OFF-ROAD LIVE ! Pre-Race TRANSCRIPT:
Kyle Busch TORC Series Post-Practice Comments
JOLIET, Ill. -- NASCAR Star Kyle Busch took to the track at Route 66 Raceway for the first time earlier today prior to Wednesday night's Traxxas TORC Series Presented by AMSOIL. After his PRO 2WD session, he spoke to the assembled media.
You were exciting out there.
Kyle Busch: Thank you. I hope it’s more exciting being smooth than I was out of control. It’ll get better. Just with the short amount of time you get on the track kinda makes it tough, but it’s fun, man. It’s really cool. I’m having a good time, that’s what I’m here for.
How do you adjust to the jumps?
KB: It’s fun. I enjoy going out there and going out to the sand dunes and messing around and jumping some stuff out there. Anytime you can put a big heavy vehicle up in the air like that, it’s always cool. For myself, running the Traxxas TORC Series PRO 2s, it’s fun. I’m getting some experience and kinda getting (my) feet wet at it.
What was the best advice you’ve been given so far?
KB: I would say the biggest piece of advice would be to always just try to keep it straight. Once you get out of control, you gotta figure out how to get it straightened back up. It gets pretty ugly in a hurry, so it’s always best to try to keep the throttle on sometimes, but, you know, for me, it’s getting used to everything and trying to keep going fast.
What was the process that led to you racing in the Traxxas TORC Series Presented by AMSOIL?
KB: I’ve always wanted to give this a try and see what it’s all about. Robby Gordon’s talked about it, Jimmie Johnson’s talked about it…but I’ve never had the opportunity to do it. I thought it would be cool to get out there and get my feet wet with it. It’s been fun. I’ve been to Crandon (Wis.) and got some experience there, just driving in the truck getting used to it and then here. I’m doing OK. There’s a lot of time for me to pick up, so hopefully I can get a little bit better. All in all, it’s pretty fun.
What experience that you have best prepared you for this?
KB: I think the sand dunes and racing dirt track stuff is probably the best preparation. Running in this stuff here, it’s always difficult to know what to expect over the next jump, you know, because you’ve got to set up right first. Then you’ve got to just keeping going through it.
Did the first time on the track give you some problems?
KB: My guys were telling me I needed to run high and kinda through the middle of the high lane and I did that and I was like ‘This ain’t right! This is wrong.’ So I went lower and ran the bottom and it was way better so I’ll be doing that for qualifying for sure, just trying to stay a little bit lower, keep the truck out of the heavy mud. It just gets so rough up there and so choppy that it’s like driving a boat through the ocean instead of driving one on the lake.
You ran within .1 seconds of PRO 2 points leader Rob MacCachren at Crandon. What did that do for your confidence?
KB: It was pretty good. I was actually faster than Rob (when he was driving) in his own truck, but he got in mine and went a tenth faster in my truck, so I was a little disappointed. It felt good over all, just to get the experience and to just kinda get going and feel it out for the first time. To be right there with Rob MacCachren out of the gate is really really cool. Today is going to be tough. It’s not going to be easy. (Ricky) Johnson’s always fast; another Johnson I’ve gotta put up with (laughs), but there you go. MacCachren, I know he’ll be good and a couple others. I’m just looking to have a good time and get some good exposure for Traxxas. To have them onboard of my (NASCAR) truck for Friday night’s race is pretty cool, too.
What’s been your biggest surprise with these trucks?
KB: I guess just how fluid they are. You can really get in trouble fast, but you can kinda recover pretty decent. I’m sure if I get too brave or too ballsy, it’ll be ugly fast. Still, right now where I’m at, I’m just trying to get out there and now work on lap times. Now that I’ve got a feel for the track, it’s about dissecting it and getting better.
What has it been like physically for you?
KB: Crandon was actually pretty simple. It was fun and it was fast, but it was easy. Not easy, but it was easier than this place for sure. Getting out there, you never have time to catch up, you know, your breath, your truck, anything, so you’re always on the go and trying to get ready for the next jump and setting up for the next corner.
Were you breathing hard when you got out of the truck?
KB: I was breathing a little bit, yeah. You kinda hold your breath sometimes when you go over the jumps. You’re wanting to make sure you’re hitting the jumps right and you’re not sure if you did or not. These trucks always seem to kind of pull out of it OK.
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For ticket information for this week’s TORC Series races, visit TORCSeries.com or Route66Raceway.com. Fans can also watch all the action online Wednesday and Thursday at TORCSeries.com and this fall on Discovery’s HD Theater. “The Off Road Championship” kicks off Sept. 2 at 8 p.m. and its 26 episodes will give viewers a never-before-seen look at what the TORC Series is all about.
For more information on the Traxxas TORC Series Presented by AMSOIL, visit them on the Web at TORCSeries.com. For information on the United States Auto Club, visit USACRacing.com. Both sites will also feature live free streaming of all the events on the TORC Series schedule courtesy of GoPro cameras and eBay Motors.
Race fans can follow all the action throughout the TORC Series season on its official Twitter sites at Twitter.com/TORCMedia and its official page on Facebook.
The sponsor is a perfect fit for Busch, as the 25-year-old Las Vegas-native has been an R/C car enthusiast nearly all his life.
"It's incredibly cool for me to have Traxxas as a sponsor of the No. 18 KBM Toyota at Chicagoland, Talladega and Homestead," said Busch, who has 19 career victories in the Camping World Truck Series, including last week's O'Reilly 200 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. "I worked at a hobby store in Las Vegas when I was a teenager and remember selling a lot of Traxxas vehicles and equipment. I've used the vehicles throughout my life because R/C cars have always been a huge passion of mine. Traxxas' reputation is second-to-none, and it's an honor for me to have them as a partner with Kyle Busch Motorsports."
Traxxas, known as the "fastest name in radio control®," is located in Plano, Texas, and creates, designs and manufactures hobby-class R/C cars, trucks and boats in both nitro and electric categories. All aspects of the business are performed in-house, from the original pencil sketches to the finished product on the shelf.
The company pioneered Ready-To-Race® models that are fully assembled and ready to drive within minutes of opening the box. In addition, all Traxxas vehicles operate and handle like full-size racing vehicles with similar adjustability and are the fastest R/C vehicles available, with speeds as high as 70 mph.
Augmenting Traxxas' sponsorship of Busch in the Camping World Truck Series event at Chicagoland will be Busch's participation in the Aug. 25 Traxxas TORC Series presented by AMSOIL race at the half-mile dirt oval at Route 66 Raceway. Located on the grounds of Chicagoland Speedway behind the facility's 1.5-mile oval, the short oval will be transformed into an undulating and twisting dirt course, and it's there where Busch will pilot a different kind of truck when he makes his Pro 2WD off-road racing debut.
"I've always wanted to try out one of the Traxxas TORC Series trucks, so being able to race one at Chicago is going to be a lot of fun," Busch said. "Racing an off-road truck has been on my list of vehicles I wanted to try out before my racing career was over, so I have to thank Traxxas for giving me a chance to race one of these short-course trucks for the first time. It's the perfect way to help kick off the new partnership with Traxxas and KBM."
"We've found a perfect fit in Kyle Busch to represent Traxxas," said Mike Jenkins, president of Traxxas and driver of the No. 47 Traxxas Pro 4WD TORC Series Truck. "His passion for motorsports and drive to win fit our creed as the 'fastest name in radio control.' Kyle shows us how a love for the fun and excitement of racing R/C cars can help nurture and feed a motorsports passion that can grow into a lifelong racing career. He still enjoys the competition of radio control to this day. Kyle will bring a tremendous amount of recognition to the R/C hobby in general and, specifically, the benchmark performance that we have established in the top-selling line of Traxxas products. We are proud to have Kyle as a new member of the Traxxas family."
While Busch is not running the full Camping World Truck Series schedule, KBM's No. 18 Toyota is competing for the owner's title. It is second in the standings, 68 points behind the first-place No. 30 truck of Germain Racing with nine races remaining in the 2010 season.""
In order to run with some of the best off-road racers in the world, Busch tested at Crandon International Off-Road Raceway earlier this week and impressed those in attendance. He shared the track with Rob MacCachren, the current PRO 2 points leader, and Jeff Kincaid, a winner last weekend in Bark River, and his fastest lap was only one-tenth of a second off the fastest time of the day.
On his Twitter account immediately following the test, Busch voiced his excitement. “Was n Crandon, WI today testin the Traxxas TORC off road truck. What a blast to drive. Got pretty good I guess. As fast as the good guys.”
Busch will pilot a Traxxas-sponsored machine fielded by Mark Jenkins and Mike Jenkins, both of whom were at the test at the “Big House.” Mike said the Las Vegas native and former NASCAR Nationwide Series champion started the day with no experience and ended it as an off-road racer.
“He was tip-toeing around on the first session, getting the feel,” Jenkins said. “He was within three or seconds of the fast lap in his first time out. That’s mind blowing.”
The day just kept getting better and better for Busch as he listened to Crandon veteran Kincaid on the best lines and how to adapt to the different turns and track conditions. “He was taking good instructions from Kincaid,” Jenkins said. “He stayed focused with what Jeff was telling him.”
It was the end of the day, though, where Busch showed just how good he was. During the fifth session, he watched MacCachren and Scott Taylor take laps and immediately wanted to get back in the truck to find the extra second he was missing. In the last session, MacCachren got into Busch’s truck to give it a shakedown run to find the vehicle’s baseline time. Busch’s runs were nearly as fast as MacCachren’s.
“It’s one thing to (race) on pavement and it’s another to do it off-road,” Jenkins said. “All the possible track conditions were thrown at him and he made the transition to off-road racer in one day.”
Busch and the rest of the TORC Series run next Wednesday and Thursday at Route 66 Raceway. For tickets to the race, visit TORCSeries.com or Route66Raceway.com. Fans can also watch the races live at TORCSeries.com and later in the year when the race is aired on the Discovery HD Theater program, “The Off Road Championship,” making its on-air debut Sept. 2.
For more information on the Traxxas TORC Series Presented by AMSOIL, visit them on the Web at TORCSeries.com. For information on the United States Auto Club, visit USACRacing.com. Both sites will also feature live free streaming of all the events on the TORC Series schedule courtesy of GoPro cameras and eBay Motors.
Race fans can follow all the action throughout the TORC Series season on its official OFF-ROAD LIVE ! Site at http://www.off-road1.com/
He is arguably the best stock car racer in the country and now, he’s going head-to-head against the best racers in the world. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch is scheduled to make his Pro 2WD off-road racing debut in the Traxxas TORC Series Presented by AMSOIL Aug. 24-25 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.
The 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion will face drivers such as seven-time AMA champion Ricky Johnson; off-road star Rob MacCachren; and motocross legend Jeremy McGrath, who is being inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America that same week. Many drivers have raced in off-road prior to their careers in NASCAR, Brendan Gaughan and Jimmie Johnson to name a few. Busch has previous dirt racing experience, driving a dirt late model in the annual “Prelude to the Dream” race founded by NASCAR champion Tony Stewart.
“I’ve always wanted to try out one of the Traxxas TORC Series trucks, so being able to race one at Chicago is going to be a lot of fun,” Busch said. “Racing an off-road truck has been on my list of vehicles I wanted to try out before my racing career was over, so I have to thank Traxxas for giving me a chance to come out and race one of these short course trucks for the first time.”
The event, held the same week as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ and IZOD IndyCar Series’ events at the speedway, puts the The Traxxas TORC Series and its drivers right in front of a whole new group of enthusiastic motorsports fans. It’s an unprecedented week of “must see” horsepower and action. Chicagoland provides an incredible backdrop for the series’ television show, “The Off Road Championship,” premiering on Discovery’s HD Theater Sept. 2.
“The Traxxas TORC Series Presented by AMSOIL is the premier short course off-road series offering incredibly exciting racing at iconic venues, but it’s the class of drivers that make our series so special,” said Kevin Miller, president of the series’ sanctioning body, USAC. “When you add someone like Kyle Busch into the field, not only does it draw new fans to our sport, but it raises the game of every driver in the field. No one wants the new guy to come in and win and I think anyone who knows Kyle knows he’s not coming in to Chicago with the intent of just racing. He’s there to take home a victory and leave with the trophy.”
For ticket information for this event, call Chicagoland Speedway at 815-727-RACE or visit TORCSeries.com [3] for online advance ticket purchases.
For more information on the Traxxas TORC Series Presented by AMSOIL, visit them on the Web at TORCSeries.com. For information on the United States Auto Club, visit USACRacing.com. [4] Both sites will also feature live free streaming of all the events on the TORC Series schedule courtesy of GoPro cameras and eBay Motors.
Race fans can follow all the action throughout the TORC Series season on its official Twitter sites at Twitter.com/TORCMedia [5] and its official page on Facebook.
About TORC
The Traxxas TORC Series Presented by AMSOIL, is the fastest, most punishing short course racing series on the planet. TORC events are packed with flag-to-flag fender banging as drivers push the limits over whoop and jump filled natural terrain racetracks. Off-road racing fans come from far and wide to experience this most challenging form of high-octane competition and once they taste TORC for the first time they’ll be hooked for life.
About USAC
USAC is the sanctioning body of TORC. The United States Auto Club (USAC) adds a superior level of professionalism to the series. USAC will play a major role in series operations just as it does in the K&N Silver Crown Series, National Sprint Car Series, Mopar Midget Nationals, Ford Focus, and 1/4 Midget series. Each year TORC champions will be recognized for their achievements at the prestigious USAC banquet.
About Traxxas
Traxxas, “The Fastest Name in Radio Control”, has honored TORC as Title Sponsor through 2011. “The Traxxas TORC Series” or “The Traxxas Off-Road Championship Series”. Broadcasts of the six-round TORC series will be broadcast on national television starting in September.
- United States Auto Club Press Release
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