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NASCAR PRESEASON THUNDER TESTINGJanuary 11, 2014James BuescherDAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA THE MODERATOR: We are joined now by James Buescher, driver of the No.99 Toyota Camry for RAB Racing. James, rolling in here to the World Center of Racing, you have the DRIVE4COPD 300 coming up in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. What kind of feelings do you have when you pull into a place like Daytona International Speedway? JAMES BUESCHER: This is a cool place for me to come to. I've had the privilege of being in victory lane a few times here, and it's always fun to come down here, and the feeling of coming into the racetrack makes you feel like race season is fixing to start, so that creates even more excitement. I feel like we've been at home for too long. I know it's been a short off‑season, but we've been home too long in my opinion. Q. Just take us through your decision to make this move and how challenging it was for you with all the background you had before moving, leaving the family team, so to speak, and how difficult a decision that was for you. JAMES BUESCHER: You know, in some ways it was a really difficult decision from the family aspect and everything that we've accomplished together at Turner Scott Motorsports, championships and race wins and poles and kind of building that organization with them, and leaving was definitely tough. But I want to make it to the Sprint Cup level, and I want to be a Sprint Cup champion one day. I have to make the moves in my career that are best for me, and I feel like coming over to RAB Racing and Toyota and being able to bring Rheem with me as a sponsor was the best situation for me to be in right now. So far things have started off really well. We had a test at Nashville back in December that went really well, and this is my second time in the car today, and we were fastest in the single car runs all morning and second fastest in the draft. I feel like we've had a good start to our relationship together, and I've enjoyed working with Chris Rice and Bobby Benton and everybody at RAB Racing and Toyota. It's been fun. Q. The win you had here in 2012, how big was that for your career? JAMES BUESCHER: You know, it was definitely really big. At that point I had never won a NASCAR sanctioned event. I was relieved to finally win a race, and the fact that I won one when everybody was crashing, there was a lot of doubters that said it was a fluke, and the fact that we were able to go follow that up with four more wins in the Truck Series that year and a championship I think solidified that win that we had here in the Nationwide Series. It makes this place even more special. I've been able to win here in ARCA, and our last time here in July I was able to finish second. I've had some strong runs here, and just being able to get to victory lane, any time you can win anything at Daytona, I don't think it matters how you did it. It's a cool place to get to victory lane. Q. As far as what you would perhaps like best about the entire season, you're going to have a long bit longer season now, aren't you? Could you talk a little bit about that, too, the energy you get from different parts of the season? JAMES BUESCHER: Yeah, I get excited to finally get back to the racetrack, and I'm looking forward to the longer season. 2012 I raced the full time truck schedule, but I also ran about 20 Nationwide races, so I had a really busy year, and that was a really successful year for me. I feel like the more I'm at the track and constantly going with less downtime, there's less time to think about what you're doing and overthink things. I enjoy the longer seasons, and it gets pretty strenuous at times, but I'm looking forward to it, and I'm ready. Q. Can you talk about Rheem's involvement and how influential they were for your decision to move over to RAB? Obviously they signed a multiyear deal. Talk about the other 27 races. Are you guys hunting for sponsorship for the other races or do you feel you'll be able to fill them with Rheem or somebody else? JAMES BUESCHER: Yeah, Rheem coming over was definitely helpful in making this decision. They were really supportive last year, and I was able to get to victory lane with them last year. They're a great sponsor to have. They've been in the sport a long time. They understand the industry and kind of how it works. They see a lot of value in being a sponsor in this series and in this sport in general. So to have them come over with me, it was definitely beneficial and definitely instrumental in making the decision to come over. The fact that they were going to come with me was helpful in making that decision. But as far as the other six races, there's nothing confirmed about what's going to be on the car for those six races, but we do have a lot of things in the works and things are looking good. I feel pretty confident that we'll get sponsorship for all of them. Q. Could you just talk a little bit about what you think the biggest challenge is going to be moving from full‑time truck to full‑time Nationwide? JAMES BUESCHER:  The competition level obviously is a step up. Truck racing you have a couple guys come down from the Cup Series. On an average race you have one or two. And over in the Nationwide Series just about every week there's around 10. Obviously the competition level goes up, and the amount of races and the length of the races, just getting accustomed to all those different things on a full‑time basis. I've raced plenty of Nationwide races in the past, so I feel like I'm going to get in the swing of things even faster than if I had only raced five or six Nationwide races. But I'm excited to finally be full‑time in the series, and it's got its challenges, but I feel like I'm ready to tackle them. Q. The Nationwide cars have been able to tandem race at the Superspeedways. After the Cup cars the changes prevented that. Do you think the new spoiler package and cooling package are going to break that up here at the Superspeedways? JAMES BUESCHER: I think it might break it up some, but I don't prefer the tandem racing. I prefer pack racing, and the fact that in pack racing you kind of get to control more of your own destiny. You still have to rely on a lot of other cars to work with you in the draft, and two cars are still faster than one, but the fact that you don't have to have somebody locked onto your back bumper or your front bumper like the tandem racing, it puts a lot more control in your own hands rather than relying on other guys. So I prefer the pack racing, and hopefully that's the way it stays. Q. In the last several weeks we're starting to get a clearer picture of who likely many of the full‑time drivers will be running for the Nationwide championship. I just wondered, with you making your move and with a new organization, do you feel you're going to be in competition to be competitive for that title, and how do you assess some of your competitors this coming season? JAMES BUESCHER: Yeah, I mean, I definitely feel like we'll have what it takes to be a contender for the championship. I feel like there's a lot of speed in the 99 car. They showed that last year. They've got a few poles, and they definitely showed a lot of speed just about every week. Coming over to a new team, it's going to take some learning and there's a lot of unknowns. We have to learn each other and I have to learn the cars and just the way things work and working with a new manufacturer. So I have a lot of unknowns, but I feel like we'll be competitive for a championship. The fact that I was able to finish in the top three in the last three years in the Truck Series, I think, plays into me thinking I can do it again in the Nationwide Series. I'm looking forward to being able to be in position to win some races and hopefully be around at the end of the year for that championship. Q. You noted a couple years ago you were in the Nationwide car so much. Obviously last year only in the car, I think, four races. Is there a little bit of an adjustment or challenge just because you weren't in the car as much last season and coming over full time right now? JAMES BUESCHER: Yeah, there's definitely an adjustment because the last several years I've been putting all my focus on the trucks, and that's been my number one priority, and I've been able to have the privilege to race in the Nationwide Series, as well. But now I have the opportunity to put all my focus on the Nationwide car, and I feel like that's going to help me performance wise in the Nationwide Series. Like I said, there's still a lot of unknowns that I have to work through. I've only been in the car at Nashville and here at Daytona. We don't have a lot of experience working together yet, but things, like I said, have started off really well between myself and Chris Rice and the communication and everything seems to have picked up pretty quickly. But you never know how things are going to go once the season gets rolling. I'm thinking things are going to go really well, and like I said, I'm really excited to finally be in the Nationwide Series full time. Q. And you talked about obviously the eventual goals about being a Sprint Cup driver. You're still a young guy, obviously, at 23, but in one sense you're an old guy because a lot of people get fascinated with the 16, 17 and 18 year olds. How hard is it not to get caught up in thinking, I'm 23, I should have been here or I should be doing this? How do you not put that pressure when there's more 16, 17, 18, 19 year old kids coming up and there seems to be a wave of youth. Certainly you're still on the young side of it, but to an 18 year old, a 23 year old is an old guy. JAMES BUESCHER: Yeah, absolutely. They make me feel old sometimes. It's always been my focus of succeeding in the series before I move on to the next one, even when I was real young racing, before I was even 18. My goal hasn't been just be a Sprint Cup driver just to say I'm a Sprint Cup driver. I want to be a Sprint Cup driver when I can be competitive as a Sprint Cup driver and be around to win races and championships in that series, as well. I feel like this is a natural progression for me the way that my career has gone from the start, really, is to be able to win races in a series before you move up to the next one. That's the way I've always done it, and I don't get too tied up in who's going where and what they're doing. I worry about what I'm doing and what's best for my career and keep my focus on myself and my own team and don't get distracted. Q. I'm looking at your record here at Daytona, and you've got a lot of top‑‑ you've got two wins and a lot of top 5s. Some drivers don't get it, what I call it, at Daytona, but you seem to have it. Is that a natural feeling for getting around this place, or have you learned it as you went along? JAMES BUESCHER: Well, I feel like I've taken to it from the get‑go. I won my first race here in an ARCA car and have been successful on the Superspeedways kind of throughout my career. I feel like I took to it pretty well and just have an understanding for it. I don't know if it's something that you can really‑‑ you can teach it over time, you can adapt to it quickly, as well. I think it's just something I've adapted to. Q. Obviously you had a lot of decisions where you could have gone for this Nationwide season. Why RAB Racing? Obviously Robby Benton is a former driver. Did that have to do with the decision or was it just what they've done in 2013 with Alex Bowman and Blake Cook? JAMES BUESCHER: There was a lot of things that played into my decision. Robby being a racer and everybody in the shop being a racer, it's a small organization, it's a tight‑knit group of people, and Robby says it all the time, it's more than a race team, it's a family there. I like that aspect of it and the smaller team. Everybody there just works hard, and they showed a lot of speed last year, like you said, with Alex and with Blake at Homestead. That definitely played into the factor that they are fast, and hopefully stepping in the car that we can go out and win races together. It was just the best opportunity for me with weighing all the options. This is where I feel is the best fit, and the support from Toyota and the fact that Rheem was wanting to come over with me just seems like everybody agrees that it's the best place for us right now. THE MODERATOR: James, glad to have you back here at the World Center of Racing, and we look forward you seeing you this year in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Good luck to you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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