Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Rule change leaves Busch on sidelines

Friday, Dec. 14, 2001 | 11:32 a.m.

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

NASCAR did not consider giving 16-year-old Kyle Busch an exemption to compete in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series next season when it instituted a rule requiring drivers in its touring divisions be at least 18 years of age.

Jim Hunter, NASCAR's vice president of corporate communications, said driver safety was the overriding factor when the sanctioning body first began looking at age requirements earlier this year.

"Unfortunately, (Busch's) career had started and, very obviously, he's a very talented young driver," Hunter said Thursday from his office in Daytona Beach, Fla. "But when you look at where we run these events and with the focus that we have on safety today, putting a 16-year-old in a position to compete with even 21-year-olds is sort of like high school versus college.

"The overriding issue was that anyone under 18 would be much better served if they got more experience before they jumped into the touring series. It'll be an inconvenience and a temporary setback to young Mr. Busch ... (but) a guy who is good at 16 is still going to be good at 18."

Hunter said there are an estimated 12 drivers under 18 who competed this season in NASCAR's 11 touring divisions. He said that if NASCAR exempted Busch from the age requirement, which goes into effect next season, it would have to "grandfather" the other drivers as well, and that would defeat the purpose of the new rule.

"We have spoken to Roush (Racing) and Jack Roush understands what we're doing," Hunter said.

Busch, a junior at Durango High who is on course to graduate next May, had competed in six NCTS races this season and had signed a long-term contract with Roush Racing to compete full-time in the Truck Series beginning next season.

Busch was informed last Friday that NASCAR was considering implementing the age requirement, but did not make it official until this week. Busch's father Tom said that team owner Jack Roush indicated he would honor Busch's contract and pay him his base salary next season.

NASCAR president Mike Helton said in a statement that younger drivers would be better served gaining experience at local tracks before attempting to compete full-time against older and more experienced drivers.

"Younger competitors need as much experience as they can accumulate before competing at NASCAR's professional levels," Helton said. "They need to hone professional driving skills, knowledge and judgment that is best learned at the local level, as with NASCAR's Weekly Racing Series. After the age of 18, and with this experience, younger competitors should be better prepared for regional or national competition.

"We also considered the possibility of a young person's education being interfered with by the demands of competing in our larger divisions. NASCAR values education and would never want our racing to be a distraction in that pursuit."

Busch, an honor student, said he never intended to let his studies suffer even if he were racing full-time next season.

"I am extremely disappointed that I have to wait to race," Busch said. "I'm an honor student and have worked hard to graduate from high school early so that I could get a head start on my career.

"At no point did my desire to race interfere with my school work and I am confident that I will have a successful future with Roush Racing once I am able to resume my career on the track."

Hunter said that an incident at California Speedway last month, when Busch was prohibited from competing in a truck race because a tobacco company sponsored the weekend, was not a "deciding factor" in the rule change, but he did admit that it was taken into consideration.

"The situation at California was an isolated incident -- it was the only one of those that we had -- and it was not a deciding factor although certainly any company has to be aware of federal regulations," Hunter said. "And who knows what all is in that settlement? I know I don't.

"We actually started (exploring the age requirement) back in the summer as a part of NASCAR focusing on safety and reviewing just about everything we do."

NASCAR found itself in an unsettling spotlight earlier this year following the death of seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt in an accident on the final lap of the Daytona 500. Earnhardt was the fourth driver in NASCAR's top three divisions to die on the track in less than a year and forced the sanctioning body to focus on issues of safety.

Staab had just taken over for teammate Johnny Campbell and was running second in the race when he hit a loose rock and was thrown over the handlebars of his bike. The third- and fourth-place riders stopped to help Staab, who was airlifted to UMC. According to witnesses, the BITD medical team was on the scene within five minutes of the accident and the medical helicopter arrived within 15 minutes.

Staab and Campbell won their class at the SCORE Baja 1000 last month and finished second in the final Class 22 points standings.

Tracy turned 233 laps on the 1.68-mile road course and recorded an unofficial best lap time of 52 seconds.

"I like the reliability of the new car and I'm generally happy with the package," Tracy said. "Reynard has made some improvements and I think right off the truck, this car is better than the '01 model. There are no big differences in the car, but I feel it's generally better.

"We still need to work hard this winter and there is still a lot of work to do, but I'm very encouraged after this test."

* CART ALL-STARS: Michael Andretti, Gil de Ferran, Helio Castroneves, Kenny Brack and Cristiano da Matta were named to the 2001 CART All-Star Team in a vote of drivers, motor sports media and fans.

Andretti, who earned his 41st career win this season, became the first three-time all-star with his selection to the five-driver team. Marlboro Team Penske drivers De Ferran and Castroneves will be competing in the Indy Racing League next season.

* IRL SAFETY: Brian Barnhart, vice president of operations for the IRL, said the series would not mandate the use of head and neck restraints by its drivers. NASCAR has made the use of some form of head and neck restraint mandatory and CART requires the device to be worn on all oval tracks.

"We encourage all of our participants to gather as much information as they can about the devices that are out there," Barnhart said, noting that about half of the series' drivers wore the HANS device by the season's final race.

The Winston West Series also will run at the 3/8-mile Bullring at LVMS on Saturday, April 13.