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[h=2]Kyle Busch: NASCAR's focus on young guns 'stupid'[/h] Tuesday, 23 January 2018


By Kelly Crandall / Image by Rainier Ehrhardt/LAT



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NASCAR's push to showcase its younger generation hasn't slipped past Kyle Busch.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series veteran and 2015 champion quickly jumped on a question about the topic during Tuesday's portion of NASCAR's media tour. Having competed at the NASCAR national series level since he was 16 years old, Busch continues to be as much a headliner as the new kids on the block.

"It is bothersome," said Busch, who is now 32. "We've paid our dues and our sponsors have and everything else, and all you're doing is advertising all these younger guys for fans to figure out and pick up on and choose as their favorite driver. I think it's stupid. But I don't know, I'm not the marketing genius that's behind this deal."
Among those under the age of 25 are rookies Darrell Wallace Jr. (24) and William Byron (20). Ryan Blaney is also 24, while Chase Elliott enters his third full season at just 22. Erik Jones, now a sophomore, is 21.
Then there's Kyle Larson, Ty Dillon and Chris Buescher at 25. Daniel Suarez is 26.
"I just do what I can do, and my part of it is what mine is," Busch continued. "I guess one thing that can be said is probably the younger guys are bullied into doing more things than the older guys are because we say 'no' a lot more because we've been there, done that and have families, things like that. And we want to spend as much time as we can at home.
"Maybe that's some of it. But some of these marketing campaigns and things like that, pushing these younger drivers, is I wouldn't say all that fair."
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver wasn't necessarily alone in this perspective.
Clint Bowyer will turn 39 years old this year during his 13th full season at the Cup level. Bowyer understands the need to showcase new drivers in the sport's familiar cars, but also expressed that the love is shared equally at the appropriate times.
"They're good kids and I understand. You have somebody getting in Jeff Gordon's car, somebody getting in Dale Jr.'s car. We have to figure out how to fill that void somehow and it can't always be the same old guys that have been there," Bowyer said. "I get it. If they deserve it, push it now. If people are beating them – there were drivers last year, look at Matt Kenseth. He was outrunning them pretty much every week and not getting the limelight.
"Some of those things are bothersome at times. Did I deserve [the attention]? I wasn't running as good as I needed to. If I was running up front and should have been in the limelight, I would have been barking back a little bit."
From the younger perspective, Byron, the reigning Xfinity Series champion who moves into the No. 24 car, said it's all relative and what happens on the racetrack is all that matters.
"When new guys come in it's kind of a fresh thing to talk about, but we're going to ultimately have to prove ourselves on the race track and do things that show we're capable of being a part of this sport," Byron said.
"I think that's going to show over time and hopefully a couple of us young guys can win some more races."

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[h=2]NASCAR responds to Busch criticism[/h] Wednesday, 24 January 2018


Kelly Crandall / Image by Kinrade/LAT




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A day after Kyle Busch called NASCAR's marketing campaign for the younger drivers "stupid" the sanctioning body has responded.

Steve Phelps, NASCAR executive vice president and chief global sales and marketing officer, called into SiriusXM NASCAR Radio to offer the direction NASCAR is going from a marketing perspective. Phelps called it "simple", and then broke it down as follows.

"The first piece is we have the greatest racing on the planet, and last year arguably was the best racing season that we've ever had," said Phelps. "It was phenomenal. Fifteen winners. We've got young drivers, veteran drivers, a great Cinderella story with the 78 [Furniture Row Racing] team. Just fantastic storylines. As we head in '18, that's going to be our emphasis.


"The second part is about star power. It's about our drivers, the crew chiefs, and the crews, everyone that makes this sport go. And the drivers really start with our veteran drivers, Hall of Fame drivers like Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano... all these guys are such an important part of everything that we do and it should be. But we also need to expose these young drivers, so our fans understand who they are. They're authentic; they want to win on the race track, and they're just fantastic drivers."








It's a mix of talent, Phelps said. The veterans are not being excluded for the young drivers or vice versa. Phelps did concede Busch's point about highlighting drivers who win, while again reiterating the variety.
"As you look at our marketing – in fact, we're doing a brand shoot this week," he said. "Veteran drivers in the brand shoot; you got Truex, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch I believe is being shot on Friday, Kurt [Busch], Brad, Joey, Denny [Hamlin], and then young drivers. [Kyle] Larson, [Ricky] Stenhouse, [Darrell] Wallace, [Chase] Elliott, [Ryan] Blaney, Austin Dillon, [Alex] Bowman, [Daniel] Suarez, Erik Jones, and William Byron. It's all about creating these storylines and rivalries, and heading into the [Daytona 500], what a phenomenal season we're looking at."
What Phelps did admit is that NASCAR did a "pretty poor job" of promoting drivers, young and old, as recently as five, six years ago. That job was left to the teams and sponsors while NASCAR focused on the racing. Phelps said the change has been in trying to focus on the stars of the sport through different realms like digital and social.
Phelps also agreed that Kyle Busch did not get the same push when he came into the sport as drivers do now.
"It's a very valid complaint. Very valid," Phelps said. "With that said, you look at all of our advertising, it's not just young guys that we are promoting. You look at the advertising, digital, social, everything we're doing is a mix of veteran and young guys. But do I think that's a fair statement when he came into this sport at 18 years old running in our top series, that he didn't get that type of promotion, I think that's a very fair statement."

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[h=2]Kyle Busch charges from 32nd to win at Richmond[/h] Saturday, 21 April 2018



Ellen J. Horrow, USA TODAY Sports / Image by Harrelson/LAT





If the first month of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season belonged to Kevin Harvick, the second month has assuredly been seized by Kyle Busch.

Busch matched Harvick by winning his third consecutive race of 2018, storming through the field Saturday night at Richmond Raceway and taking command on the final two restarts to stake his claim as the series' best driver.

But unlike his victories in the previous two weeks at Texas Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway, where he started eighth and first, respectively, Busch was nowhere near the front of the field when the green flagged dropped on the Toyota Owners 400.

"The last three weeks have been really special," Busch said. "Short tracks (like Bristol and Richmond) are really my specialty. I just feel it suits my style. It's been a great year thus far. We had a rough start at Daytona but from there on out, we've been rolling."



After a poor qualifying effort where Busch misjudged his speed in the first round Friday, Busch started the race from the 32nd position and was forced to pick his way through traffic in the opening laps. Still, it only took the Joe Gibbs Racing driver 35 laps to make his way into the top 10 in the opening stage, making the case that he would be a force to contend with for the rest of the race.



But Busch's fifth career victory at Richmond wasn't sealed until overtime, where he held off Chase Elliott and teammate Denny Hamlin on the final restart to set a track record for lowest starting spot to reach victory lane. Clint Bowyer won from the 31st starting position in the spring of 2008.



This isn't the first time Busch has gone on a victory splurge. Busch won three races in a row and four of five in the summer of 2015 en route to his first Cup Series championship. Saturday night's win also marked the 46th of Busch's Cup career, tying him with Buck Baker for 15th on the all-time list. "I think he's winning them different ways," Hamlin said of his teammate's recent run. "They're winning them in dominating fashion, and they're winning them by being up front and putting themselves in position. Tonight, they probably won on pit road. It's several different ways."
Harvick won three races in a row following the season-opening Daytona 500 – at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and ISM Raceway in Phoenix – but his domination was based on pure speed and the ability to overcome miscues, where Busch's recent run has been based more on consistency – during long runs, short runs and on pit road. Busch's pit crew, for years one of the best in the business, has also been relatively flawless.
"All these guys – everybody on this whole M&M Camry – they do a great job for me," Busch said. "I can't say enough about (crew chief) Adam Stevens and my guys and the pit crew tonight. They won this race for us. They got us off pit road first those last two times that we came down for tires and got us where we needed to be."
Busch might not have had the chance to restart out front if not for a slow pit stop by pole winner Martin Truex Jr., who had the No. 1 pit stall but dropped from first to ninth after the penultimate stop. Busch took advantage with a fast pit stop and an even faster restart.
"He's just real good on restarts," Hamlin said. "Whenever he can dictate them, he really looks strong."
In addition to his three wins this season, Busch has also recorded two second-place finishes and a third-place result to maximize his points lead. He holds a 56-point lead in the standings over his next closest competitor, Joey Logano, and has earned 17 playoff points through the first nine races.

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Busch cheered as he celebrates win in the crowd

Saturday, 21 April 2018


By Kelly Crandall / Image by Getty Images for NASCAR



Kyle Busch did something Saturday night at Richmond Raceway he had done 45 previous times in a NASCAR Cup Series race: Win.

But he followed it up by doing something he doesn't recall ever doing before, or maybe only once: climbing into the grandstands.
After his traditional burnout, Busch joined the fans to celebrate his third straight victory in the Toyota Owners 400. Greeted by cheers and high fives, Busch eventually made his way to the traditional Victory Lane.
But in the media center for the winner's news conference, team owner Joe Gibbs did not know Busch had made the extra trip. It led to a comical exchange.
Gibbs: "Did you?"
Busch: "Yeah, buddy!"
Gibbs laughed. "Oh my gosh. You should not do that. That's a risk. I think that's great, though. Went up there and he came back. That's even better. They didn't keep him."


What promoted the grandstand visit in the first place?
"It's a 10-year anniversary," Busch cracked, referencing the crash between him and Dale Earnhardt Jr. at the track back in 2008 (below), which had been a topic of conversation all this week.
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=byxgquY9aIo


"I was wondering if I'd come out alive. I think it certainly was different tonight [with the fan reaction]. I saw a lot of yellow there at the front fence line. I saw a little bit of black, which was the championship jacket from our season back in '15. Don't worry, I was definitely eyeing it out like, who's there, who's there, who's there.
"Saw a lot of 18 stuff. So, I just decided to go up there, give some guys and some kids some high fives, what's up. Fortunately, I got back out of there. They held onto me for a second, then my brute strength ripped me out of their arms and brought me back to civilization on the racetrack."
For the record, Gibbs took a trip to the top of the track to thank fans as well.

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STOCK CAR RACING NASCAR Rubbin' is racin' Kyle Busch, Klye Larson

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