Car news / Q&A: Kurt Busch, new Viper owner |
13.03.2008
Q&A: Kurt Busch, new Viper ownerCar News /
NASCAR driver Kurt Busch has had an eventful week.
In the last four days, he"s pulled out an 11th-place finish at Atlanta after being down a lap; watched his brother, Kyle, drive a Toyota to the first Sprint Cup race win for the manufacturer; and climbed to 10th in the Sprint Cup standings.
On Wednesday, he received the keys to Dodge Viper No. 25,000 from Chrysler LLC CEO Bob Nardelli at the Detroit assembly plant where the sports cars are hand-built. Busch was given the Viper for finishing as the top Dodge driver in NASCAR"s top series last year.
After the festivities, Busch got a tour of the plant. During the tour he chatted with workers, signed autographs and checked out the "Snake Pit," a holding area for Vipers ready to ship.
While walking the floor of the 42-year-old Conner Avenue plant, the 2004 Nextel Cup winner chatted with AutoWeek on a variety of topics, including the Goodyear tire controversy and his plans for the bright red Viper SRT10 he now owns.
What are your thoughts on the Goodyear tire controversy from the Atlanta race?
I"m happy that my new Viper just came on Michelins (laughing). But there"s been a lot made of it. Goodyear does a fantastic job in our sport. They give us quality tires that are dependable, that have the grip at short tracks, big tracks, road courses--and maybe they missed the combination a little bit at Atlanta. You"re going to miss the combination a few times with a new automobile that"s going to all these new tracks.
So, on a scale of one to 10, we were at a one before, a 10 this time. Maybe they should have went with a five, on the compound and the grip level. But Goodyear likes the successful days where they have no tire blowouts. You can understand that. They"re in business to sell tires. And if (the) mom and pops watching a NASCAR race see tire blowouts, they"re not going to like Goodyear tires.
On the flip side, they"re getting a big controversy from this, (in) that I think a driver overreacted. Some other drivers agree the tire wasn"t perfectly balanced. But hey, we"re race-car drivers, we"re going to do whatever it takes to win.
Is NASCAR doing enough to keep the playing field level right now?
I think they"ve done an incredible job. To see a Toyota win. We"ve had a Dodge in victory lane. You know Chevrolet dominated last year with this new car. They"re just giddy as schoolboys right now, watching all the manufacturers have success.
As far as rules and taking care of different situations differently, yeah there"s still a bit … it still is a bit odd in how they handle some of the specific issues. But I wouldn"t want to be wearing their shoes, I"ll tell you that.
What about Kyle"s (win on Sunday)?
I"m just incredibly happy to be able to watch him race, and win and have success switching to a new team. And to win right away like that, it just shows his talent. The kid can drive. And the way that he"s fit in with his new team, and to carry Toyota to their first win, that"s something pretty special.
Outlook for the rest of the season: What are you thinking?
We"re hitting a lot of testing coming up. We want to improve our cars. We"re a top-10 automobile right now, we just need to be able to run in the top five every week, and lead laps, gain those bonus points.
Interesting race last weekend…
Yeah, it was a hard-fought battle. We went a lap down early, battled back. We had a automobile that was going to finish 30th, and the team made some dramatic improvements; pit stops as well as adjustments, and we finished 11th. So on a day like that, you"ll take 11th any time.
What are your plans for the Viper?
It"s a trophy in my mind. Dodge recognized what a great season we had last year racing on the track. They rewarded me with 25,000th Viper off the assembly line. To come here in person, and see them built by hand, it gives me more of an appreciation for the heritage of this car.
But yet, I"m going to take it out, stretch its legs, take it to some circuits, like Road America or Road Atlanta. Maybe I"ll even ask Roger (Penske) if I can take it out at Belle Isle when the track"s set up. But yet, we"ll baby it as well. She"ll be in a garage, well taken care off.
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