Talks expanding Truck team, family before attending Atlanta Hawks game
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The spare time of the NASCAR offseason comes as a welcome development for most drivers, but perhaps none so much as Kyle Busch. His namesake team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is expanding from two trucks to three, and he and his wife, Samantha, are busy preparing for the arrival of their first child in May.
Besides getting ready for his driving duties in all three NASCAR national series, spare time has been a precious commodity for the father-to-be, proving that it pays to have a plan.
The 29-year-old driver spoke openly Wednesday about the latest preparations for both the season and for Baby Busch, just hours before he watched the Atlanta Hawks -- the NBA's hottest team -- post their 20th victory in their last 21 games in a promotional appearance for the NASCAR season-opening Daytona 500 (Feb. 22, 1 p.m. ET, FOX). The process so far has included ordering furniture, some construction and a heavy dose of anticipation for the couple's first child.
But should Busch get a call on race day that would potentially take him from the garage to the delivery room, would he sit out of his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota? Would the new format for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs permit an exception for missing a points-paying race? That preparation is underway, too, if only in the early stages, but the Busches may benefit from some fortuitous timing that will have them all close to home.
"Actually, it hasn't really been discussed with anyone at JGR yet," Busch said. "Samantha and I, we've discussed it a little bit. We feel like we've got a good game plan for a backup driver -- it hasn't been discussed yet, so I won't reveal that name. I've got to get that cleared so I don't want to make any assumptions and get somebody too excited before it happens. It has been discussed but fortunately the real cool part about it is, her due date is the Friday of the (NASCAR Sprint) All-Star Race, so if the baby comes a little early, I'll be there in Charlotte for that week. If it comes a little later, I'll be there for Charlotte week."
Busch got a jump on the racing side of offseason prep on Tuesday at Charlotte Motor Speedway during a test session with his truck team's newcomers -- Justin Boston, Daniel Suarez and Matt Tifft. Boston is scheduled for a full season in Kyle Busch Motorsports' No. 54 Toyota, with Busch (four races), Suarez (13) and Tifft (six) splitting time in the No. 51. Erik Jones -- like Suarez, a product of the NASCAR Next program -- returns to KBM to drive a third truck, No. 4, in his first full-time effort in 2015.
Tifft has just three Camping World Truck Series starts in his brief career, and Boston and Suarez have competed in just one race each. Busch won't be defending his season-opening truck win last year, but according to a KBM team rep, all three newbies are scheduled to drive in the NextEra Energy Resources 250 (Feb. 20, 7:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1) at Daytona International Speedway, with Suarez behind the wheel of the No. 51 and Tifft driving for another Toyota team.
While the expansion of their driving duties -- including diving head-first into Daytona -- marks a big step in their progression up the NASCAR ladder, it's not a leap that makes Busch worry.
"I don't have any concerns at all," Busch said. "I think there is going to be a little bit of a learning experience, no doubt. I think there always is with young drivers, which to me, is not a problem. We had a little bit of that with Darrell Wallace his first year, and then his second year, we felt like he'd be ready to go and rock and roll, but just some bad luck and circumstances got him behind early, but then at the end of the year, he was the man to beat. Actually had a chance to win the championship if it hadn't been for an engine failure at Texas. All's good there. They're all going to be ready for Daytona."
Busch has dialed back his participation in the Truck Series from 10 races last season and 11 the year before, but said the function of the reduced schedule was in large part because of the interest and funding that Tifft brought to the team for his six-race deal.
He'll still be racing as much as ever in NASCAR's other two national series, but said the side benefits of the time off from the truck circuit could help him focus on Sprint Cup competition and create more family time.
"It's definitely an added bonus, I wouldn't disagree with that, that I'm able to spend more time with the Cup stuff," Busch said, "but I'm still running just as many XFINITY races -- 25 -- with the Monster Energy Camry. And then of course, with the baby due in May, that's exciting as well, too. I'm sure Samantha is going to want my time just as much as ever, which is fine, and we're both excited for it."
In the meantime, Busch has helped draw attention to the dawn of a new season with the Daytona 500, appearing with the race's Harley J. Earl Trophy in Atlanta and sitting in with Hawks' legend Dominique Wilkins -- the "Human Highlight Film" -- for some basketball play-by-play. Wilkins, 55, is still making highlights, appearing -- by way of some heavy photo editing for the game broadcast -- in an M&Ms firesuit.