NASCAR’s Kyle Busch Grades His First Half of 2022 Cup Series Season (Exclusive)

Kyle Busch is in a good position to win the 2022 Cup Series title as he’s in third place in the standings. But he knows there’s room for improvement as the second half of the season gets underway. In an exclusive interview with PopCulture.com, Busch gave his grade on how he performed during the first half of the year. 

“I don’t know, we’re about a B, I guess,” Busch exclusively told PopCulture. “There’s definitely been some things I could have done better, definitely some things that our team could have done better. Some tracks that we’ve run really well at and excelled, a couple tracks that we’ve struggled at, but it was super optimistic there at the All-Star race, felt like we had a super-fast race car and we could have won that thing. So, unfortunately, we had our right rear tire go flat and got into a bit of a chaotic situation there on the front stretch, but then looking forward now to going ahead to our longest race of the year, the Coca-Cola 600 this weekend. So I know it’s going to be a long grueling one and you’re going to need to be in it the whole time.”

The Coca-Cola 600 is the only 600-mile race on the schedule. And what makes the race more interesting is that it falls on the same day as the Indianapolis 500, making Sunday one of the biggest sports days of the year. But with the Coca-Cola 600 being a longer race, Busch knows he will have to prepare for it differently than other races. 

“So biggest thing is just making sure you’re more well hydrated throughout the week and getting your hydration levels to where you need them,” Busch said. “Thankfully, I’ve got Rowdy Energy for that so that helps. But also just from there, I don’t like to drink a whole lot on race day obviously, for the fact of being in the race car, you’re going to be in there for four, four and a half hours, so you don’t want to have to feel like you got to go to the bathroom. So that’s why you get it all done ahead of time and then the day of, you really don’t drink a whole lot the day of until you get back in the car with your water source and things like that. But other than that, keep on the workout train and working out and doing things to make sure that you’re well prepared.”

Another way Busch is preparing for the race is making sure he can breathe with no issues. The 37-year-old has partnered with Breathe Right nasal strips and has been using the product while competing for the last few seasons. “It just allows myself to be able to breathe better and get some more air in obviously throughout the race,” Busch said. “And sometimes, when you’re in the car, you go get up to 140 degrees and stuff like that so you’re trying to make sure that the work that you’re doing is focused on the race track and not necessarily having to focus on figuring out how to breathe, so it’s made my job easier.”

Busch also said that Breathe Right “works instantly to open up my nasal cavities and gives me the relief that I need right away, so [it’s] been awesome to wear. Even now more recently, I wear them at nighttime going to sleep and then also during workouts and stuff like that if I know I’m going to go through a rigorous workout, so I get all the air that I can get.”