Kurt Busch: "We probably surprised some people, but it's a matter of (racing) consistently each week." Credit: Autostock

Conversation: Kurt Busch

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- When people talked about favorites for the 2004 Nextel Cup championship, rarely was Kurt Busch's name mentioned.

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Yet here he is, four races into the Chase for the Nextel Cup, sitting atop the points standings. While controversy has swirled around Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon hasn't run as well as expected, Busch has been nice and steady.

NASCAR.COM staff writer Lee Montgomery talked with Busch about the championship battle and his Roush Racing team's approach to the Chase, among other subjects.

Q: First off, man, what happened to our Cubs this year?

Kurt Busch: It was sad to see them not put it together like they did at the end of 2003. Whether they overachieved that year or underachieved this year, we always know that there's next year.

Q: Some people say that Cubs fans are just simply good losers. I'm guessing you don't really agree with that.

Credit: Autostock

Busch: I don't like to lose all that often. In racing, you have to have your good days and your bad days. In baseball, it's always a challenge to see how the pitchers are going to pitch up against certain batters. Just the way baseball is, there are so many elements you have to control as a manager and see as a player.

It's very similar to racing, in a way. In racing, there are 43 guys out there all together. In baseball, there's just two teams.

Q: I know you don't want to look down the road too much, but have you allowed yourself to imagine winning the championship, being the champion? Have you thought about that at all?

Busch: No, I haven't. You need to keep things in perspective of what to do each week, keeping the team motivated in different directions and having everybody pull the rope in the same fashion.

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You can't just get too many people ahead of themselves. For us, we're in a great position. We started the Nextel Chase for the Cup with three fantastic finishes. We've got seven more to put out.

Q: So when you go to sleep at night, you don't dream about those things? You're just thinking about what to do the next day?

Busch: Yeah, these past couple weeks, we've been testing so much, I get to think about springs and swaybars all night.

Q: You made a big charge at the end of 2002. Does that help at all with confidence? Or are the two seasons totally unrelated?

Busch: They're almost unrelated just because of the way the cars are driving these days. The end of '02, that was my first year with Jimmy Fennig and the way he set up cars with the Ford's balance and aerodynamics. We just clicked.

This time around, the setups are so different to try to obtain speed that it's not quite exactly what I need, but we're making the best of it and balancing it against what these other teams are running, because they don't look as solid as what we've put together at the end of '02.

Q: So do you consider yourself a good closer to the season? Or does that not even enter your thinking at all?

Busch with team owner Jack Roush Credit: Autostock

Busch: You have to be with this new points system. You can't wear yourself too thin early on in the year, running hard and wearing out your tests. You have to save things for the end of the year now, and we've got a fresh optimistic look on things. There's no real template on how to win this new championship. I think we've done the best job that we possibly can to prepare for it.

Q: Yeah, I'd say. You've had three top-fives so far. That's a pretty good way to start it going, right?

Busch: You've got to start off strong, and you've got to continue that type of pace. Hopefully, you don't use what they call the "mulligan" and just continue to run hard. If you have an off-day and you finish 12th, that's acceptable. But you've got to back that up with a top-three finish the next week.

Q: I know a lot of people are saying drivers would change once the Chase started. Have you done anything different? I'm guessing not. Have you personally done anything different?

Busch: Just trying to keep track more of the setup changes and what direction to go, noticing our notebook on what we did the first half of the year, just trying to get in-depth more. I noticed that's what I've done. If you do this type of pace for 36 races, you'll burn yourself out quick. So I've got a fresh look on what we've got to do for these final 10. I'm getting engaged into it that much further.

Q: After Kansas, any race worry you more than any others? A mile-and-a-half, a short track or anything?

Busch: Miami's going to be tough for us. Last year, we only got to race four laps before we got wrecked. And we didn't get much done once we got back out on the track. We were just trying to salvage a finish.

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We were actually in the top 10 in points going into that race, were during the middle of that race, and at the end we got bumped to 11th. The team's really got a strong drive to go back there and do the best we can to make sure that's not our Achilles heel.

Q: Is that one of the places you've tested at or will test at?

Busch: Definitely. We'll go there in three weeks, just before we head out to Phoenix. That will be the closest we can get to the track temperature and what it's going to be like when we go down there for the race.

We've got to get caught up with what we've got to do for these next three weeks, because we have tested for these next three races.

Q: Were you a fan of the Chase when it was first announced, and has that changed at all?

Busch: I was a big fan of it, and I've noticed that some teams have changed their outlook on it. Once we got the final notification that we were in it, I think it's great. I'm sure some teams that are on the outside looking don't think the same.

But the way it's going to challenge the teams to put their best foot forward at the end of the year is what NASCAR wanted to see. They wanted to see 10 teams competing, they wanted to see the points jumble up and down every week and keep a nice focus on the points at the end of the year instead of one guy running away and making sure he just finishes instead of charging to the front.

What Kenseth did last year doesn't need to be downgraded. The way they won the championship, this year it's going to be a bit different. Who knows how the first Nextel Cup champion will be perceived?

Q: Do you think you guys were overlooked at all this season as championship contenders? Now, people are saying, "Kurt Busch is the points leader." It's not a surprise to you guys. Do you think you surprised anyone else?

Kyle and Kurt Busch Credit: Autostock

Busch: We probably surprised some people, but it's a matter of doing it consistently each week. Since Sonoma, when we had a bad finish due to some mechanical things -- and we've changed that personnel -- we've had one problem with the racecar. Other than that, we've been in the top 12 every race since then. That's the consistency it takes.

Q: At Busch family dinners at home, who talks more smack, you or Kyle?

Busch: It's fun, just the way my dad tries to get us riled up and talk about different things. The way we work for two different companies, it's fun to talk about the racing aspect of it and not the detail portion of our cars.

Q: And speaking of family dinners, man, you need to eat. How do you guys keep so skinny? Both you and Kyle are pretty slender?

Busch: My dad's template, I guess. He's 6-3, 180. And then the way we grew up in Vegas. It's just so hot out there, you're always sweating and always on the go. We're always in a racecar. I played little league baseball for 10 years. It keeps the metabolism flowing quick, I guess.