Kurt Busch Texas II Friday media visit

Kurt Busch, Penske Racing Dodge

Photo by: Action Sports Photography

KURT BUSCH (No. 22 AAA Dodge Charger R/T)

HOW WAS YOUR CAR IN THE FIRST PRACTICE? “The car is good. The AAA Dodge is fast. We have a shot at the pole and we’re going to go for it. We’ll loosen it up and let the rough edges drag.”

HOW MUCH DOES THIS TRACK CHANGE AS THE RACE GOES FROM DAY TO NIGHT? “The cooler the track conditions, the faster speeds. When this place gets about 80 degrees, it’s slick. We won’t have those conditions this weekend so you really gear up for a lot of speed.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON PHOENIX NEXT WEEKEND? IS IT A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TRACK WITH THE REPAVE? “It’s a totally different track. There’s only going to be one groove. It won’t be very wide. Restarts will be treacherous.”

WHO DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE STILL IN THE HUNT FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP? “The top four guys, they’ve separated themselves. (Brad) Keselowski’s still living the dream and we’re rooting for him. Like at Martinsville last week, any chance to help him we will and we’ll continue to.”

IS IT A ‘CHIPS ALL-IN” MINDSET RIGHT NOW FOR THE 22 TEAM? “Yeah. It’s just let it rip. We’ve had a good season. A couple chances to go to victory lane of late and we just didn’t get it done. We want to do that these last three races. Texas is a great race for me. We’ll see how Phoenix shakes out. It will be a ‘fill the tank up with gas at the end and ride it to the end’ with how the tires are not wearing out at Phoenix. And then Homestead, the final race of the year, it’s a lot of fun to go and finish off the season on a 1.5-mile track. The way that 2011 went for us, it will be a great year.”

ARE YOU ABLE TO START WORKING ON SETUPS FOR NEXT YEAR? “Yeah. We’ll go to Homestead with a new package, try to fool around with it and see if we can strike gold.”