12 Questions with Kyle Busch

Our series of weekly NASCAR driver interviews continues with Kyle Busch, the defending Sprint Cup Series champion who is currently third in the points standings. Busch returns to Kansas Speedway this weekend, where he won for the first time in May.

Q: What is an errand or chore in your daily life people might be surprised to learn you do yourself?

A: It’s not a chore, but people probably don’t know (wife) Samantha is scared of cutting (son) Brexton’s nails -- or doesn’t like to cut them – so I cut his nails.

She’s worried about hurting him or something?

Right. And he does not sit through it. So it takes the both of us to get it done.

Q: If you could do any race over again, which race would you choose?

A: There’s probably a ton of them, but one that sticks out in my mind is this year’s Daytona 500. (The Joe Gibbs Racing-affiliated cars) were all told to stay in line as a team and as an organization with Toyotas to get to the finish like that. There was never really a discussion of all five of us running in a line and when we could pull out and make our moves at the end, so I really didn’t know.

I kind of just stuck to the plan and figured it was (teammate Matt) Kenseth’s day and we were going to ride it out, you know? And Denny (Hamlin) jumped out of line first and then had a big push from behind, and I had an opportunity there and thought about it twice -- and the third time was too late.

So you’re like, “Thanks a lot, guys?”

Well, I followed along with the rules. But I guess rules are made to be broken.

Kyle Busch: 'Drivers know where they stand with me'

Q: The longest race of the year is 600 miles. How long of a race could you physically handle without a driver change?

A: I think I could make a 1,000 mile race. But I would definitely have to take pre-race precautions to make sure I could make it that far. My limiting factor would be my bladder. I can’t make it that long without having to go to the restroom, and I cannot go in the car, so ...

Wait, you never pee in the car?

I can’t. I’ve tried, but I cannot do it. I guess I have a shy bladder.

Q: Let’s say president of NASCAR was an elected position voted on by the drivers – and you decided to run. What would one of your campaign promises be?

A: This could be a sticky one in how you answer it. But I’d like to think most all of us would agree more short tracks and more road courses on the schedule would be fun. I think the fans would like to see that and I think they'd like going back to some of the venues we’ve been at previously – like North Wilkesboro or Rockingham.

When we run Charlotte, we run here three times a year. Yeah, you’re going to get people from those other areas to come watch this race, but I think if you ran at each track once, you’d probably get more people to go there than you would getting everyone to come to the same track over and over.

Q: At the start of this year, exactly 2,900 drivers had ever raced in the Sprint Cup Series. Where do you rank among those 2,900?

A: I’d say probably somewhere around 17th or 18th. I feel pretty comfortable with that. There are a lot of guys who have had a great history over the years and would deservingly be higher on the list than me.

I would have thought you’d put yourself higher.

(Shakes head no.)

Why Dale Earnhardt Jr. is feeling fitter than ever

Q: What do you think your reputation is – and is that reputation accurate?

A: I think my reputation is pretty fair among the drivers. The drivers know what they get when they see me or talk to me – if they get the chance to talk to me, because some of them I just don’t talk to because I don’t like them, so they should know. Yeah, we all have to be at the same place every weekend, but there are certainly guys out there who I’m not friends with and who I’d probably never be friends with. So I think drivers know where they stand with me.

As far as fan perception, it’s probably worse than it should be. I think it’s getting better, but I think I still get perceived based on the things I did earlier in my career. I still hear from people today who say, “Man, I can’t stand that guy. Ever since 2008…” I’m like, “That’s a long time ago! Move on.” (Smiles)

Q: A famous chef wants you to invest in the new restaurant he’s opening, but he wants you to pick the cuisine. What type of food would your restaurant serve?

A: Mexican. I like good Mexican food, and there’s not a lot of that around North Carolina. I miss the Mexican food from out West. Samantha makes a really mean guacamole, so that would already be set on the menu. And I’m really into salsa and I know how to tell you if it’s good or bad, so we’d make sure to have really good salsa.

Q: What is the most daring thing you’ve done outside of racing?

A: I’d say the sand car stuff is pretty daring sometimes (off-roading in the desert with a high-powered car). You come up to a crest or a hill and you don’t know what’s on the other side, and that’s daring sometimes – especially if you’re going at a pretty good clip.

I also flew with the (U.S. Air Force) Thunderbirds. That’s pretty safe, but we got to do some corkscrews and have some fun. I pulled 9.2 G's the first time. The pilot asked me what (maneuver) I wanted to try again, and I said, "Let’s do another pull." So I pulled 9.4 the second time. When we landed, he asked me, “So how were the pulls? Did you see stars? Did you get lightheaded?” I said, “On the first one, I kinda did. But the second one, no, I was fine. I was either accustomed to it or did a better job preparing for it.” And he said, “I was about (passed) out on that second one.” I'm like, "Man, it’s a good thing you stayed up!"

Gluck: Expect the unexpected in NASCAR's unpredictable Chase

Q: In a move to generate more excitement, NASCAR decides in an upcoming race it is going to require every driver to have a passenger in the car. You get to pick the passenger. Who do you choose?

A: Anybody who says NASCAR isn’t a sport or we’re not athletes or all we do is ride around in circles. Put somebody like that in there and let’s show them what it’s really all about.

Q: How often do you talk inside the car without hitting the radio button?

A: Pretty often. I definitely talk inside my mind a lot – how I’m doing, what marks I need to hit, what I need to change to get faster. There’s definitely times you may (curse) a guy because he did something to you, so you don’t press the radio button there. Sometimes you mess up and you may not hit the radio button then either. But there are times when I still do hit the button, so I guess it just kind of depends on how I’m feeling in the moment.

Q: Who will win the Sprint Cup in 2021?

A: Erik Jones.

You didn’t pick yourself.

Well, I know I’ll be in the running. But I might as well give a fair shot to somebody else. (Smiles)

Q: I’ve been asking each driver to give me a question for the next interview. The last interview was Brennan Poole, and he wanted to know how you prepare for a weekend. Do you watch video? Do you go over notes? Or do nothing?

A: There are some weekends when I’ll just stroll in and not do anything. I’ve won races doing that, and I’ve also run 20th doing that.

So more times than not, I’ll study data. We’ve got the data from (the electronic fuel injection system), so I’ll look at that. I’ll look at film of the last race at the track and see how it started and where guys started to move around as the race went on, and then where it was won from. And then just making sure I’ve got everything set with my guys. At Kansas earlier this year, we sat down for two days and literally went over everything so I could figure out how to get better there – and we won. Going over all that was certainly a big help.

And do you have a question for the next interview? It’s with Regan Smith.

Did he become a bandwagon Broncos fan because he drove for Furniture Row (Racing, based in Denver)? Or is he a true Broncos fan through and through? Like why isn’t he a Panthers guy?

Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck