course the things Daytona has done here with SAFER barrier along the whole outside and inside of the race track – there’s too many different areas of these racing surfaces that we can get out of control on and crash into. We’ve seen that over the years – I think most notably maybe Mark Martin at Michigan a couple years ago and getting caught on that inside pit wall – we can tend to find about anywhere to hit, so it’s just a matter of trying to protecting ourselves as well as the race fans and our crew members as best possible.”
How do you feel about your 2015 story?
“It’s definitely crazy the way it all that it all happened and the way it went down. It’s obviously still a story were talking about, but for me to go through what all I went through and my family went through and everything to then be able to enjoy the end of the season and the enjoyment of what all that meant in winning a championship was pretty awesome and very special. It’s something I’ve dreamt of as a kid, something I’ve always wanted to accomplish and something a lot of people have expected me to be able to accomplish since I joined this sport, so pretty excited to have that now off my shoulders as a champion and to go out and try to get number two, number three – however many on down the line – and keep it going.”
How does it feel to be the champion in Daytona?
“It’s pretty cool to come here as champion. I definitely don’t mind it, that’s for sure. It’s different – a lot of champ references to me from other people, fans, media. Walking through the garage area, I seem to have picked up one or two more in my circle that want to follow me through. I’m nowhere near Junior’s (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) level, which is good. It’s definitely not a bad thing.”
What are the next racing goals on your checklist to accomplish?
“Daytona 500 victory, Coke 600, All-Star race, being able to win a race at every single race track on the circuit that we go to, being able to win 200 races across all three series of NASCAR – that’s been on my goal list – so some of those items.”
Would a younger Kyle Busch have been able to handle the adversity this year?
“I’d say maybe, maybe not. Maybe if – I don’t know if I would not have been able to handle it or if I was a younger Kyle Busch if I would have been able to grow from that sooner, faster than what I did when I was 30 years old, so you can look at it either way.”
How tough was last season on your wife?
“You’d have to ask her (Samantha Busch), but I imagine it was very tough. With her being seven months pregnant when I got hurt and being in the Daytona hospital and not being able to see me at first, that was quite stressful for her. And then to have to go through moving our whole bedroom and everything out to the living room and making that sort of our hospital wing at our home to her getting up in the middle of the night to help do things and while she’s pregnant you know she needs her rest. It was quite chaotic and I’m sure it was tough, but she’s a tough cookie as well too. I think it made us stronger, closer together and each day you turn around and you’ve got a lot of people that work for you and are close to you and whether or not those things change, the things amongst us always have to stay together and stay strong. We’re the conduit to all of that other stuff.”
Why is the Daytona 500 so hard to win?
“Cause everybody else wants to win it and it’s on all their bucket lists and of course too it’s a race that 40 people have a chance to go out there and win this weekend. I wouldn’t say the same for the race like Atlanta. You go to Atlanta and obviously that’s a race where probably 10, 12 guys are going to have a chance to win, but when you show up to Daytona, all 40 people will believe that they have a chance to win.”
Have you stayed in touch with the hospital here in Florida?
“Todd McCall has talked to me a few times. He’s actually the doctor that was on call that night that got called in from Orlando to go up there and put the rod in my legs, so he and I we’ve had some discussions over text message a little bit back and forth and he’s a cool dude. It means a lot to me that he keeps up with what we’re doing and how were able to still keep in touch with one another and for as much as he helped me getting back on my feet.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How do you feel entering the 500?
“I’d say this is probably one of the best opportunities I’ve ever had to win the 500. We’ve got fast race cars. They race really well. I mean, the Unlimited was really good for us, so just go have some fun and hopefully it works out.”
How much pressure is there from Joe Gibbs to win the Daytona 500?
“There’s always pressure from Coach (Joe Gibbs). Coach wants to win everything. I guess it would be a really special win for a number of reasons, but for me just being a part of a team like this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I want to make the most of it.”
What would winning the Daytona 500 be like?
“Last year, two of the biggest wins of my career definitely with the 600 and the Southern 500. I can’t imagine what winning the Daytona 500 is like – when it happens, it will be fun.”
Why was the Unlimited so aggressive?
“The Unlimited is – everybody knows they can be aggressive. There’s really not a lot to lose there. There’s always the risk involved, but I know for me personally I was being really aggressive and I kind of felt bad about how aggressive I was until after the race and someone said, ‘No, it was basically everybody being like that,’ so I think you’ll see that in the last lap or two of the 500, but it will probably be a lot more calm for the most part.”
What do you expect to happen in the Duels?
“The Duel is an interesting race because you obviously want to win it and you want to finish well, but everybody is really aware that that’s really – that’s a prelude to the biggest race of the year. You just do not want to tear up your car.”
What do you think of the rules package?
“We just need to keep taking downforce away. To me, it’s a case of if some is good, more is definitely going to be better. The more and more downforce and sideforce we can take away the better and, yes, these teams will – we will innovate. No matter what the rules are, we’re going to get the absolute most downforce and sideforce we can and therefore just if NASCAR stays ahead of that curve it will be better.”
Do you think good racing is found in the corners?
“The whole point of – the whole struggle of racing is getting through the corners fast. I mean, this type of racing – this pack racing, Daytona – it’s an anomaly, but it’s created out of restricting the car’s downforce for safety purposes. True racing is what you see at Sonoma, what you see at Martinsville, what you see at tracks where you have too much power. That’s the best racing.”
Did the leader have an advantage in the Unlimited?
“You know what was interesting, I felt like Denny Hamlin’s car was really fast out front, but if people line up and get a run, I still think the leader is kind of a sitting duck if he doesn’t play it perfectly.”
Would you want the lead on the last lap?
“I’ll still take the lead on the last lap. I’d rather be blocking that try to figure out how to get by a guy.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Have you been on the greens lately?
“I went out there yesterday, but I was the designated putter. I was on my phone the first 10 minutes and then they were like, ‘Okay, you’re up to putt’.”
Are you and Danica Patrick good after what happened last year?
“We’re one big happy family. Daytona last year, looking back on it was funny how it all worked out. I think that’s where her frustration came from the most. Her buddy on and off the track wrecked her a couple times. Anytime you are superspeedway racing, we’re messing around with inches here and when you feel like it’s your friend that wrecked you, you get a little bit more upset. We didn’t really talk about it but had a good time. We chartered a boat to the Exumas and all through the Bahamas and did some island hopping – it was a lot of fun. It wasn’t as much fun for me because I thought I’d be better physically than I was at the time, though I had to sit on the boat a lot while the group went out and did a lot of cool activities.”
Is it important to win the big races?
“I think it’s big because I’ve been doing this now – this is going to be my 11th try at it and you hate to have all these great resume parts about these wins that you’ve had, this, that and the other and no Coke 600, no Brickyard 400, no Daytona 500, so I think that’s a gaping hole in my personal resume is not having some of those big victories. We got the All-Star last year. We’re good at these exhibition races, but it just seems like these big ones is ones that I feel like before I hang it up I’d like to get them done.”
Who are the favorites at Daytona?
“I think that there’s probably five guys that are true favorites because they’ve done such a good job of figuring out the draft with this specific package that we have, so I look at those five – whoever they may be – and those are the guys you’re going to have to beat no matter what organization they’re with. They’re just good at it.”
Is this race no longer a crapshoot?
“I don’t believe it’s – I used to say it’s a crapshoot. I think that’s a cliché that a lot of drivers say that – it just isn’t. The same guys don’t win all the time if it’s a crapshoot. We’re not the luckiest guys in Vegas, so I think that guys like Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. that continually put themselves up at the front when it counts at these superspeedway races, it’s because he knows something that the rest of the field does not. Those are the guys that you need to look at and figure out how you can get better to get to their level.”
Is Joe Gibbs putting pressure on you guys to win the Daytona 500?
“I think the pressure is self-imposed. I think it’s just – you know, we had such a long drought of not winning a championship. That pressure was starting to build and the frustration probably from Joe Gibbs Racing is starting to get felt from everyone, so we got that done and now it’s just like, ‘Okay, guys, let’s win the 500.’ These All-Star-type wins are great, but the 500 is one that I think is really, really special to him because he hasn’t won it in 23 years. I mean, that’s a big number for such a good organization.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Do you feel different about this year’s Daytona 500?
“Every race is new, every year is a new year – it doesn’t matter what you have done in the past, in my opinion. You go and do the best you can every week and approach it with the idea of trying to do your best and hopefully things will work out and have a shot to win. I don’t feel differently about this race or what I want to do in it than what I did five years ago or 10 years ago or last year to be honest with you.”
Have you talked with Jason Ratcliff about your Daytona 500 strategy?
“I have not talked to Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) about the race yet. They are actually back in Charlotte until tomorrow, they changed the schedule for those guys and made it nice they get an extra day, but we had to come down here today for this. I wanted to go to the shop today and handle some business and stuff, but I couldn’t do that, so I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”
Is there any pressure to get Joe Gibbs Racing back to victory lane in the Daytona 500?
“I don’t know if there’s pressure. Coach (Joe Gibbs, team owner) is a smart guy and has been around professional sports forever. It’s not like he’s going to say you are going to win the Daytona 500 and you are going to that year. I think everybody knows how important this race is to everybody in it, every team in it, every sponsor. I think everybody puts as much effort as they can into it to go try to get a win. Last year, there were some races, I don’t know if he’s never won or hasn’t won very much at – they’ve won all those. I didn’t, but Kyle (Busch) and Denny (Hamlin) did the All-Star race – I think that was their first All-Star win. They won at the 600, they won Indy, they won a Southern 500 – they won a lot of big races. This one is certainly on his list and wants to get one since it’s been so many years. I’d love to be able to win and bring one of those trophies back there.”
Do you know who you’ll pick to run with in the race?
“I think it’s tough to pick a favorite, especially off of qualifying. I think you’ll have a better idea on Thursday who shows strength and who doesn’t. I think Thursday is a better indicator than qualifying day to be honest with you.”
How does the season progress for a race team?
“The plan is to be able to run strong all year and have cars that run up front. Last year, we did a pretty good job of that. We didn’t start off as strong as we got to be in mid-May, but we were still trying to get caught up from having the fourth team and other stuff built. Once we got that it felt like we did a good job from mid-May or so. Denny (Hamlin) won the All-Star race, Carl (Edwards) won the 600 and it went on from there. I thought we were pretty competitive the rest of the year all the way to the end.”
What are your expectations for the Duels before the Daytona 500?
“I hope we can run the whole race, can keep our track position and run up in the top few. I hope I can lead and learn what it’s going to do leading and where you need to be on the race track on the lines for a while. That was important to see for me more than car stuff. If you do get back a little bit, just learn about your car and where to make the moves, who’s fast and doing what – those types of things.”
Do you foresee what the next safety improvement might be for this sport?
“I don’t know. The head and neck (restraints) and SAFER barriers go hand-in-hand – really it all works together. The SAFER barriers should be all the way around the race track on the outside wall and inside wall everywhere we go. The only reason they are not is because of cost. They’re working on it and they’ve put in a ton of them last year, but there’s certainly some places where they can keep adding them and making them safer.”
What would you select if you had to pick between a Daytona 500 win and a Sprint Cup Championship?
“That’s a tough one. It wouldn’t even be a conversation at all. I would say the championship for sure, but it’s so different with elimination format at the end of the year. I would say it would still be championship, but I don’t think it outweighs the 500 as much as it did at one time.”
