Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Busch to tune up in Phoenix race

Friday, Jan. 18, 2002 | 9:35 a.m.

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

Eight days before he is scheduled to compete in his first Budweiser Shootout prior to the Daytona 500, Las Vegas native Kurt Busch will warm up for the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season by driving in a NASCAR Southwest Series race at Phoenix International Raceway.

Busch, 23, will reunite with his former Southwest Series car owner, Las Vegas businessman Craig Keough, and drive the No. 70 Star Nursery entry in the 100-lap Southwest Series season opener during the Feb. 1-2 "NASCAR Winter Heat" at PIR.

Busch drove the Q Motorsports Chevrolet to the Southwest Series Rookie of the Year title in 1998 and the series championship in 1999 before jumping to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with Roush Racing in 2000. Busch will begin his second season driving the No. 97 Roush Racing Ford in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series next month at Daytona International Speedway.

"Craig Keough, the car owner of the No. 70 car, is somebody who really helped propel me to where I am today," Busch said. "So I am looking forward to being able to go back and hopefully bring the No. 70 Star Nursery car to victory lane.

"It is also a great opportunity for me to get more time on the racetrack. I will be racing at Phoenix International Raceway, and since that's one of the tracks we hit on the Cup circuit, it can only be of benefit to me down the road."

Busch qualified for the Feb. 10 Budweiser Shootout by winning the pole for the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway last September.

Brack, who drives for Ganassi in the CART FedEx Championship Series, posted the ninth-fastest speed (of 30 drivers) on Thursday afternoon at 183.617 mph, but Ganassi said it was unlikely Brack would attempt to qualify for the Daytona 500 because of a lack of funding.

Nonetheless, the 35-year-old Swede said he enjoyed testing the stock car.

"A stock car is like comparing tennis to squash or something," Brack said. "It's the same game -- it's racing -- but it's so different when you compare an open-wheel car to a stock car. Right now, I've been given a chance to test a few days and get my feet wet and then we'll see if they can find some extra funding for the race (Daytona 500). If not, we'll leave it at that.

"I've always wanted to test a stock car, so I'm just grateful for that right now. I'm taking it one step at a time. Next week, we'll test the CART car. I try to focus on the near future and what will come will come."

Mike Wallace, in the No. 33 Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet, put up the fastest speed Thursday at 184.302 mph. Bill Elliott (184.296), Jimmy Spencer (184.222), Bobby Labonte (184.207) and Matt Kenseth (184.185) rounded out the top five.

Independent Witness Inc. will provide the incident data recorders, called "The Witness," that are intended to help officials understand what happens during a wreck.

In the event of an accident, the device records the date, time, direction, impact severity and acceleration profile in three dimensions.

As a rookie in 2001, Junqueira recorded one win and had eight top-10 finishes and placed fifth in his first Indianapolis 500.

Unser will be one of five IRL drivers taking part in IROC, joining Helio Castroneves, Sam Hornish Jr., Buddy Lazier and Scott Sharp.

"I think it's great that the IRL is going to be strongly represented in IROC," Unser said. "It's always an honor to be invited to the IROC series. When I got the invitation, of course I accepted it. We will go out and have a good time with good ol' boys."

Unser, who won the IROC title in 1986 and 1988, is tied with the late Dale Earnhardt for all-time IROC victories with 11.