Talladega

Victory Would Make for 'Sweet' Birthday Weekend

Race Advance

HUNTERSVILLE, North Carolina (April 27, 2016) – What to get a guy for his birthday who seemingly has everything?



That guy happens to be Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Skittles/Marvel Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), owner of 36 first-place trophies in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition and 161 winner’s trophies in all among NASCAR’s top three series. For Busch, the answer is quite simple – more trophies and, perhaps a slice of birthday cake made with Skittles?



Busch blows out the candles to celebrate his 31st birthday Monday and would like nothing more than to start the celebration in victory lane at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway as the winner of Sunday’s Geico 500 Sprint Cup event. The race will also mark Busch’s 400th career Sprint Cup start, and there are six drivers who scored victories in their 400th career start, with Jimmie Johnson the most recent one to do it when he won the 2013 Daytona 500. Interestingly enough, Busch brought home the victory at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth in 2013 while making his 300th Sprint Cup start.



Even though Busch’s birthday isn’t until the day after race day this year, he does hold the distinction of being only the second driver in Sprint Cup history to celebrate a victory on his birthday with a win at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway on May 2, 2009, a feat first accomplished by Cale Yarborough – twice. Yarborough won on his March 27 birthday at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway in 1977 and at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1983. Since then, Busch’s JGR teammate Matt Kenseth equaled the feat as he won in 2013 on his March 10 birthday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.



As for this weekend, Busch has conquered the mammoth, 2.66-mile Talladega oval just once in 21 career starts at the track, his lone win coming in April 2008. He has accumulated nine other top-15 finishes at the track but also exited four outings early due to accidents.



Busch knows the winner of Sunday’s 500-mile race will not only need to have a strong car, but must be in the right place at the right time during the final laps on NASCAR’s longest track. So, if anyone is considering what to get Busch as a belated birthday gift, any help earning a second career Talladega trophy would be greatly appreciated. And having the Skittles colors to celebrate with in victory lane would make for one “sweet” birthday weekend.

KYLE BUSCH, Driver of the No. 18 Skittles/Marvel Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing:

What is a typical plan for the entire race weekend once you get to Talladega?



“It’s different for everybody but, for us, we just kind of go out there and definitely get in the first pack in practice because the first pack is always the biggest, so you have to be ready when practice first starts. You just kind of feel out your car and see what it’s doing. Is it into the racetrack? Is it on top of the racetrack? Are you sliding around too much? If we have some things we wanted to continue to try to feel out and get better with, so we sometimes run some of the second session where other guys feel like they’re good in the first one and just quit. You definitely don’t want to take a chance on wrecking your car, and you don’t want to be put in a weird spot out there and have somebody get together in front of you and you drive into it and crash a racecar. You want to get through practice by checking to see what you have but not getting it torn up, either. Your starting position doesn’t mean a whole lot so, wherever you start, you just want to make sure your racecar checks out in practice and you are ready to race 500 miles and hope we can get our Skittles Camry to victory lane. That’s what it’s all about.”



Are superspeedways more mentally draining than other racetracks?



“At Talladega, the physical demand isn’t that big of deal. You can run around there all day long and not break a sweat, really. Once you get down into the nitty gritty of the race and try to play the chess game at the end of the race, you’ve got to really pick and choose your spots and think all the time if you go here and team up with this guy. It really wears on you a little bit, mentally. I would say Talladega is 80 percent mental and 20 percent physical, while most other non-restrictor-plate races are 80 percent physical and 20 percent mental. We’re hoping to be in position with our Skittles Camry Sunday to give it another shot at the win.”



Is it any more special to get a win on your birthday or, in this case, your birthday weekend like this one at Talladega?

“I think anyone who knows me or has followed me knows that it doesn’t matter if it’s my birthday or whatever it is. I love to win and love to be able to add to the trophy case. That’s what we do, what it’s all about, and the focus each week. I think you do learn over the years that you can’t win them all, but that sure doesn’t stop us from trying. Winning is huge for our sponsors, too. It’s what drives all of us to get better each week. We have Skittles on the car this week, one of my favorites. You really have to be in the right place at the right time at Talladega so, hopefully for all of us, we are there when it counts on Sunday.”



Is it an advantage being a former winner at Talladega?



“It doesn’t matter at all. It’s such a crapshoot there in the last 20, 30 or 40 laps that you never really know who is going to win, what’s going to happen and where the wreck is going to come from.”



What is the key to pulling off a victory at Talladega?



“The key there is to somehow stay out of trouble. You stay where the pack is, generally, and we get up single file on the wall at times until it’s time to go, and you can pretty much run wide open every single lap. Everyone can run up on top of each other. When you get single file at the bottom, sometimes it’s hard to get a lane on the outside with enough good cars to get something going. It can be frustrating at times because of that. It also seems to still put on a good race each time we go there. If you can be a contender and stay in line on the bottom, you can make it a pretty easy and safe race. Normally, guys are not content doing that, so that’s when it starts to get crazy.”

Notes of Interest:

The Geico 500 will mark Kyle Busch’s 400th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and his 22nd Sprint Cup start at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Busch has career totals of 36 wins, 18 poles, 136 top-fives, 200 top-10s and 11,575 laps led in 399 career Sprint Cup races. His most recent Sprint Cup win came three races ago at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, his second consecutive victory as he followed up his Martinsville (Va.) Speedway win from the previous weekend. Busch notched his most recent pole position six races ago at Phoenix International Raceway, the 18th of his career.

Busch has one win, four top-five finishes and five top-10s and has led a total of 167 laps in 21 career Sprint Cup starts at Talladega. His average Talladega finish is 21.8.

400: Busch will be making his 400th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start in Sunday’s Geico 500 at Talladega. Six drivers have won during their 400th Sprint Cup start, most recently Jimmie Johnson winning the 2013 Daytona 500. Interestingly enough, Busch also brought home the victory during his 300th Sprint Cup start, which came at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth in April 2013. In addition to the landmark start on Sunday at Talladega, one day later on May 2, Busch will celebrate his 31st birthday.

Hot Hand: In the 34 Sprint Cup races Busch has started since returning from injury last May, he has won seven times and captured the 2015 Sprint Cup championship. Along with the seven wins, Busch has posted 19 top-fives, 23 top-10s and has led 1,333 laps. To go with his two wins thus far this season, Busch has posted top-five finishes in seven of the first nine races. He finished the 2015 season on a streak of four consecutive top-five finishes.

36 Career Sprint Cup Wins: With his Sprint Cup win at Texas, the 36th of his career, Busch is tied with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth for 20th on the all-time Sprint Cup win list.



