Catchfence

KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger) YOUR THOUGHTS ON NEW HAMPSHIRE THIS WEEKEND AND THE START OF THE CHASE? “It’s been a good week to go to New York and go through the exercise of different shows and getting our exposure levels raised up around the Chase and the atmosphere. It’s a privilege to be a part of the Chase and to go back up to New York and have dinner with Brian France and the whole group. Now all that’s behind us, the focus is qualifying for this weekend’s race. Our car was solid in practice. We made a couple of adjustments here and there, but all in all, we’re looking for a good solid weekend – to start up front, get a good pit box, run up front and put ourselves in position (to win) at the end of the race. We know there are going to be some tough guys to beat; we hope to be one of them.”

YOUR 2 CAR IS ONE OF THE STRONGEST TEAMS STATISTICALLY ON RESTARTS THIS YEAR. ARE THERE CERTAIN THINGS THAT HAVE ALLOWED YOU TO BE SO STRONG ON RESTARTS? “That’s cool. We didn’t know that we were the best on restarts, but I’ve always felt like restarts are a great opportunity to gain positions. When I come into the media center I sometimes leave smarter. That’s a great stat. I like that. Restarts are very important. With these cars, it’s sometimes difficult to pass other guys when you’re running side-by-side with them. When they’re dropping the green on a restart, that’s the best time to take advantage of that (passing cars). The fuel cell use to be 22 gallons a few years back. Now they are less than that. Long runs are starting to be less and less important. So that’s why gearing up for restarts is going to work in your favor when you do it.”

WHAT KIND OF TEAMMATE DO YOU EXPECT BRAD KESELOWSKI WILL MAKE? “I like Brad. I like the way that he continues to shine on all different styles of tracks, whether it’s a short track or an intermediate. What he can bring to our program is that youthful exuberance, that fun energetic care-free feeling I see in him. It will be interesting to see how he settles in. He’s got work to do blending with the team and with his crew chief and that program on the 12. We definitely want them to pick up the pace, because it will help the 2 car run better. I think we’ve seen the 77 pick up the pace this summer and Pat and I have definitely learned some things from those guys. That’s what it takes to be a competitive program, to have all three teams clicking at the top level.”

WHAT IS YOUR STRATEGY FOR THE 10 RACES? “With the format, it’s always important to get off to a great start. I think that’s key. The other thing that’s still out there is Talladega is now four races from the end. If you survive that one, that’s where you hope to be in position with three to go.”

WHAT KIND OF CREW CHIEF DO YOU NEED? “I want the best guy out there. That is obviously what you would want to put in as the guy you want to work with. Is a Pat Tryson going to fall out of the sky? When I had success with Jimmy Fennig, is he going to fall out of the sky? No. Is there a chance to start out with a young guy that has limited experience, but you think that he might have the potential of being one those two guys that I just mentioned, yeah, that could be that opportunity as well. I like when you get into the heated moments and you toss back and forth and nobody gets their feelings hurt, that’s the kind of guy that I like. He knows that I have that fire and desire to win and I know he’s got it too. When you get back to the office on Tuesday, it’s like ‘hey man, how’s it going’? Everything is cool. You just want to move on to the next task at hand. It’s not going to be as difficult to find the right guy as it has been in years past with just the experience level and the different guys I’ve worked with over the years.”

COULD YOU WORK WITH A YOUNG GUY? “Oh sure. I wouldn’t have any problems if all of us at Penske Racing came to a conclusion that that was the right guy. I wouldn’t have a problem with it at all.”

PAT TRYSON, (Crew Chief, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge) YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE RACE THIS WEEKEND AND THE START OF THE CHASE? “One of the reason that I came in here (media center)…there’s been a lot of stuff, read a lot of stuff, heard a lot of stuff (regarding why he is leaving Penske Racing at the end of the year)…I wanted to make it perfectly clear to everybody that the reason that I came to Penske Racing was because of Kurt Busch. The No. 1 reason to stay here at Penske Racing is because of Kurt Busch. My decision (to leave) had nothing to do with Kurt Busch. I just wanted to clear that up. I had to do things for personal reasons and the things that I want to do in my career that doesn’t have anything to do with who’s driving the race car. We’re in this together until the end. We’re gonna try to win the (NASCAR) championship because it means a lot to me. The best thing that could happen to me is to win the championship this year.”

WHAT IS YOUR STRATEGY FOR THE 10 RACES? “The strategy obviously is to try and win races, but if you can’t win the race, you’ve got to get the best finish you can. You can’t take a big risk. The risk vs. reward, you can’t take a risk to win the race and then finish 30th if it doesn’t pay off. You have to race really smart. We’re going to try to win races, try to get off to a good start, try to win one of these first two or three and see where we stand and whether we have to take more chances or not. I think the first four or five will dictate how aggressive you are on strategy. I expect we’ll try to get some good finishes right away and keep up in it. I think this year it might be a strange Chas. I think you might end up with four guys going to Homestead with a shot at it.”

YOU SAID YOUR DECISION IS NOT ABOUT KURT, IT’S ABOUT THINGS YOU HAD TO DO. WHAT DOES THIS OPPORTUNITY PRESENT YOU THAT YOU LIKE BETTER THAN THE SITUATION THAT YOU’RE IN? HOW ARE YOU SO CONFIDENT IT WON’T BE A DISTRACTION? “We’ve worked together for two-and-a-half years now. The last 10 races don’t change anything as far as our relationship. That part of it all stays the same. I know he wants to win the championship as bad as I do. It wouldn’t do anybody any good to try and not win the championship. You work 26 weeks to get in it. Why would you lay down in the last 10? Our team is focused. None of us has accomplished (a championship), but Kurt has. We’d like to accomplish it also and hopefully, get him his second one. The things, for me, that make the change worthwhile are things that will help further my career. I’m not going to go into specifics. I’m not going to bad mouth one place or say good things about this one or that one. The only thing I’m focused on right now is the championship. We’ll worry about next year next year.”

WHEN YOU GO BACK TO A TRACK A SECOND TIME DURING THE SEASON, HOW MUCH INFORMATION IS ACTUALLY WORTH USING IN THE SECOND RACE? “I think it all depends on the time of year you go there the first time and the time of year you go the second time, how much the weather is the same and whether they changed tires in between or not. Like here, I think it’s fairly reasonable. If we ran good the last time, we’ll always start off there and make adjustments from there to go along with the track change or the tire change.”

- Darnell Communications for Dodge Motorsports, Press Release