NASCAR driver Kyle Busch is never afraid to let the world know exactly how he feels about any given situation in racing. And in an interview ahead of the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 in the Martinsville Speedway, Kyle Busch aired his thoughts on dirt races in NASCAR.
Reporter Noah Lewis asked what Kyle Busch’s course of action would be, should next week’s dirt race in the Bristol Motor Speedway not go quite as smoothly as expected. Without hesitation, Kyle Busch replied that NASCAR should “cut the cord” on dirt racing.
.@KyleBusch says he agrees with Richard Petty that “dirt takes our sport backwards.”
— Noah Lewis (NASCAR) (@Noah_Lewis1) April 8, 2022
Says he’s ready to “cut the cord” on the attempt. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/SeCVnhuSGG
“As Richard Petty said, the dirt takes our sport backwards. It’s a mess,” Kyle Busch said “It’s just not… Our cars, the tracks…it’s not indicative of a good dirt show. I’ve seen good dirt shows.”
Though the Food City Dirt Race is the only dirt racing weekend on the 2022 NASCAR schedule, it’s safe to say that even one dirt race is too many for Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch.
Kyle Busch Shares His Outlook on Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Race
It’s not uncommon for Kyle Busch to be terse during an interview, especially if he’s asked about a topic he doesn’t like. Or if he just lost a race. Or got into a wreck. On the Kyle Busch website, however, the No 18 NASCAR driver goes into much greater detail on his thoughts about dirt racing.
“For me, I’m not a dirt guy,” Busch said. “I didn’t grow up like Kyle Larson. Kyle Larson is known as a dirt guy, but I did race dirt when I was a kid. I raced Legend cars, modifieds, all on dirt, and then pavement ever since.”
Though he’s not a fan of dirt racing, he has experience with the style of race in Super Late Model contests. “I did run the Super Late Models on dirt with the Prelude races that Tony (Stewart) had years ago,” Busch said. “I was able to finish first, second, third in a few of those, so it was pretty fun. Those cars are made for dirt.”
While Super Late Models perform well on dirt, Kyle Busch compares Cup Series races on dirt to driving in an ice skating rink. “Literally, you are just out there on ice,” Busch said. “Trying to make your way around the track. That’s why I’d never given much participation to it, but obviously now, I have no choice. It’s in the Cup Series. So we will go out there and give it everything we’ve got and see what we can do.”
“It’s just going to be a learning experience, for sure. These vehicles are nothing like I’ve driven on dirt, probably, so it’s going to be interesting. We’ll do what we can to get a good run with our M&M’S Messages Toyota.”
