Photo Credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR
Adam Stevens, crew chief of the No. 18 M&M’s/Red Nose Toyota driven by Kyle Busch, is one of the main reasons Busch won the race at Kansas Speedway. Busch had a decent run one that lead him to Victory Lane and Stevens couldn’t be happier specially since this was one of the tracks that Busch hadn’t won on yet.
“Yeah, you know, it’s always cool to get to Victory Lane,” Stevens said. “But to knock off another place that KB hasn’t won at is really special. He’s got a very storied career, done a lot of great things. To help him accomplish the few things he hasn’t done is really cool. It was a tough race. A lot of adjusting with the track conditions changing. Groove really widened up, which was really good to see. Lots the pit strategy and an overall solid night for the 18 team.”
Busch pitted under green with 56 laps to go. Then when the last caution came out, Stevens made the decision for Busch to stay out instead of pitting like the rest of the field was doing. It was a bold move but one that worked in their favor.
“Hadn’t seen much speed in tires all night, not much tire falloff,” Stevens said. “We’d only gone about 25. It was about the perfect time to make that call. A little bit longer would have been harder to make the call and you’d have had less laps to pass the cars. It’s just so hard to pass and the cars are so even. As soon as you get the track position, you need to do all you can to maintain it.”
