Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: With title in hand, Busch wants truck ride

Friday, Oct. 22, 1999 | 2:20 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand's motor sports notebook appears Friday. Reach him at bh@vegas.com or 259-4089.

When Kurt Busch took the checkered flag last Saturday night in the NASCAR Southwest Series race at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, Calif., the 21-year-old Las Vegan didn't know what to celebrate first.

Not only had Busch won his series-record fourth consecutive race and clinched the season-long championship, he held off veteran driver Ron Hornaday in the process, leading the final 73 laps of the 200-lap race.

"I can't explain how great it was, in my mind, when we crossed that start/finish line ahead of (Hornaday), after battling him all race long," Busch said of the former West Coast racing legend and two-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion.

"For him to come to our series and race against us, his goal was to come out and beat us, and we were able to hold him off. It was an experience to win the championship, win the fourth consecutive race, and to beat Ron Hornaday in that race ... wow. Probably the most satisfying was the one that doesn't even count for any kind of record, and that was beating Ron Hornaday."

But beating Hornaday, setting a record and winning a NASCAR touring-division championship weren't the only things on Busch's mind last weekend. The 1998 Southwest Series Rookie of the Year recently spent two days in Ohio auditioning for Roush Racing to replace Mike Bliss in the No. 99 Exide truck in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Busch was one of four drivers to test Jack Roush's truck, and all four ran within two-tenths of a second of Bliss, who shook down the truck before the test; Busch's best lap time was within a second of Bliss' time.

"We all had about the same lap times, we all had about the same complaint with the truck, so it was kind of hard to pick us four apart," Busch said. "As far as how we communicated with the crew chief and how we presented ourselves, I'm sure that was taken into consideration."

Busch, who still is waiting to hear if he will be called back for a second test, possibly at California Speedway in Fontana, said he isn't sure how he was selected for the audition.

It may, however, have something to do with Busch's win in June in the Southwest Series race at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., a race held the day before the Winston Cup race at the Northern California road course. A year earlier, Busch drove from the back of the pack to a third-place finish in the same race.

"I really don't know how it came about," Busch said of the test. "I'm sure they saw my results from the Southwest Series this year and it might have sparked something. They just gave me the phone call and said 'we're going to do a test and we'd like you to come join us.'

"It was quite an honor to be chosen just to take part in the test. It was quite an experience and I know it didn't hurt me. Not only do they know about my skills, I'm sure they've told other teams."

An opportunity to drive in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, especially for an owner of Roush's stature, could bring Busch's lifelong dream of driving in the Winston Cup Series closer to reality.

"Everything has moved very rapidly over the past couple of years," Busch said of his career. "With the end of the season here, winning four races in a row, I'm sure that's going to accelerate some other things.

"(The truck test) could rapidly progress things real quickly here. It was quite an opportunity but if it doesn't happen, then I've got opportunities to drive here on the West Coast with Star Nursery Racing on the Southwest Series."

* NASCAR: Todd Parrott, crew chief for Dale Jarrett, was fined $5,000 by NASCAR for comments he made during the ESPN telecast of last Sunday's Winston 500 from Talladega Superspeedway. Parrott was heard uttering an obscenity when ESPN aired part of a two-way radio conversation he was having with Jarrett. ...

Jack Collins, the speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly, has held meetings with Speedway Motorsports Inc., chairman Bruton Smith to discuss the possibility of building a speedway in New Jersey. Serious discussions have taken place over the past several years about a new speedway project in New Jersey. ...

Exide Batteries has replaced R.J. Reynolds' Winston brand as the title sponsor of NASCAR's Weekly Racing Series.

* CART: John Della Penna, who owns the Champ car driven by Henderson's Richie Hearn in the FedEx Championship Series, said he likes the idea of racing head-to-head against the rival Indy Racing League's Indianapolis 500, on Memorial Day weekend -- perhaps even in Las Vegas.

"I am ready for CART to take off the gloves and go head-to-head with the IRL -- especially now that Tony George has ended reunification talks," Della Penna said in the most recent issue of Autoweek magazine. "Tony spent the last six months wasting our time, grandstanding on his soapbox, just so he could shoot us down. If he thinks he's got a great series, great, let's see it. Let him go head-to-head with us.

"We need to do everything we can to compete with him and let the best man win. I think we should take some of his tracks away from him, like Phoenix and Las Vegas. And instead of pulling out of Memorial Day weekend, we should run on Sunday, the same day as the 500. Maybe we should not be in St. Louis, which is too close to Indy, but we should go somewhere like Vegas or the West Coast. Our product speaks for itself, especially at places where the promoter works hard like (Chip) Ganassi did at Chicago." ...

Bill Lester has been named as the final driver chosen to participate in the 1999 CART African-American Driver Development Program.

Lester joins Los Angeles-native David Francis Jr. and Columbus, Ohio's Andrew Kelley as the three drivers selected to test next week in a Toyota Atlantic car at Buttonwillow Raceway in California.

Lester first raced in 1989 and has experience in road racing events and karting, as well as IMSA and SCCA Trans-Am competition. Lester's most recent racing effort came earlier this year when he ran in the NASCAR Busch Series race at Watkins Glen.

CART will limit the number of test days by its teams beginning Nov. 1. The new restrictions limit multi-car teams to no more than 32 days of testing, with only 12 allowed in the racing season. A one-car team will be allowed 24 days of testing, with eight in the season.

Previously, teams were allowed 50 days, with additional days available for tire testing and rookie testing.

* IRL: Scott Sharp, who caused the accident last Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway that resulted in serious injuries to Sam Schmidt, has volunteered to take the wheel of Schmidt's Treadway Racing G-Force/Aurora during a private Firestone tire test this weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Sharp will substitute for Schmidt, who is currently recovering in Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis after undergoing surgery to repair a crushed left foot. Schmidt suffered fractures of both feet when Sharp collided with Schmidt during the Mall.com 500, sending Schmidt's car head-first into the outside wall. ...

Fans wishing to send get-well cards to Schmidt should send them to: Sam Schmidt, c/o Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 7000 Las Vegas Blvd. North, Las Vegas, NV 89115. Cards will be delivered when he returns home. ...

Pagan Racing is auctioning the car driven by Jeff Ward to a second-place finish in this year's Indianapolis 500 on Yahoo! Auctions (http://auctions.yahoo.com). Open bidding on the Dallara/Aurora will run through Sunday. As of Thursday, the bid for the car was $400,510.

* BACKMARKERS: The All Harley Drag Racing Association will hold its National Finals Saturday and Sunday on Las Vegas Motor Speedway's 1/4-mile dragstrip, as part of the inaugural Las Vegas Motorcycle Rally and Races.

Gates open at 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday with qualifying starting at 11 a.m. Saturday and eliminations at 1 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $20 per day or $30 for a weekend pass. ...

The Derek Daly Performance Driving Academy has signed a 10-year exclusive contract with LVMS to provide all road-racing services at the Speedway.

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