At age 18, Kyle Busch will try to qualify for the Cup finale at Homestead.
By Wire services
Published November 7, 2003
POMONA, Calif. - Injured John Force was the fastest Funny Car qualifier Thursday in the NHRA finals at Pomona Raceway.
Force, recovering from cuts to his hands when a crystal trophy shattered last week while he was moving it, overcame the pain to drive his car a quarter-mile in 4.771 seconds at 321.65 mph.
Tony Schumacher, Greg Anderson and Craig Treble also were the fastest in the opening round of qualifying. Schumacher drove his Top Fuel dragster to a time of 4.497 at 329.02; Pro Stock champ Anderson clocked in at 6.786, going 204.45, and Treble led in Pro Stock Bike with a run of 7.119 at 181.91.
KYLE BUSCH BID: Kyle Busch, 18, will attempt to qualify for the season-ending Winston Cup race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
He'll drive the No. 60 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. It will be sponsored by ditech.com, which has backed Busch in ARCA and Busch series races this season.
"This is an excellent way for Kyle to gain some additional experience," car owner Rick Hendrick said. "Our goal is for him to spend as much time behind the wheel as possible before next season and this is a great way to accomplish that."
If he makes the field, Busch will become one of the youngest to start a Winston Cup race in NASCAR history. Brian Vickers, his 20-year-old teammate at Hendrick, is expected to be in the race.
Busch, younger brother of Cup star Kurt, was only cleared to compete in NASCAR's top divisions after his 18th birthday in May. He plans to run a full Busch series schedule next season, and the attempt at the Cup race is a bonus.
"It's important for me to spend more time in the seat," Busch said. "This is an opportunity to make some laps with the best drivers in the world and build toward the 2004 Busch series season. It will be, first and foremost, a learning experience."
F1 ESPIONAGE?: Workers at Formula One rivals have offered the BAR team design secrets over the past two seasons, seeking a job in return, team manager David Richards said.
Prosecutors in Italy are investigating allegations of industrial espionage by former employees of champion team Ferrari. Richards, who joined the fifth-ranked of 10 teams in December 2001, said he rejected the approaches. He declined to give more details.
"I felt they were inappropriate," Richards said. "The people said: If I come to you I can bring this with me."
German police, acting on a request from a prosecutor's office in Modena, Italy, where Ferrari is based, last week searched the Toyota team base in Cologne, Germany. They questioned an aeronautics engineer, searched his home and took copies of electronic files.
"Toyota is not the subject of this investigation and remains open to support the authorities in any further investigation," John Howett, president of Toyota Motorsport GmbH, said. Toyota is conducting its own investigation, he added.
With teams spending a combined $267-million a year on honing their cars, according to F1 Racing magazine, details of their makeup are closely guarded. BAR staffers are required to give six months' notice before quitting for a rival. Even then, it's impossible to stop them from passing on any information.
"They can still take things with them in their heads," Richards said.
FALLING OFF THE SCHEDULE: This weekend's Pop Secret Popcorn 400 will be the final fall race at North Carolina Speedway, better known as "The Rock." A year from now, fans will be preparing for the first Southern 500 at Darlington run at some time other than Labor Day weekend. NCS will keep the Subway 400, to be run on Feb. 22 next year.
