Kyle Busch "playing with house money," not feeling any Chase pressure

Just like 2015, he heads into the Chase with four wins and 2012 points, right at the top of the points board.

But unlike 2015, he didn’t miss 11 races with a broken leg to start the season. Things have definitely been smoother for the reigning champion, who comes into this Chase far more relaxed.

"You have a better mindset after once accomplishing it because you know what it took," he explained to Motorsport.com during Chase Media Day in Chicago. "Last year, it was really not all that stressful. We just kind of let it play out, let it be as it was and be happy about the results no matter what. So you kind of have to do the same thing this time around and let fate be with you.

"I think the biggest thing there is to not change what we’ve done that’s made us so strong and got us to this point. We are all going to continue to work together, but it will be interesting to see how it all plays out."

Monkey off his back

As the reigning series champion, Kyle Busch is just one of two drivers (the other being Kevin Harvick) to know exactly what it takes to win it all with the newest format. 

"I feel like being the defending champion gives us a greater opportunity to go out there and succeed again this year. We come in with the mindset that we’re playing with house money.

"We maybe didn’t necessarily deserve the shot we had last year because we missed the first 11 weeks, but we had one based off the results, so there were really limited expectations on us to do well, and (then) we won the deal.

"We come back with a similar mindset because I do have that monkey off my back (being) the defending champion. I know what it’s all about and I know what it takes to get that accomplished."

Teamwork during the Chase

An interesting dynamic to watch for in the postseason will be the relationship between the five Toyota teams. They all have an obvious edge over the competition, which could lead to a finale where two, three, or even four of them are fighting for the trophy. If that happens, could it put a strain on what has been stellar cooperation between them?

"I know Joe wants to see all four of us at Homestead, but it might get a little awkward during some of our post-practice debriefs at Homestead with what we discuss and what we talk about if all four of us are there."

Martin Truex Jr. echoed those comments, telling Motorsport.com, "I think we have a good enough relationship, so I don’t think anything is going to change. I think if there are one or two of these cars at Homestead, then we might say alright, everybody is on their own this weekend."