NASCAR Nationwide Series: Ford EcoBoost 300

Topics:  Ford EcoBoost 300

Kyle Busch
November 17, 2012

HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA

KERRY THARP:  Let's go ahead and roll into our post‑race for tonight's 18th annual Ford EcoBoost 300, and our race runner‑up is Kyle Busch.  He drove the No.54 Monster Energy Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports.  Kyle, just talk about your run out there this evening.
KYLE BUSCH:  We had a really good car there early.  We were super fast, and then every adjustment we kept making‑‑ first adjustment was okay, the next two weren't very good and slowed us down, made us really, really loose.  And then Mike Beam threw everything at it there on the second‑to‑last pit stop, and the car got a lot better, and I was actually running some guys down.  I think I chased the 22 and the 38 from the straightaway back and got to them before that yellow come out, and then last pit stop again we made some more adjustments to it and restarted 10th and just put my head down and dug as hard as I could to get up there and got to third before the final caution, and then there that last restart we got up through a couple more of them, finished second.
Just another way to lose the race tonight for me anyways with a guy who comes out for his first race with his new team for next year, which it's good for Regan and those guys, it's cool to see, and Junior Motorsports getting a win, but just kind of goes to show youhow many different ways ‑‑ I think I've lost more times this year than in my whole career, which has kind of been frustrating, but that's just kind of my season.

Q.  Kyle, did the track change a lot through the course of the race today as it got darker and cooler?
KYLE BUSCH:  It sure did.  It really changed a whole lot.  We kept tightening it up every time.  Even that adjustment where we got super loose we were trying to tighten the car up, it just seemed like the track was getting looser and looser all night and just kind of getting slick, and especially when you're running‑‑ after a restart where they all clean the racetrack off and you get the rubber cleaned off then we go back green, the first lap is awesome.  You just have a ton of grip, feels great, and then as the rubber starts getting put down with laps, it gets really, really slick and you just start sliding, you slide the nose, you slide the back, and you just try to minimize as much of that slide as you can to keep lap time.  That's essentially what you do to keep lap times.  All of us go through that, but the track definitely changed throughout the runs as well as throughout the night.

Q.  You'll end the year without a win in the Nationwide Series, which I know is a big disappointment your first season, and all told I guess no wins in Nationwide and no wins in truck, and I know you alluded earlier that you lost many.  I guess are you able to pinpoint kind of why things went this way and what needs to be changed or what you can do differently?
KYLE BUSCH:  I've got to start living different, I guess.  I don't know what it is.  I mean, I've had plenty of second place and third place finishes in my career.  You know, this year I've had plenty of those, as well, too.  I even have a sixth place from Kansas where I should have won coming out of Turn 4, ran out of gas.
You know, I only ran three truck races and should have won last night.  I had a shot to win Atlanta, had a shot to win Texas, just nothing ever materialized, and why it's not materializing I can't tell you.  But I don't know if you can keep a job in this sport by finishing second and third every single week or not, but hopefully I can because I seem not to be able to get to victory lane.

Q.  (No microphone.)
KYLE BUSCH:  I think it's been well documented that this has been the absolute worst year of my career, bar none, whether it was racing ASA cars or late models or Legends cars or even being here in the big three, winning 20‑plus races a year.  It's a huge disappointment.  You don't‑‑ I mean, Cup races, sure, they're hard to win.  But the last three weeks I should have won Martinsville, I could have moved Jimmie out of the way, I could have dive bombed the two of them at Texas and probably won that one, and then Phoenix I gave away because I chose the wrong lane on a restart.  I can't seem to put it all together when it matters, and you have to in this sport, otherwise you'll be kind of shown the door.

Q.  We're coming into the Nationwide off‑season now, so if we could switch gears real quickly I'm asking everyone I can speak to about what your simple joys are as we come into the Thanksgiving season.
KYLE BUSCH:  That this year is over.

Q.  Is that all?
KYLE BUSCH:  That's it.  I'm more excited about this year being over than anything else in my entire life.  You know, happy to go home this off‑season, spend some time with my wife and relax and enjoy unpacking all of our boxes and everything.  We've been living out of suitcases for the past three months.  It'll be finally nice to sit down and get home.
KERRY THARP:  Kyle, thanks a lot.  We'll see you tomorrow.
KYLE BUSCH:  Just for a start‑up deal this year, I just want to say I'm really, really proud of all our guys.  I can't say enough about Mike Beam and Joey Cohen and all the guys that worked so hard on this team that brought it from nothing December 1st to having a lot of good finishes and running up front a lot.  Without them we wouldn't have been here.  Without Monster Energy and Toyota's support we wouldn't be here, either.  It was a good year all things considered, and proud of Kurt's win at Richmond, but certainly do wish we could have got a win for myself, but we'll try again in '13.