Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Busch says Indy 500 not in his plans

Friday, Feb. 28, 2003 | 10:23 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

Kurt Busch drew rave reviews from several CART drivers after his 18-lap joyride in Michel Jourdain Jr.'s Champ Car earlier this month at Sebring International Raceway.

Despite never having driven one of the 700-horsepower open-wheel cars before, Busch was only about a second and a half off the slowest driver during CART's annual spring training test days on the 1.669-mile road course.

Although Busch said he thoroughly enjoyed the experience as a guest of Ford Motor Company and Team Rahal, he flatly denied that he one day would like to drive in the Indianapolis 500.

"There's no dreams, no aspirations, no thoughts of ever even running the Indianapolis 500," Busch said Thursday. "I've never been intrigued by open-wheel racing. I've never had a chance to go to the Indianapolis 500 because I've been busy

"Stock cars is where I've found a great home -- it's what I grew up in and it's what I've watched in May instead of the (Indianapolis 500) -- I always watched the Coca-Cola 600."

That said, Busch already is angling for another invitation to test-drive one of the Champ Cars.

"That was a gas," Busch said. "It's unbelievable the characteristics of that car and the professionalism that (Team Rahal) showed me -- it was an experience that I won't forget and I want to do again."

Lasoski, who drives for team owner Tony Stewart, shares the points lead with Jac Haudenschild, who has two top-five finishes to open the season. Reigning WoO champion Steve Kinser is six points behind Lasoski and Haudenschild on the strength of two top-five finishes.

Stewart believes the team's new motor package should give Lasoski an edge over the competition this season.

"We're just trying to get the bugs worked out," Stewart said. "It's a new head and we're literally getting one set of heads about every week right now. We're a little bit behind on getting parts but Mopar is putting a full-court press on trying to get stuff done for us right now.

"It is encouraging to get to the second race and win -- that's a good feeling. I was concerned because we were waiting on a lot parts ... but when it came time to get ready for the season, we had what we needed to get going."

Lasoski won the WoO championship in 2001, Stewart's first season as a team owner.

Micah Roberts, director of race and sports at the Palace Station, said 40 percent of all tickets written on the odds-to-win index have been written on Busch. Busch opened as a 7-1 co-favorite to win the race.

In addition to sponsoring Saturday's Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Sam's Town is the title sponsor of the Busch Series race at Memphis Motorsports Park.

McKean, of Jerome, Idaho, said he received a letter from Laci Peterson's sister, Sharon Rocha, that read, in part, "You have no idea how much this means to us. It is people like you who are helping us get through this terrible nightmare."

Lynch, who finished second to NASCAR Winston Cup regular Ken Schrader in the Winston West season opener Feb. 2 at Phoenix International Raceway, earned his first Winston West victory last October in the Orleans 150 at LVMS.

The 12-time Funny Car champion had experienced periodic pain for more than a year and underwent a battery of tests earlier this year that eliminated other possible causes of that discomfort. After consulting with his doctor and family, he decided to schedule the procedure during one of only two three-week breaks in the 2003 schedule to provide him the greatest amount of recovery time.

"You've got those who look really good, you've got those who wear a Hutchins device for a uniform and you've got those who run off business. The last time I was in Vegas, this cocktail waitress comes walking by and I swear she reminded me of a guy who gassed my Busch car a few years ago."