Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Younger Busch may land more truck series rides

Friday, Aug. 10, 2001 | 9:38 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand's covers motor sports for the Sun. Reach him at bh@lasvegassun.com or 259-4089.

Kyle Busch could be driving the No.99 Eldon Ford in as many as six more NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races this season, according to a source with Roush Racing's truck program.

Busch, 16, made his NCTS debut last Friday at Indianapolis Raceway Park and piloted the truck to a ninth-place finish. Team manager Max Jones said Thursday that Busch would drive the truck in next Saturday's Sears Craftsman 175 at Chicago Motor Speedway and another team official said the Las Vegas native would "be on board for a few more races" this season

Busch can compete in up to seven NCTS races this season and still preserve his rookie eligibility for next year.

Roush Racing announced this week that Busch Series driver Greg Biffle, the 2000 NCTS champion, would be in the No. 99 truck for tonight's race at Nashville Superspeedway and Aug. 26 at Nazareth Speedway. Busch likely would drive in five of the six remaining races, including the Oct. 14 Orleans 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

One sticking point in Roush's plans is that three of the remaining truck races are on 1.5-mile and 2-mile superspeedways and Busch has not yet driven on a track larger than IRP's .686-mile oval. The race at Chicago Motor Speedway would be Busch's first race on a 1-mile oval.

Officials with Roush Racing are trying to get clearance from NASCAR to let Busch drive on the 1.5-mile ovals at Texas Motor Speedway and LVMS and the 2-mile oval at California Speedway -- although it is unlikely the team would have Busch drive on the steeply banked track at Texas.

Whether team owner Jack Roush would consider putting the 16-year-old Busch in the truck full-time next season remains uncertain, although Busch could run up to seven races again next year and still maintain his rookie eligibility.

Busch is taking extra courses this summer in an attempt to graduate from Durango High School next June, following his junior year, and said he could manage his schoolwork and a full truck racing schedule if Roush were to offer him a full-time ride next season.

"I would have to talk to my teachers and give them my (racing) schedule and get some leeway so we could work out test dates, but I could still live here in Vegas and continue to do school here and race," Busch said.

"I'd just fly out every weekend that there's a race, go race the truck and come back Monday for the next day of school."

At 16 years, 3 months, Busch became the second-youngest driver to compete in a NCTS race last Friday at IRP. He qualified 23rd in the 36-truck field but was forced to start at the rear of the field after he crashed his truck on his second lap of qualifying and brought out a backup truck for the race. He moved up seven spots in the first two laps and was running in the top half of the field by lap 63 of the 190-lap race.

The Daytona News-Journal reported that experts who took part in the investigation will be present to answer questions at a press conference scheduled in the Atlanta area. The paper reported that investigation has helped NASCAR develop a computer model of the Earnhardt crash and that the report also will include information from the investigations into the earlier deaths of drivers Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin Jr. and Tony Roper.

The Orlando Sentinel reported today that the investigation does not blame a broken seat belt in the death of Earnhardt (see page 5D).

A second-place finish by Tagliani in Toronto, followed by Carpentier's victory in Michigan and second-place effort in Chicago, has Team Player's shooting for an unprecedented fourth straight podium finish.

"The timing couldn't be better because we're going back to road courses now," Carpentier said.

"Mid-Ohio has always been one of my favorite tracks. It's physically demanding, with lots of up-and-down driving. It's also narrow, and that's why gaining a good spot in qualifying is so important.

"Having a week off to rest is going to do all of us some good because we had been racing for six of the last seven weeks under some intense conditions. Now we have our batteries recharged and we're aiming for four in a row, which would be the longest streak for Team Player's. That's a record I would like to be part of."

Foyt IV is the son of Nancy and Tony Foyt, and the grandson of A.J. Foyt, Jr., the first four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 and a three-time winner at Springfield. Foyt, 66, made his USAC championship car debut at the same track 44 years ago.

"Anthony has been winning races and championships in go-karts for years," his grandfather said. "He has shown me that he is ready to step up to something else and I decided to put him in a dirt champ car. I know it's a big step but he's a heads-up driver and I really felt he could handle it."

Shields defeated four-time national champion Rick Santos in the final of the Les Schwab Challenge July 15 with a time of 5.529 seconds (256.41 mph) and avenged a final-round loss to Santos earlier this season.

Other class winners included Bruce Fraley and Rob MacCachren (Class 1-2/1600), Jeremy Harmon (Class 9) and Billy Shapley III (Sportsman Buggy). ...

The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will host Round 12 of the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Saturday night with racing in NASCAR Late Models, Grand American Modifieds, Legends Cars and Chargers. Spectator gates open at 5 p.m. and racing begins at 6:30.