Kyle Busch: “Everybody kept running way from us for a while, especially Jeff and Clint”
Oct 14, 2007
CIA Stock photo
KERRY THARP: We are joined by our third place finisher, Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 5 Kellogg’s Car Quest Chevrolet. Kyle, your thoughts about tonight’s race and how you thought things shaped up.
KYLE BUSCH: It wasn’t bad. We had a pretty good car all night long. Just kept fighting a tight chatter through the center of the corner and got it a little bit freed up and got it a little bit too loose there but still kept it loose to keep it turning. We were just really, really loose on the short run there and that’s why everybody kept running way from us for a while, especially Jeff and Clint, and they were able to do the same thing and we were able to get a little more tightened up and they were tightening up, too and we were able to run by them and Jeff was too far ahead when the race went green and then with the caution, running out of gas going into turn run, both of us, he did a little more than I did, because I was ready to go and I wasn’t going and finally he moved up and I was able to move up a little bit but those guys had a significant enough run on us where we couldn’t really do anything. But other than that, I don’t know, easy day, third place, whatever. Didn’t make up much ground in the points.
Q. Might seem like an odd question but you’ve been drilled so often and been hit like at Talladega and Kansas, knocked out of races that are not your fault, but when it’s the end of the race and you’re the guy behind, how hard is it when that happens to you not to run over the guy ahead of you?
Kyle Busch: I don’t get it. I don’t get the question. I’m the guy behind who?
Q. Behind Gordon in the lead. Guys have run over you multiple times in the Chase.
Kyle Busch: Okay.
Q. How hard is it for you not to run over somebody?
Kyle Busch: That’s better. We’re on the same page, now, thank you. I wasn’t even in the same book, really. Okay. It’s pretty easy. I’ve got two feet and two hands and I’ve got eyeballs so I can look out the windshield and make sure I don’t run into the back of somebody, you know. Obviously, Jeff, we got down there into turn one and he stumbled and ran out of fuel, had a vapor issue or whatever it was; we’ll go back and research that more and figure out what it was but I didn’t run over him and I got past by three guys and I wasn’t too anxious to get going and I didn’t want to dump him. If it was anybody in that situation, you don’t want to wreck him. I feel like I could have done and did a pretty good job of not running into the back of him.
Q. Kyle, what does it say to some of the people that may have criticized you in the past because after everything that happened in June, some guys may have just mailed it in but you’re doing a heck of an effort and you’re still out there slugging away and doing a professional job. What does that say for some of the people that may not have always been in your corner in
Kyle Busch: That Joe Gibbs Racing is pretty excited to get me. Besides that, this is me. This is who I am. I just try to go out there and race a race car to the best of my ability week in and week out. You know, if it’s getting in crashes of my own doing or not of my own doing, you know, that’s a part of it I guess. And if it’s good finishes like it was tonight, and the first two Chase races, so be it. It’s tough to have to go through those rough times but everybody does that sometimes. For us, it was there the past couple of weeks. Hopefully we can just straighten it out and keep going the way we are right here.
Q. When you’re getting ready during the red flag, Hendrick got on the radio to both you and Jeff. When Rick is in your ear, does that add any stress or additional pressure to you or are you pretty used to him talking to you during the race?
Kyle Busch: I’m pretty much used to that. We had that scenario before, I think it was with Jimmie and Jeff one other time as well. He just doesn’t want to see Martinsville again from 190 whatever.
Q. What did he say?
KYLE BUSCH: Just be cool, we don’t need any wrecked race cars. If Jeff feels like you’ve got a run on him or something like that, he’ll give it to you. But no, I’ve had that before, so it’s all good. I don’t know. I mean, I’m used to it. I get told a lot of things to do, so I’m used to it.
