Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: New track evens odds for Busch

Friday, Sept. 28, 2001 | 10:24 a.m.

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

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Kurt Busch believes he has an edge going into Sunday's inaugural NASCAR Winston Cup race at Kansas Speedway.

Although his rookie year in the series has been inconsistent, the 23-year-old Las Vegas native said going to a track for the first time evens the playing field for a first-year driver.

"It is a great equalizer because each race has its own attitude and demeanor," Busch said. "You don't know how all the cars are going to go into turn one and make it through yet. We haven't seen how fast the cars check up and that's just lap one. Then you see the duration of the tire runs, and see the different pit strategies play out. Everybody is guessing; nobody has any notes to flip back to.

"It puts every crew chief, every driver and every racecar on an even playing field. That lets not necessarily the luckiest group of individuals, but the guys that don't know what to expect, run well at that racetrack like that. A rookie is going to have more of an advantage because he is on the edge every weekend, not knowing what to expect."

In addition, Busch said the fact that he was the only rookie to test at the 1.5-mile oval this summer should give him an advantage over the other rookies in the field.

"That's very surprising," Busch said when he learned no other rookie had tested at Kansas. "I can't understand why -- with having 12 tests , where else they would spend them?"

Busch, who said the new Kansas Speedway compares favorably to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, has had some of his better results this season on 1.5-mile tracks. Of his five top-10 finishes this year, two have come on 1.5-mile tracks (Texas and Chicago) and another on Atlanta's 1.54-mile speedway. He also finished 11th earlier this year at LVMS.

Busch also had a third-place finish -- the best of his career -- at the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway and a fifth-place showing in the Brickyard 400 at the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Busch enters Sunday's Protection One 400 ranked 26th in Winston Cup points and second in the Rookie of the Year standings, 70 points behind Kevin Harvick.

"The manufacturer's label on seat belts must not be located under the adjusting mechanism when the driver is buckled into the seat and has tightened the seat belts and shoulder harness," NASCAR said in a technical bulletin issued to all teams.

"If the label is under the adjusting mechanism, the label must be removed or relocated in a manner that does not affect the integrity of the belt material. The date of the manufacture must remain visible on the belts at all times."

One Winston Cup team official said the manufacturer's labels, which are sewn onto the belts, are made of a slippery material that may be causing the "dumping" action that is believed to have caused the torn belt in Dale Earnhardt's fatal crash in February and the partially torn belt in Mayfield's crash last Sunday.

Beginning in 2003, Toyota only will supply a 3.5-liter, normally aspirated V8 engine for use by the Indy Racing League. If CART were to adopt the IRL's engine specifications, Toyota said it would consider staying in the FedEx Championship Series.

"Toyota has made its decision,' Toyota senior vice president J. Davis Illingworth, Jr. said. "From a financial perspective, it is not prudent for Toyota to supply two different engine specs for U.S.-based, open-wheel racing while also in the early stages of a Formula One program internationally.

"As for future engine specs ... if CART adopts the same engine specifications as the IRL, and it makes good business sense from both a financial and marketing standpoint, Toyota would consider again participating in the series."

Next year's race will be held either Sept. 2 or Aug. 26 and will mark the return of CART to Denver after a 10-year absence. CART staged races there in 1990 and 1991.

The CarQuest Western Dirt Late Model Series will hold its final points race of the season Saturday night at the half-mile dirt track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. California Lightning Sprints and local Thunderstocks will also be running beginning at 7 p.m. Among the local drivers expected to compete are Chuck Trickle, Joe Chapman and Steve Taylor. ...

Las Vegas' Jason Allen completed a successful NASCAR Southwest Series test at LVMS on Wednesday in preparation for his Southwest Series debut Oct. 13 on the 1.5-mile superspeedway. Allen, the LVMS Late Model champion and Rookie of the Year, had never before run on a superspeedway but turned a top lap of 142.946 mph. The track record for the Southwest Series is 143.927. Allen will run the full Southwest Series schedule in 2002.