Kyle Busch has enjoyed his offseason.
He has done some racing, including winning the CRA Super Series Speedfest 200 once more. He hung out at the Super Bowl and worked with his team to be even more competitive in 2012.
He’s cutting back his extracurricular racing within the confines of the NASCAR season, as well, slowing in his pursuit of overall wins in order to focus his energies on taking the Sprint Cup title home.
Will this be his year? No one doubts that Busch has what it takes to be champion. An aggressive driver with a talent for finding the small opening on the track and dashing through it, he has all the ingredients necessary to top the field. He has a solid relationship with his crew chief, the equipment needed to get the job done and a desire and determination that make him sometimes seem to will top finishes out of what could have been average days.
Busch, at 26, could be poised for the greatest season of his career. He has made the Chase for the Sprint Cup in five of the past six seasons, with a career-best finish of fifth. He has won at least one race a season in each of his seven full-time Cup seasons. Overall, he has 23 wins in the Cup ranks (as well as a record-setting 51 in Nationwide and 30 in the Camping World Truck series).
And he has shown the ability to learn from his mistakes, something evident in his reaction to an outburst that cost him a chance to race at Texas Motor Speedway last fall when Busch crashed out Ron Hornaday, causing NASCAR to park Busch for not only that Truck race, but also the ensuing Nationwide and Sprint Cup events.
Now, refreshed and relaxed, Busch is ready for another run at that elusive title.
Will cutting back his driving schedule aid his Cup run?
“Certainly, it all relates to one another,” Busch said. “It’s all circumstantial upon something else. I think running less races is also a conditioning tool. I’ve been working really hard in the offseason in doing some things, and running less races will also help that, but just being more focused and just trying to operate more on a level field with (crew chief) Dave (Rogers) and how much he works and how hard he works, and I’ve got to do the same.”
It’s a mere guess what impact cutting back his schedule will really have — until the season is well under way. After all, Busch has long proven that he can excel while doing both and is an owner of his Camping World Truck and Nationwide series programs.
Still, he wants to be champion. And to get there, he’s willing to give this a shot.
So is crew chief Rogers. He, too, sees the benefit of both approaches to racing. Like Busch, he’s waiting to see the full impact of the change for 2012.
“Each year, Kyle gets older and older and he gets more mature and more dedicated,” Rogers said. “I think he rededicates himself every offseason, and he’s made some personal decisions this year to free up more time for him to focus on the Cup program and help us get to where we want to be. I think he’s doing a good job of it.
“I think cutting out some of the Nationwide races and taking a step back — he’s done some other things at (KBM) to hire some really good people. . . . He’s hired some really good people that can give that company direction with a little less involvement from him. The less time he has to spend at KBM working on that deal, the more time he has for Joe Gibbs Racing and the 18, and I think that is going to add up at the end of the year.”
Busch is also continuing to work on balancing those two sides of racing — focusing that intensity and drive to win without letting the frustration of a setback spill over. It’s a balance all drivers work to find throughout their careers.
Busch recognizes that as well as anyone. Last season, after being parked for the Truck race incident at Texas, Busch finished 12th overall in the points standings. This year, he’s chasing more.
“I’ve had a lot of fans, whether it’s been in meeting them in person or seeing them on Twitter or whatever — they all tell you, ‘Don’t change anything — we love the way you are and keep that attitude.’ At the end of the day, it doesn’t seem like me not changing anything is helping anything,” Busch said. “I have to change something, I just have to figure out what that is and make it work for me.”
Being an aggressive driver has, more often than not, paid off for Busch. It’s netted him wins and fans, showing just how much talent he brings to the sport.
Rogers doesn’t expect that aggression to taper off, just for Busch to continue his natural progression as a more mature driver.
And that, combined with his new schedule, could make Busch even more capable than ever of challenging for that Cup title.
“I think it would be terrible for our sport if Kyle changed all together,” Rogers said. “There’s some things we all love about him. Some boo, some cheer, but everyone loves the fact that he gets out of the car and does his bow. That’s Kyle Busch, and that makes NASCAR NASCAR. He’s matured; he’s definitely matured. We talked about it, and each year he’s done a little bit of growing up. Last year, we were talking about his wedding. This year, we can talk about the end of the season.
“All of us were young kids at some point. All of us made mistakes. Hopefully, most of us learned. Kyle’s a very intelligent person. He’s had a lot of consequences to deal with for his mistakes. He’s gone through a lot of remorse, and I think in the end it’s going to make him a better person and he’s going to make better decisions based on it. We’re still going to have Rowdy Busch driving our race car, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
