Busch 'proud' of fast start at Gibbs

Busch posted his best time of the week in the final drafting session of a three-day test in preparation for the NASCAR Sprint Cup season- opener, setting a lap of 47.662 seconds, at an average speed of 188.830 mph.

Despite being with a new team that is just switching to a new manufacturer, the former Hendrick Motorsports driver says that he has not been surprised by the good they have been able to deliver while completing their first test miles of the year under the Toyota banner.

JGR are in their first season with the Japanese car maker after being a Chevrolet team until last year and Busch was one of several Camry's running high on the leaderboard at Daytona this week.

"We knew that the switch was going to be good," Busch said. "The reason we went to Toyota was for the pure fact that, you know, they want to go out there and compete and win races and win championships, so that's what we're here to do with them.

"The biggest thing was it was nice to see the Red Bull stuff up there, Bill Davis' stuff going fast. I'm not necessarily sure if it's a lot to do with their engines or just the way that the Camry's front end is shaped or what exactly it is.

"For what we've got going on with our program and the Gibbs stuff, we're proud of the way we came out of the box strong."

The 22-year-old has been full of praise for the Toyota engines, which had already showed promise last year at some of the superspeedways, especially at Talladega where they swept the front row in October.

Busch says he and his team have learned a lot about how to get the most out of their units during the week of testing at Daytona, where they were also among the quickest on the single-car runs.

"The motor stuff seems to be strong," Busch added. "We've learned some things. We've picked up some sometimes in our single-car runs by messing around with some motor stuff.

"We've also been messing around a little bit with it in the draft and seeing what kind of carburetors or air boxes or stuff like that that the Camry's like to have 'cause we're not familiar with it. You get all that data is good, take it back to the shop and learn all about it."

Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin are set to test next week at Daytona to continue with the preparation of the Joe Gibbs Racing squad for the season opener, which takes place on February 17.