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Kyle Busch frustrated with tire issues he’s had this year, leery of Kentucky race

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The rear tire on the No. 18 car blew out, causing a crash into the wall during practice for the Coke Zero 400.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Kyle Busch admits he spoke out of frustration earlier Friday when he stated a lack of confidence in Goodyear but says he does have some concerns.

Busch crashed in Friday morning’s practice after a right-rear tire went down.

After being cleared from the infield care center, Busch told NBCSN: “Yeah, it doesn’t give you any confidence whatsoever in Goodyear’s ability to make a tire that’s worthwhile to go out there and race on. So I guess we’ll just suffer through it and hope for the best.”

Goodyear stated that Busch’s tire was cut, resulting in the blowout.

After qualifying third for Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400, Busch was asked if he needed to clarify his comments about Goodyear in light of the cut tire causing his crash.

“From my vantage point, we’ve had a lot of tire issues this year,’’ Busch said. “That’s probably, I don’t know, four or five or six tires that we’ve blown this year. That’s what the most frustrating part is.

“We also did the tire test at Kentucky and didn’t necessarily have the best of results I felt like from my vantage point with what we’ve got to do for next week. That’s where the frustration probably stemmed from and came from. Goodyear probably didn’t deserve what they got from me earlier today.’’

Goodyear confirmed Friday that it is changing tires for Kentucky after a test with 14 teams June 13-14 showed blistering on tires. Busch was among those who tested and had blistering issues.

“The problem we ran into, their option tire for us to try at Kentucky blistered all four tires in 23 laps, so there is no option,’’ Busch said. “That’s not their fault 100 percent because you have a repave, and repaves are just horrible for them to have to make a tire that is raceable for us.

“We’ve seen it at Charlotte, we’ve seen it at Michigan, we’ve seen it at Las Vegas. We’ve been there and done that. That’s why all of us drivers are so adamant to not repave these facilities for as long as we possibly can. I just don’t know with what we’ve got for next week if we’re going to see an outstanding race like we have in the past on the old surface.’’

Looking to Saturday’s race at Daytona International Speedway, Busch is confident in his backup car.

“I felt pretty good with what we had right there, so I feel like we have a good basis,’’ Busch said. “As far as what kind of pack car or drafting-type car, yeah, it will take a little bit to figure that out, but the balance was fine.’’

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