Former NASCAR Cup Series champ is fired up about returning to Texas Motor Speedway
NASCAR will be in Fort Worth on May 6 for the WÜRTH 400 at Texas Motor Speedway and Kyle Busch, the second winningest driver in Texas Motor Speedway history, will look for his fifth NASCAR Cup Series win — and his first since 2020.
Busch has struggled to start the season and is currently ranked 29th in Cup Series standings. He talked about what’s led to his past success at TMS and what his outlook is amid a tough season.
“Unfortunately, this year just hasn’t quite gone to par. But we’re working with a new crew chief this year, and we’re still trying to find our way and exactly what we need in the race cars in order to get that speed that we’re looking for,” Busch said. “So it’s been a little bit of a struggle. ....Texas has been a great place for me. Just always love going to Texas, you know, it’s a little bit of East Coast, but also a little bit of West Coast, you know, it’s right there in the middle. So a great race track and a lot of fun.”
Busch talked about the track’s turns, which were reworked to make turns one and two flatter than turns three and four while having more banking.
“You have to really drive the race cars in a different fashion on both ends of the racetrack. So makes it challenging. But you know, I feel like the bigger the challenge, the better it is for the teams and the engineers to come out there and have a better race car, and that’s just going to make your performance even better,” Busch said.
Busch will also be in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series where he’s had two top finishes including a win at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Feburary.
“I’ve run double-duty for a long time. Actually, I would love to run even more if I could. But, you know, there’s this. Limitations that NASCAR makes, that you’re only allowed to run eight races a year in the lower series, and so we try to maximize that with the trucks. I have a lot of fun running the trucks,” said Busch. “Looking forward to getting back in the Spire Motorsports truck and hendercars.com being able to help support our Chevy Silverado to go out there and have another truck race and hopefully end up in victory lane.”
The two-time Cup Series champion loves visiting Texas and said there were a couple places he has to visit when coming to Dallas-Fort Worth, and talked about the fan atmosphere at TMS as opposed to other racetracks.
“For me it’s the Stockyards, love going [there] and checking everything out down there and walking around a little bit, checking out some of the shops and stuff and restaurants are always great in that area as well, too. Of course, you love getting yourself a nice steak,” said Busch,”They’re always passionate. They always love to come out there have a good time and the party scene in the infield of Texas is like none other. So, you know, it always has great camping out there, and, you know, great night life. You know, you can always hear everybody playing their music out there and having a good time and enjoying the camaraderie of the area and what that brings.”
Before Busch stops at Texas Motor Speedway he’ll compete on April 26 in the Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, hoping to get back on track before stopping in Fort Worth.
