Las Vegas’ Busch says he’s enjoying the ride

Wednesday, July 12, 2000 | 10:22 a.m.

It wouldn't be a stretch to call Kurt Busch the hottest driver in NASCAR these days.

In addition to winning the past two NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races in the No. 99 Exide Batteries Ford, the 21-year-old Las Vegas native is believed to be the leading candidate to replace Chad Little as driver of the No. 97 John Deere Ford in the Winston Cup Series next season.

Noted racing team owner Jack Roush owns both the No. 99 truck and the No. 97 Winston Cup car.

Busch, who a year ago was competing in the regional NASCAR Southwest Series, has been the most popular topic of discussion on truck series and Winston Cup race telecasts, national auto racing radio and television shows and Internet web sites.

And Busch isn't shying away from the conversation. Although it was speculated in the Sun that Busch skipped a national media teleconference last week to avoid questions regarding his future, the truth was he was not informed that he was expected to appear on the call.

Far from serving as a distraction, Busch said Tuesday that all this speculation about his future has been a source of motivation.

"It has really given me confidence to know that I'm even being considered for that (Winston Cup) ride and that is probably what has contributed to some of our success at Milwaukee and New Hampshire and, hopefully, on into the future," Busch said.

Rumors that Busch would make the move to Winston Cup next season picked up steam last week following his first truck series win at The Milwaukee Mile. One week later, Busch became the first NCTS rookie to win back-to-back races when he took the checkered flag in Saturday's thatlook.com 200 at New Hampshire International Speedway.

The former Las Vegas Motor Speedway track champion and 1999 Southwest Series champion said he would be comfortable making the move to Winston Cup if Roush tabs him to replace Little.

"Being one of the candidates, if they choose me, it'll be a tough road to go but I think I'm ready for it and we can put together a package where it would be extensive testing and things like that to help me out," Busch said.

"As far as a race car driver's standpoint, it would be a logical jump. There are a lot of different steps in between, from Busch to Winston Cup, but to get back to where I'm from -- racing cars with a bigger downforce package -- it's more comfortable to drive the cars than the trucks at the big speedways."

Busch said he hasn't talked to Roush about the Winston Cup vacancy for next season, but acknowledged he has had conversations with Jeff Smith, the president of Roush Racing.

"(Roush) hasn't actually even really talked to me about it," Busch said. "Jack has been real busy and he's going to make the call. We all know Jack and he has made crazy decisions before but they all seem to work out in the long run."

Roush fields cars in the Winston Cup Series for Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Little, Kevin Lepage and Matt Kenseth, as well as two Busch Series cars and two NCTS trucks.

Roush announced two weeks ago that he and Little agreed to go their separate ways at the end of this season, and speculation on Little's replacement began immediately.

Busch, who is fifth in NCTS points and all but assured of winning the series' Rookie of the Year award, admitted that his success in his first season in the trucks series has been a surprise to him.

"We had no idea -- and I had no idea -- that we would have success like we have," said Busch, who has 10 top-10 finishes in 15 starts this season. "Really, our team has come together over these past five races.

"It was a quick week for us after Milwaukee and to pick up a second win right in a row, it was tough for that first win to sink in. Now that we've gotten this second (win) ... it's really starting to sink in."