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Nascar and Racing

Kyle Busch: 'I've Got Some Things I've Got to Work On'

Posted Jul 25, 2009 12:50PM By Holly Cain (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Kyle Busch, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Joe Gibbs Racing

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INDIANAPOLIS -- Judging by Kyle Busch's comments and demeanor this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, maybe the 24-year-old has had a bit of an attitude epiphany.

When it comes to dealing with a bad day on track, Busch conceded, "I haven't done a good job at that."

"I've got some things that I've got to try to work on to make ourselves better and ultimately more championship caliber."

It was a revealing and introspective side of Busch at odds with the petulant nature he has often shown this season -- an attitude that some observers caution may be the difference in the super-talent winning a championship or not.

Everyone agrees that Busch is one of the most naturally talented race car drivers NASCAR has ever seen. But it has been his inability to deal with a bad race that sometimes overshadows his many good races.

He's had only one top-10 finish in the last seven races and dropped to 10th in the standings entering Sunday's AllState 400 at the Brickyard. Despite winning three times he holds only a 13-point cushion in qualifying for The Chase with seven races remaining before the 12-driver playoff field is set. He has had good success at Indy with three top-10 finishes in four starts.

"Kyle Busch is a tremendous talent but I think his win or nothing, 'we're going to go for broke' attitude about each and every race could put him in a precarious position in trying to keep himself inside the Chase because that's his mentality that all he wants to do is win the race," said 1999 Sprint Cup champion Dale Jarrett, who is an analyst for ESPN's race broadcasts.

"We've seen him be extremely disappointed about finishing second whether it's in the Nationwide Series or the Cup Series and that's a great attitude to have, but it can also be your downfall too if you're in a situation like this where you're having to try to protect just a little bit."

Maybe Busch is listening. He said Friday he's had some conversations with those close to him, including his spotter and his public relations manager, who know how much more productive it would be for Busch to control his frustrations instead of the racing equivalent of pitching a temper tantrum when his car isn't perfect.

"If you're having a bad day then you need to make a 10th out of it and we're not very good at that, at least I'm not very good at that and I don't think our team is very good at that," said Busch, who drives the No. 18 Snickers Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.

"Maybe that's because of me -- maybe I'm not leading it in the right direction."

When asked if that's simply a by-product of his ultra-competitive, singularly-focused personality, Busch conceded, "Maybe that's why I've won some races because of who I am, but maybe that's a lot of the reason why I've lost some races is because of who I am.

"There's a balancing act in everything you do and there's consequences and ultimately repercussions for things so I'm trying to work on it and make it better so we don't have to look at myself as to why the problem exists."

"The bad races aren't just bad, they're horrible, whether it's my fault or not, you need a common denominator," Busch said.

"It was me who kept my head in the game and stayed focused, which I feel like I've done, but maybe I give up a little bit and don't tell my team exactly what we need on fixing the car.

"That frustration sets in and then we don't get the car any better because I'm so zoned out. I'm still driving the heck out of what I've got, but I'm not trying to make what I've got better. If I can fix myself and stay tuned in and stay zoned in on what the task is then we can look in other areas."

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