NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
TEXAS 500
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
APRIL 12, 2013
FT. WORTH (APRIL 12, 2013) – Kurt Busch, No. 78 Furniture Row Racing/Serta Chevrolet SS, led a strong contingent of five Chevrolet SS drivers who posted top-10 qualifying times today for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway. Busch will start second in the 43-car field, his best qualifying effort at the 1.5-mile speedway.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet will start sixth when the green flag waves Saturday evening at 6:30 p.m. CDT. Jimmie Johnson put the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS in the seventh starting position for the 334-lap, 501-mile race.
Jeff Gordon will start the No. 24 Cromax Pro Chevrolet SS in the eighth spot on the grid. And, Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Target/Kellogg’s Chevrolet SS will roll off in the ninth starting position.
A total of 17 Chevrolet SS drivers will take the green flag for the seventh race of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
Kyle Busch (Toyota) was the pole winner. Aric Almirola (Ford) – third, Marcos Ambrose (Ford) – fourth, and Martin Truex, Jr. (Toyota) complete the top-five qualifiers.
Live coverage of the NRA 500 will be provided by FOX TV, PRN Radio and Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW/SERTA CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED SECOND
TALK ABOUT THAT QUALIFYING EFFORT:
“It was a great run for us. Real happy the way the car unloaded right off the truck. Had good practice speed yesterday in race trim and qualifying trim. To back it up, it’s the strength of the team. It’s there. For us to be second, outside pole, is a great achievement from where we have been the few weeks past for qualifying. I think we found some things this weekend that will translate to all the mile and a half’s and we are hoping that combination gives us that stability that we need to build up the foundation in points that we have lost this year at Martinsville and Phoenix.
“Starting up front it’s awesome. We will have great pit box selection. We will have track position early in the race. We will need to pace ourselves to understand how the race will unfold going from 7:00 p.m. (CT) start time into the evening when the track will be blistering fast at night. I’m just real proud of my guys, really. Vegas was a struggle and we turned it around quick at California and posted a top five; and here we are at the third mile and a half track in a sense, and we are outside pole. It’s definitely exciting for the Furniture Row Chevy SS guys and the team and everybody that is involved. We want to keep pushing hard and get the mattress sponsors that we have with Serta, Simmons and Sealy the exposure they want out of partnering with a NASCAR team and advertising with Furniture Row.”
IS IT STILL TRUE THAT YOU AND YOUR BROTHER KYLE (BUSCH) HAVE NEVER FINISHED ONE-TWO IN A SPRINT CUP SERIES RACE?
“You might be right. We have won on weekends and he has won on weekends. Then it turned into four weekends or five weekends in a row for the two of us.”
MIGHT THIS BE THE BEST CHANCE FOR THAT BEING THAT YOU ARE STARTING ONE-TWO?
“Yeah, in 2009 we raced each other for the finish. It turned into a little bit of a fuel mileage race at the end. We won it and he dropped off at the end he might have been third or fourth, but the two of us were the fastest two cars throughout the race.
WHERE?
“Here at Texas, 2009 fall.”
OBVIOUSLY PIT BOX SELECTION IS KEY AT THE SHORT TRACKS WHAT TYPE OF DIFFERENCE WILL IT MAKE TO YOU AT THE BIGGER TRACKS LIKE THIS?
“Just having a bigger cushion to not have guys run into you by choosing a pit box with an opening close to it. Then the timing lines are all important on big tracks where the timing lines are spread further apart. It just helps with the ease of operation throughout the day when you have a nice pit box selection.”
WHICH WOULD YOU CONSIDER TO BE A BIGGER ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR THIS TEAM: TO COME HERE AND UNLOAD AS FAST AS YOU DID OR TO BE ABLE TO MAINTAIN IT AND CAP IT OFF WITH A POLE AT THE END OF THE DAY?
“I would say with where we were at (Las) Vegas to unload this weekend and to be as fast as we were that means we are doing our homework right at the shop. When you get to the track you get into the groove of some common adjustments where you can’t move the needle that far. When you unload and you are fast that means you moved the needle back at the shop that is a big accomplishment especially where we were at (Las) Vegas.”
AT SPEEDS LIKE THIS, ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT THE CLOSING RATE AND WHAT ABOUT THE BRAKES? I KNOW YOU DON’T USE A LOT OF BRAKE HERE BUT YOU COULD BE USING A LOT OF BRAKE TO STABILIZE THE CAR GOING INTO THE CORNERS. ARE YOU WORRIED AT ALL THAT SOME OF THE TEAMS MIGHT HAVE PROBLEMS IN THAT AREA?
“No, the cars have good stability in them with the rear camber and the rear spoiler that is on the car is very tall so you have the drag number that slows it down a little bit. We could see much higher speeds at the end of the straightaway but the spoiler slows it down a little and then you have the extra downforce for the middle of the corner. Brakes are no issue what so ever you just have to put some heat into them before you come to pit road. Because you really are not going to be using the brakes all that much when you are out on the track going 190 (mph).”
IS THERE ANY CONSOLATION IN THE FACT THAT IT WAS YOUR BROTHER AND IT TOOK A TRACK RECORD TO KNOCK YOU OFF THE POLE:
“Track record is a small feather in the cap. The fact that it’s Kyle (Busch, brother) I wouldn’t want to lose to anybody other than him, but it is bitter because I did lose to him. The biggest issue is if they are still giving away an $80,000 shotgun he doesn’t even know how to use it (laughs). That is where you could say I’m bitter. He got the shotgun and if I grab a rubber band leaving the media center that is all I will have for weaponry.
THANK YOU, KURT
“But I have a question. Do they still hand out a shotgun?”
NO.
“No more shotguns. Oh, well. I tried for years to get one. I got close.”
