Jeff Gluck

USA TODAY Sports









Our series of NASCAR driver interviews continues this week with Kyle Busch, who has won five Sprint Cup Series races at Bristol Motor Speedway and swept three races there in August 2010.

Q: When you're on a long green-flag run and you're not racing anyone, what are you thinking about?

A: You're always thinking about trying to get forward. But you're also sometimes thinking about what the strategy is – and that might be a good or bad thing. If you pit for four tires and other guys stay out, you know you're going to cycle ahead of them. Is there a caution that's going to fall? What's going to happen? How many more stops do you have until the end of the race?

But if you're out front, you're in the zone and leading things. You're basically just concentrating on hitting your line and not screwing up. Saving your tires as much as you can, just to not have your pace fall off. You're also worried about rolling out (of the gas early) and saving fuel, taking care of your equipment and all that.

One of the most fun times is when you're leading. Like at California last year for instance, I was just running against the wall and making lap times – and watching everybody get smaller in your mirror is fun.

Q: When fans come up to you and want to talk about certain moments from your career or a race they remember seeing you in, which one do they most often mention?

A: Some people tell you, "I'm your good luck charm – I've been to eight races in my life and you've won six of them" or something like that. So it's kind of like, "Well, you need to come to more then!"

Other times, fans just want to talk about previous times they've met you. We have fans who bake cookies for the team or they make cupcakes or muffins and stuff like that. And then they always ask us if we enjoyed it and how it tasted.

I'm like, "That was so long ago. I don't even remember what I had for breakfast this morning!"

Q: If somebody paid you $5 million to design a new track with an unlimited budget, what kind of track would you design?

A: So what would I do if I was going to build a racetrack, essentially? Hmm. I like road-course racing. I think we could have some more road courses. That would be fun. I hear a lot of people who say they enjoy watching the road course races over the ovals. Why? I don't know. But I think we've got plenty of oval tracks, so I'd build a road course.

I did not think you'd answer that way.

Yeah. But I'd have some banked corners in there, some interesting stuff. I think the tunnels are cool – not a long tunnel, but like the tunnel at Monaco. I'd have some hairpin stuff, some esses, some switchbacks – I'd have it all.

Q: If you had a day off to do anything you wanted – but you couldn't race – what would you do?

A: (Wife) Samantha and I enjoy Cabo (San Lucas, Mexico). It's really nice. We went on a vacation down there and it was fun. The resort was super nice. If I get a day off, I'm going to take a day off and go vacation. I don't do very well in the sun as you can see (rolls up sleeve to show off a mixture of red and white), but I'd enjoy the beach and go jump in the water.

Oh, and have a margarita.

Just the regular kind?

No, I like the jalapeno margaritas. Like a little spice to it. Kick it! They're good. You've gotta have one.

Q: You guys have a lot of cool non-racing experiences because you're NASCAR drivers. What is one that comes to mind?

A: There's a lot, but one that comes to mind I'd go with is back in 2004 or 2005. I was with Rick (Hendrick), and he's got a bunch of boats – a speedboat, a fishing boat, a yacht, all that. Well we went out on his fishing boat one day and Bill (France) Jr. was there.

That was a cool day. It was Rick, his two captains, Bill Jr. and like three other guys. We went fishing, I shot the bull with France and talked about the sport and what he remembered it as and where he wanted to see it go. He was in bad health at that time (he died in 2007), but it was a fun time.

Do you still remember what you talked about with him?

A little bit, yeah. One of the things that came to mind was him saying how this sport is turning into a business. It's not the old racing mentality of "Hey, let's load up the stuff and go to the track." It's a business where we've got haulers and sponsors and everything else.

One thing he said was, "It's turning into a business; racers are a dying breed." And he's exactly right. To his point exactly, to make it in this sport now, you'd better have money. Drivers like me or Joey Logano or Ryan Blaney, for instance, there's not many coming up and making it that are great with talent but don't have the money.

Q: When you go home after having a bad day on the track, who hears about it? Do you talk to Samantha about it or your crew chief or just keep it to yourself?

A: There's a lot of different ways I handle bad days. Sometimes I go off on myself and think about a bunch of different things, sometimes I go off on myself with Samantha hearing it. She helps me through it and decipher some things. And other times I talk to (crew chief) Dave (Rogers) about it and we hash it out. I've kind of got my escapes depending on the situation.

Q: If you have kids someday and they're running around the garage, who is a driver you'd point to as a good example for how to conduct themselves?

A: Jimmie Johnson. He's the guy. He's got it all figured out. How or why, I don't know, but he's done a really good job. I think he was always a really good kid – I don't know him from growing up at all through California or anything – but once he got to Hendrick, you could really see he followed Jeff (Gordon), he followed Rick. He fit that mold very well.

Another guy I would say is Carl (Edwards). I think Carl is really good off the racetrack. He carries himself well and does and says a lot of the right things.

Q: When drivers hang out and talk about old racing stories, what's one of your favorite ones to tell about yourself or someone else?

A: One of my favorites is the story of (older brother) Kurt and I when we first got to go-karts. It was the first – and last – race we ever had against each other with two go-karts. We always just had one kart, and we'd race lap times. The first time we got two, we went out and raced each other.

We were swapping back and forth, racing and passing. And then Dad gives the one-to-go signal, and we go into Turn 3, I had a tire on Kurt, and he comes down on me a little bit. So I climb his tire (with the kart) – and as I'm climbing his tire and coming across the back of his kart, I knocked the carburetor off his motor with my front bumper and I went and beat him back to the line. So I claim victory on that one because he DNF'd essentially.

Another fun one to tell was they used to have a "Hoosier Bonus" back at the Las Vegas bullring. If you were racing Late Models and you qualified on the pole, you could decide to start dead last. And if you came up through the field and win, they'd pay you a $5,000 bonus.

So one night, I qualified on the pole and we said, "OK, we're going to do it tonight. We're going to start last." There were 21 cars and I started 21st. I drove through the field and I passed the guy for the win with two to go. So I barely made it.

But after the race was over, the track said, "No, you didn't get the $5,000 bonus because there weren't 24 cars in the field." You had to have 24, they said. But I think they were just making an excuse, because there was nothing in the rules that said anything about that. They just didn't want to have to pay it – not Hoosier, but the racetrack.

So we fought them on it, because they let me start in the back. If you were going to say you had to have 24 cars, they would have said, "No, don't start in the back because you're not going to win it." Why waste my time then?

But we ended up getting the money. They paid us!

Q: What's a TV show you're really into right now?

A: Well most of them I finish really quickly because we binge-watch and get them over with. Breaking Bad was really good. Homeland is good, that's a cool one.

The Walking Dead is really good, but there are a lot of things they screw up on in filming that show. For instance, it's been a year or so since the zombies have been around. Well, they go into a residential area to pick up supplies or whatever – and the grass is cut! Who is mowing the lawn? (Laughs)

Who noticed that?

Samantha did! Another one we're watching right now that's pretty cool is The Following. And The Blacklist, too.

Q: What's the last movie you saw – either in the theater or at home – and was it good?

A: (Takes out phone) I have a movie list in my phone that every time we see a preview to a movie that looks good, I write the movies down in the Notepad (app).

The last movie we saw was Rush. We saw it at home before we left for Daytona.

Did you like it?

Yeah, it was good. I thought it was interesting. Afterward, I looked up the two racers and read about them. I can see myself relating a little bit to both of them – not the playboy aspect of (James Hunt) though, that's for other drivers out here. (Laughs)

But James Hunt, for instance, he's a fly-by-the-seat kinda guy. He's just good at what he does. He doesn't care about testing or working on anything. He just drives the car and can go.

And the other guy (Niki Lauda) really, really works at it. He picked up two seconds per lap when he rebuilt it at a track. I can see myself as that guy, too. So I can relate to both.

Q: If you could give your younger self a piece of advice – something you know now that you didn't know then – what would you tell yourself?

A: I was always worried about being cut and not having anything to do. So I always put way too much pressure on myself to run good, to win races and all that – and when that wouldn't happen or I'd crash, I'm in a terrible mood. Obviously, right? Because essentially, to me, this is my job on the line. So I act like an idiot sometimes when I'm too mad.

But I'd tell myself, "If you've made it here, you've made it here for a reason. If you can compete with the best of them consistently and win a little bit – and act like a Jimmie Johnson – you're going to be here forever." If I had any advice to give, it'd be that: Don't act like such a dumbass sometimes.

Q: I've been asking each person to give me a question for the next interview. Last week was your teammate, Matt Kenseth, and he wanted to know: What would you consider to be the biggest break in your career?

A: We're going to have to go through this one. There's a lot of chapters. And which chapter the book begins with depends on what you're writing. So I don't totally know how to answer it.

In some ways, I see my biggest break as Kurt's biggest break. (Las Vegas racer) Chris Trickle died (in a drive-by shooting), which gave Kurt his opportunity – and when Kurt made it, it sort of shined the light on me to make it, right?

The other biggest break would be me running the six Truck races I ran for (Jack) Roush (in 2001) and NASCAR kicking me out because of the (under 18) age rule. Then I hired an agent and was able to get with Hendrick Motorsports. Being able to start my career racing ARCA and Nationwide with Hendrick and then going Cup racing with them was a big break.

And then me getting let go from Hendrick and going to Joe Gibbs Racing -- I thought (my career) was done after Hendrick. I was like, "Kurt's already tainted. I'm tainted. I'm done." And then Joe picks me up, and I feel like I've got the best relationship I've ever had with Joe – and Rick now, too. It's weird how things work out.

Q: The next interview is going to be with Regan Smith. Do you have a question I can ask him?

A: I want to know if he was a Denver Broncos fan before he started driving for Furniture Row. Because he's from upstate New York, right? He should be a Bills fan. So say, "Are you really a Denver Broncos fan or were you just milking the benefits (of driving for a Denver-based team)?" (Laughs)