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Nascar and Racing

Kyle Busch on Facing Tony Stewart and Learning From Past Mistakes

Posted Feb 11, 2009 5:00AM By Geoffrey Miller (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing

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After getting a hold of Sprint Cup rookie Joey Logano earlier in the week to discuss his rise to NASCAR stardom, it's now time to hear from one of the drivers who just missed out on the season championship in 2009.



Kyle Busch -- a teammate to Logano at Joe Gibbs Racing -- took a few minutes in between stops in southern California to chat with me about his relaxing offseason, the new NASCAR Kart Racing game and how he feels coming into the 2009 season.

Geoffrey Miller: First up, Kyle thanks for the time today. How's life been been with NASCAR's testing ban? I saw you won a Super Late Model race down in Georgia a few weeks ago.

Kyle Busch: Yeah we did, and I definitely had a lot of fun with that. That was the first time I've been back in a car since Homestead so it was real nice to go out there and win when I was trying to brush all the cobwebs off after the winter. Besides that, it's been a lot of fun. I've been doing some work, but I've also had a chance to do some relaxing -- anything and everything you can think of over the off-season. It's been nice.

GM: I assume, then, you've had a chance to dust off the Wii and check out EA Sports' new NASCAR Kart Racing game. Thoughts?

KB: Yeah I have had a chance to play it actually and it's pretty cool. Of course, its the only NASCAR game for the Nintendo Wii, so that's kind of special in itself right there. And it's kart racing, so it's not necessarily NASCAR racing and its always fun to have something different. You can slide sideways and grind it -- get physical on the race track.

GM: Seems to be right up your alley. I was noticing on the game's web site that Jeff Gordon looked a lot like Sen. John Kerry. As for you, you've got your trademark sunglasses on. Do you think the game designers got your look right?

KB: [Laughs] Yeah, I think they did a pretty good job, or at least, it looks pretty good to me. And you know, there's a couple of mystery NASCAR drivers you can unlock there too. We can't completely let that cat out of the bag, though.

GM: Any chance, you know, you'll be using the game to blow some steam after the race? NASCAR might like it better if you spin Carl Edwards or Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the game instead of the on the track.

KB: Yeah, that's always fun to do. You can definitely go make yourself feel better in the motor home without having to do it out on the real track.



GM: Getting back to the real racing a little bit, has the testing ban affected your team? Do you think it was good for the sport? Good for you team?

KB: Well, it would have been nice to hit some of the NASCAR tracks, but I think it's been fine the way it is. We've all been able to relax a little bit more and spend some time at home. That's probably the best part about it. But as far as being able to test, you can go test at other places and certain things -- you don't necessarily have to test at the track to learn stuff about brakes, or to learn stuff about rear springs.

GM: It's hard to believe NASCAR's already back in Daytona. How have the offseason preparations at Joe Gibbs Racing been going and how do you think you'll perform during Speedweeks?

KB: I think our cars [at Daytona] last year were pretty good and we've definitely improved on them for this time around. And to answer a little bit more about your previous question, we've got a chance to do a little bit of testing at New Smyrna in Florida and Rockingham, N.C. to do some brake testing and some short-track stuff just trying to learn a little bit more and get better for the flat tracks. Hopefully, we've learned something there.

GM: Tony Stewart left a big hole at Joe Gibbs Racing by moving on to own his team. Has the shop felt any different without him around? Are you looking forward to banging fenders with him in 2009 as a rival instead of a teammate?

KB: I'd say I'm looking forward to that. Tony's always been a been a great asset to Joe Gibbs Racing and has been for many years and with him leaving this year there's been a little bit of a void there. But I have no doubt with Joey [Logano] coming in that he'll fill that void and do a great job for us. Hopefully, he'll be able to bring that No. 20 team back to what it was with Tony.

GM: Finally, after a months to take in some of the trouble you saw last year in the Chase after such a dominating regular season, is there anything that you'll be doing differently in 2009?

KB: Obviously, I feel like we've got a good program underneath us but there are some areas for improvement of course. But with the stuff we learned this year, with what happened at Loudon, Dover and Kansas, we should definitely be able to capitalize on those mistakes and not let them happen again.

Tags: JoeGibbsRacing, KyleBusch

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