Q&A: Kyle Busch.

Wednesday, 15th August 2007

Kyle Busch talks about his switch to Joe Gibbs Racing from 2008.

Previous Page

Q:
J.D., can you tell us how much you're paying him and how long the contract is?

JDG
My dad said five years. It's two. Actually for us, you know, I think the reality of it is, if you can drive these cars, drive them well, it's not a bad gig. I tried it. I was fired. So that's why I'm behind the desk now. But for us, the value comes in everyone will tell you this if you can get a guy that can really drive these cars, be a great representative off the track, there's a huge value in that. The only way we stay in business as a team is if we go out there and run well week in, week out. A huge part of running well week in, week out is those drivers. We know that. It's a pretty good chunk of change, but like my dad did said, we want our guys in debt as much as possible because they go a lot faster when they have to make those payments. Go buy some stuff, Kyle. It's a two year deal and then hopefully we'll grow from there.”

Q:
Steve Addington (crew chief for the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet), have you had a chance to speak with him yet? How do you think that will all go?

KB:
“I had a chance to meet Steve here this morning. Actually I've met him a couple times. I talked to him years ago in the Busch Series just here or there a little bit in 2004. Maybe before that in 2003 when I was in the Ditech car when he was running with Jason Keller there.

“I think he's a great asset to Joe Gibbs Racing. I feel like he's got the talents to be a crew chief. Obviously, if he didn't, he wouldn't be here. Look with him and Zippy (Greg Zipadelli, crew chief for the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet), Mike Ford (crew chief for the No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet), I feel like that's a threesome that's pretty stout. They're obviously able to go out there and win races with the 20 and the 11. I think Steve and I, being an addition to the 18 car, will hopefully prove that it can get out there and win races as well.

Q:
J.D., you talked in the past about the contract extension for Tony. Where are you in regards to that? Now with Kyle, all three of your drivers are represented by the same company. What challenges or benefits are there with that?

JDG
“I will say this, as far as Tony, we're in the process. We’ve still got several years left on his agreement, so we're in the process of doing that. We want to do that as quickly as we can too, and really keep him here. For as long as he wants to drive, we want him here. So we're going to work on that. In our first dealings with Tony, he was with Cary Agajanian who started MMI. He was a one man show back then. Now he's got a small army. He's the Mafia Don in the garage for all our drivers. But here's what I know about that group there. The bottom line for those guys, for Eddie (Jarvis, business manager) who works with Tony and Denny, what I appreciate about them is they really care about the guys. We've been with them for a long time, almost nine years. They really care about the guys. They want what's best for them. We have a great relationship there. If that’s the case, I don't have a problem with it, but I've seen over the years that they really care about the guys, what's in their best interest, and I appreciate that.”