The news that NASCAR’s Kyle Busch is on the radar of the new USF1 team for 2011 turns out to be really no news at all.
In a published report the team’s sporting director Peter Windsor named Busch as an ‘ideal driver’ for the team in 2011.
"If I was Kyle, I'd be saying to myself, yeah, those guys all talk the talk, let's see what they do, let's see what the car's like. Let's see what the race shop is like. Fair enough," Windsor told USA Today in an article published Thursday.
The comments set off a wave of news alerts and fueled speculation that Busch would be giving up his NASCAR career to head to the open wheel world of Formula One when his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing ends in 2010.
When asked for comment on the USA Today report Wednesday a spokesperson for Busch said that there was no reason to comment because the ‘news’ wasn’t really anything new and that nothing had changed since the team mentioned his name during their launch earlier this year.
In February the team mentioned they had an interest in Busch and while at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Busch confirmed that the talk was simply speculation on the part of USF1.
“I have not been talked to, no,” Busch said. “I don’t know if (Jeff) Dickerson (business manager and spotter) has or not. I toss the idea around -- it’s definitely something I wouldn’t shoot down but I don’t think it’s the right time yet in my career and where I’m at. I’m happy with where I’m at.”
In the report this week Windsor mentioned that he has met with Busch’s business team and while the spokesperson Thursday did confirm that a meeting had taken place in February, no further meetings have happened since then.
The USF1 team is expected to name two foreign born drivers for their first year. The 2010 Formula One season begins in March.
Comments
I would LOVE to see Kyle Busch go to F1, win a championship, and then come back to NASCAR to really annoy the heck out of the fans. It would be NASCAR's loss of their designated villain, but NASCAR fans can always find Somebody to Hate (to paraphrase the old Queen song). Wouldn't it be fun to see Kyle taking a bow in front of the NASCAR crowd as reigning F1 champ? Too cool.
I don't know if it was in Feb '09 or before, but Toyota was planning on having Kyle Busch test the Toyota F1 car for publicity and maybe for a possible testing seat. But with Toyota possibly pulling out of F1, following Honda & BMW, that deal is probably long gone. I think it would be great for American motorsports if Kyle would run F1 and hopefully win and bring home a championship (in time). Since Mario Andretti over 30 years ago, we haven't had an American racing champion in F1 and really two in the 60 years of the sport. The other being Phil Hill (1961). It's amazing how many of the NASCAR drivers follow F1, just like us, up at the crack of dawn or in the middle of night watching a race...when many of the Formula One drivers could care less about NASCAR, stock car racing in general. I will give Scott Speed props for giving it a go, but will Jeff Gordon try to give it a shot, although he'll be "too old" by the time he'll retire, possibly at the end of the 2010.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!