Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Tracy’s Nextel Cup debut put on hold temporarily

Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2005 | 9:23 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.

Despite having what team owner Richard Childress called a "very good test" last week in a NASCAR Nextel Cup car, open-wheel star Paul Tracy will not attempt to race in this weekend's Cup event at Michigan International Speedway.

Childress announced late last week that he felt there wasn't enough time between the test and the race to put together a first-rate ride for Tracy, who maintains a residence in Las Vegas.

"I'm very impressed with Paul's ability in a racecar -- whether it's a Cup car or a Champ Car -- but it was just too short a time to put the right program together," Childress said in a prepared statement.

"Paul's a champion and he had a very good test, but we want to do this right and be fully prepared to give him a maximum effort."

Tracy, the 2003 Champ Car World Series season champion, tested for two days last week at Michigan and reportedly ran lap times that were comparable to NASCAR regulars Dale Jarrett and Jeremy Mayfield.

"I have the greatest respect for the guys that drive Cup cars week in and week out," Tracy said. "It takes a lot of preparation to be ready for a highly competitive event like the Nextel Cup Series and we just didn't have the time to do the job right.

"I want to thank Richard for giving me this opportunity and the crew guys at the test for all of their effort. My primary goal this year is the pursuit of the Bridgestone/Ford Champ Car World Series Championship."

Childress said he hopes to put together a ride for Tracy later in the season.

KURT BUSCH UPDATE: Jack Roush on Monday told the Associated Press that he still is considering letting Kurt Busch out of the final year of his contract to go drive for Penske Racing next season.

Busch announced last week that he had signed to drive the No. 2 Dodge for Penske Racing beginning in 2007 and had asked Roush to be let out of his contract at the end of this season. At the time, Roush indicated that he would not make a decision on Busch's request for "an indefinite period."

"We will consider releasing him, but it's not presumed that we will," Roush told the AP. "We've got to consider ... the interests of our sponsors and the commitments we've made to our sponsors and to our people within the organization ... to see how it all fits together if we decide to have Kurt drive the number 97 car.

"Right now, the presumption is that he'll be in the (97) car in 2006 because that's a commitment he's made to me and I've made commitments to others around that."

BRIEFLY: Scott Miller was named to replace Philippe Lopez as crew chief for the No. 07 Nextel Cup Chevrolet piloted by Dave Blaney, Richard Childress Racing announced Monday. Miller previously had served as team manager/engineer for RCR's No. 29 car, driven by Kevin Harvick. Lopez has been offered a position in RCR's research and development department, the team said. ...

Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates announced Friday that the team would expand to a four-car effort next season with drivers Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears, Reed Sorenson and David Stremme. All four drivers are under 30 years of age. ...

Mike Duncan of Bakersfield, Calif., earned his second consecutive NASCAR West Series victory Saturday night at Stockton (Calif.) 99 Speedway but Scott Lynch of Las Vegas finished second and remained atop the series points standings going into Sunday's race at Pikes Peak (Colo.) International Raceway. It was Lynch's sixth finish of third or better (with two wins) in seven races this season.

AT THE BULLRING: Spencer Clark earned his sixth Super Late Models main-event victory of the season during NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series action Saturday night at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Clark took over the points lead in the Super Late Models standings with the victory.

Other main-event winners were Doug Hamm (Late Models), Mike Heck (Chargers), Josh Gross (Master/Pro Legends Cars), Jonathan Mawhinney (Semi-Pro Legends Cars) and Donald Williams (IMCA Modifieds). Williams was declared the Modifieds winner when Dennis Lovelady's car failed the post-race inspection.