Kyle Busch reflects on the 2017 season
Kyle Busch finished 2nd in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. He finished 2nd at Homestead-Miami Speedway to Martin Truex Jr. But, that was really the theme of the entire season.
Truex Jr picked up 8 wins in the 2017 season. Including the win at Homestead-Miami Speedway with which he clamed the Monster Energy Cup.
“It seemed like the 78 bunch was ready to go a lot quicker than we were,” Kyle Busch recently told NASCAR.com. “They were really fast early in the season. They won Las Vegas, they were really quick at California. … It took us probably until about May or June (to catch up).”
“There were races,” Busch said. “I mean we should have won Phoenix (where he finished third) back in March, but there were times were just kind of off and kind of slow. And our ‘off’ was fourth or fifth place.”
Ryan Newman won that race at Phoenix Raceway. The win ended a 127 race winless streak for Newman. Additionally, it also snapped a 112 race winless streak for Richard Childress Racing. Newman stayed out on old tires and picked up the win.
“We just didn’t have the raw speed to just go out there and lead laps and be up front and win. That really didn’t show up until about May or June.”
In 2018, a new car will join the sanction. Chevrolet is going the way of Toyota with a more ‘aggressive’ body style. The 2018 Camaro ZL1 makes its debut in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
Related: 2018 Camaro ZL1 released
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“Look at the (Stewart-Haas Racing) guys and they kind of struggled with the build of their Ford and trying to figure out what was going on with it,” Busch said. “They tried things that they knew worked on a Chevy and it was the exact opposite of what they thought it would be for the Ford body.”
“It just depends on what the body build is like and what all happens and goes on in their research and development and making their cars better.”
“Obviously when you have a model change it’s supposed to be better than the current model you have, so they should come out of the box just fine.”
Stewart Haas Racing made the switch to Ford at the start of the 2017. The won, in the very first race. Kurt Busch claimed the Daytona 500 win. However, past Daytona, Stewart-Haas struggled for the majority of the season. It took them almost the full year to get things going.
Kyle Busch on the other hand had a great season missed with a bit of disappointment. Busch won 5 races and collected 14 top ten finishes in the 36 race season. However, he fell short to Martin Truex Jr, losing the championship by just 1 position.
“Many would consider a great year but certainly in the end there was a lot of disappointment there and aggravation,” he said. “But that only fuels the fire for what’s going to happen in 2018.”
