NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Chevy Rock & Roll 400

Topics:  Chevy Rock & Roll 400

Kyle Busch
September 12, 2009

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

KERRY THARP: We are joined by Kyle Busch, he came up just a little short out there this evening for the Chase. Your thoughts about the race tonight and how things turned out.
KYLE BUSCH: Well, we did all we can do. We gave a valiant effort and it was a good night for the M&M's Toyota to come in fifth place. That's what you look for in these deals and unfortunately it wasn't enough for tonight to get ourselves knocked in the Chase, but it's not just tonight or it's not just last week that's kept us out. It's been the past 26 races that unfortunately some days I didn't do my best, and we didn't have the best cars or whatever it might have been. So you can look at a whole different scenario or a whole different slew of things but what it boils down to is we missed.
So I feel bad for M&M's and Interstate Batteries, Combo, Snickers, all of the guys that worked so hard on this team. With all the pits stops all night if anybody deserved to be in, the team did and they did a great job so unfortunately we will be on the outside looking in. We'll be looking to win some races in the rest of the season and hopefully go out with a bang.

Q. You said all season that the Gibbs cars have struggled, or at least you struggle with them, and Denny seems to be building momentum; do you think he could be a threat to win the Chase?
KYLE BUSCH: I hope so. All of the focus is going on the 11 and I'll do my best to help Denny out and bring Joe Gibbs Racing a championship and hopefully I can do my part on the racetrack as well as on just giving the best advice from my car and helping those guys.
So you know, I think Denny has got a lot going forward, especially winning here. He's going to have a big momentum boost next week where he goes and runs so well at Loudon and the next week at Dover, he does well, too. They have got it going on, if they can keep the parts together but unfortunately we didn't last year but if they do they will be fine.

Q. You know, all year, we are always asking drivers, why don't you try to go for the win more and here is a situation where you know maybe that hurt you, say at a place like Daytona in the summer, you go for the win and you don't have enough points to make the Chase. Do you regret certain instances now where if you look back, you could have points-raced and not try to go for a win and do you think that will change your strategy at all?
KYLE BUSCH: I mean, you can look at Daytona in the spring. I got wrecked by guys that were fighting for the Lucky Dog. It was just an -- Kenseth was one spot right behind me and made it through the wreck and won the race and he's sitting here at the loser table with me. (Laughter) Unfortunately we are here in this predicament but we will live to see another day. We'll go on for the rest of the year, both of us, and you know, it's not just one race that we can look at that we can pick instances.
I could have not have drove through Sam Hornish at Infineon, that cost me a good day there, too. It's just a slew of bad races.

Q. Kyle, in the closing laps, did you get the feeling that Vickers, Johnson and Gordon were ganging up on you?
KYLE BUSCH: I wouldn't say they were ganging up on me. Jimmie was racing hard all night, everybody. My brother would get by him and he would go to the inside of my brother and push up top and race him for another five laps until Kurt could finally get by. I felt like it but from what I saw he was just racing hard all night.
Jeff, I never really got to Jeff. I was on his outside there and the outside wasn't the best lane tonight for some reason. You know, normally we have a better outside lane, but tonight it seemed like everything was way better on the bottom.
You know, those guys raced fine, they raced hard, and they were racing for a win or a chance to win to get more bonus points, I'm sure.

Q. Did it make it any easier at all having lost after driving a great race instead of in a freak accident or something like that?
KYLE BUSCH: Yeah, if you want to win a consolation prize, that's a good way to do it but unfortunately we had, like I said, we have had 10 or 12 races through the year where we finished terrible.
So you know, those are the races, that is what has kept us out of this Chase, not necessarily these last two. We fought as hard as we could last week racing with Matt in Atlanta and here this week we are battling as hard as we could racing with Brian, and Jeff and Jimmie and the 33 there at the end.
But you know, we just didn't have enough the rest of the year, not necessarily tonight.
KERRY THARP: Kyle, thank you, you're a class act, thank you very much for coming in and we look forward to the rest of the season, thank you.