Does Kyle Busch's stomach have a knot in Kansas anymore?

“It’s an opportune time for us,” Busch said. “It’s definitely a track that you don’t necessarily look forward to going to, but you know it’s coming so you just kind of get ready for it best you can, do the best work you can and put yourself in the best position possible to have a decent day. Essentially, that’s all we need. I don’t necessarily think we’re out there to set the world on fire to win the race in Kansas. I think for us, a solid top-10 is what we need to get out of there with.”

Top-10s have been difficult to come by at what statistically ranks as Busch’s worst track, with an average finish of 22.7 and just two top-10 finishes in 14 starts in his Sprint Cup Series career. Since the track reconfigured its banking with new pavement in the summer of 2012, Busch’s fortunes have taken an even further nose-dive with three crashes in the last four events; only his 15th-place effort there in May over that four-race span was wreck-free.

“I don’t know what it is,” Busch said. “I thought I was just starting to figure it out there on the old asphalt and getting pretty good at being able to run the top and run around there and be OK. Once they repaved it, I haven’t been able to find my rear with both hands, so definitely got to figure that out.

“This spring, I thought we ran OK. We were running, I think I got as high as sixth or eighth or something like that before I got myself busted for speeding on pit road. We go back there this time, and again, I think we’re very capable of being able to run top-10 and just try to get out of there with that and just build on that consistency for this round.”

Busch finished fourth in the series standings in 2013 — his best season-long result thus far in his 10-year career. In previous years, Busch admitted over the offseason, he would fold when faced with a dose of adversity, but last season, a new approach that emphasized resilience carried him.

This season, the new-look rules format for the Chase — with points hitting the reset button after each three-race round — could help Busch compartmentalize any rough patches. To maximize that benefit, he’ll still need to get through Kansas, but at least he heads there with a clean slate after the Challenger Round.

“I don’t think it’s bad; I just think it’s the situation we’re in,” Busch said. “It’s not quite what it was before. The Chase format in years past, you essentially eliminated a guy each week. I mean, it’s no different than it is now. Now, every three races, you reset at zero. Right now, Brad Keselowski‘s won five races and I’m at the exact same points as he is and I’ve got one win. It doesn’t matter how many you win, but you’ve got to win them at the right time.”

Timing may mean everything for the dozen drivers trying to make the top-eight cut for the Eliminator Round. The dread associated with the Contender Round’s elimination race at fickle Talladega has placed a premium on performance for the round’s first two events — Kansas and Charlotte.

Controlling his own destiny at a restrictor-plate track is a demanding task that Busch would rather avoid. He says that scenario, however, could make even the steadiest driver a daring risk-taker out of necessity.

“I think desperation is going to change everything,” Busch said. “What you’ve got to do is going to be anything you can do. If you’re going to go four-wide or five-wide at Talladega in order to get yourself in a spot that’s going to be able to make you transfer through and take yourself a chance of crashing, you’re going to do it. You’ve got to. It’s all about trying to make it through to the final round.”

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