Busch wouldn’t run on Indy road course and Brickyard in same weekend

Last week NASCAR announced that the Nationwide Series along with Grand-Am cars would join the Sprint Cup cars on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Brickyard 400 weekend in 2012. Kyle Busch was the only driver to run in all three races this past weekend at Kentucky Speedway, so the question is, if the opportunity presented itself, would the younger Busch like to run in the Grand-Am race at IMS?

“I won’t drive the road course, I would get confused coming through turn one backwards. That won’t be too good,” he said with a slight smile.

The road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway starts on the front stretch before winding through the infield and shooting out on the main track near the entrance to turn two. But that’s not the only reason Busch wouldn’t want to run in the Grand-Am cars.

“I won’t run that race,” he said. “Those cars are too hot. They’re too hot. Need to be able to roll down the window or something.”

In the late July/early August heat and humidity that owns the Indianapolis weekend, I’d agree with the younger Busch. There have been times at the track where my dad, brother and I just sat and sweated through every pore in our body. And we were wearing t-shirts and shorts, not a racing fire suit. I could only imagine how hot it would be in one of those suits.

As far as it’s scheduled now, the Nationwide Series is supposed to run the regular track at Indy. If they aren’t, I haven’t seen a release saying they’ll also be running the road course. And I think it would make headlines if they were going to.

(Note: After reading and re-reading the press conference notes, I’m almost certain the Nationwide Series will run on the oval, not the road course)

Busch, who is on record saying he wouldn’t run the Grand-Am cars, confirmed that he wouldn’t run in the Nationwide Series if NASCAR decided to put their second-tier series on the road course at Indy.

“That wouldn’t be bad,” Busch said. “I don’t see anything wrong with it at all…there’s going to be some tight sections through the ‘esses,’ I guess you would call it.

“You’ll see some congestion there, but otherwise it would probably be a good event.”

And no matter how much you’d like to see Kyle Busch go through turn one backward and then forward in the same weekend at Indy, it probably won’t happen. But he’s got at least a year to be persuaded. Anyone think they can convince him?

Breaking: National writer says Kentucky should give up 2012 Cup date

A lot of angry fans have vented about Kentucky Speedway’s horrific parking and traffic issue. Remember, this isn’t the first time Kentucky speedway has had a parking and traffic issue.

In their inaugural NASCAR event, a Craftsman Truck Series event in 2000, a traffic scene not unlike the one that unfolded Saturday marred the race.

So why doesn’t Kentucky take a year off, completely revamp their facilities, and give it another go around in 2013?

Reid Spencer of the Sporting News suggested just that when he opined that the 2012 Cup date everyone assumes will return to Sparta, should not. (Read Spencer’s article here: http://aol.sportingnews.com/nascar/feed/2011-07/quaker-state-400/story/commentary-perhaps-kentucky-should-forgo-its-2012-cup-date)

“Give the 2012 Kentucky date back to Atlanta Motor Speedway and give Kentucky a year to work out the problems with local government and law enforcement, another sector that wasn’t blameless in the fiasco,” Spencer wrote. “If not, then proceed on the current course, and do as little as possible to assuage inconvenienced fans, and let the attrition begin.

Come to think of it, that’s probably the surest way to guarantee there won’t be a traffic problem next year.”

Matt Kenseth's No. 17 Crown Royal Ford makes a lap at Kentucky Speedway during testing on Thursday

Bruton Smith sank way too much money (between $80 million and $100 million) into the Kentucky Speedway to give up the Sprint Cup date, but the PR nightmare that has been dubbed as “carmageddon” by some has put a huge black eye on an event that was otherwise pretty good.

And if anyone can learn from a neighbor about screwing an event up, Kentucky needs to look no further than the closest track to it that holds Sprint Cup racing.

Spencer put the spotlight on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s attendance issues after the 2008 Goodyear tire debacle that has cut attendance at IMS by nearly 100,000 fans. He noted in 2008 there were 240,000 folks for the 10-lap, caution-filled parade that was the Brickyard 400, and at last year’s 400-miler, there were just 140,000 fans.

“Unless SMI comes up with a meaningful way to compensate all fans who sat in traffic for hours, whether or not they eventually got to the race, Kentucky Speedway will lose the public relations war, and it’s already getting bloody,” Spencer wrote.

Gentlemen, start your apologizing.

Kyle Busch takes Kentucky by the horns

I’ll admit, I was wrong.

When Bruton Smith stood in front of hundreds of reporters last August and said the Sprint Cup Series was coming to Kentucky Speedway, I brazenly said Joey Logano would be the favorite. Logano was named as one of the seven drivers to participate in a Goodyear tire test a month before the big show in Kentucky, furthering my feelings that the 21-year-old would take the checkers at Kentucky.

Well, I’ll at least take solace in picking the right team for the winner.

From left: Crew Chief Dave Rogers, Busch and team owner Coach Joe Gibbs

Kyle Busch came out at Kentucky and stole the show. He won the Camping World Truck Series race, finished third in the Nationwide Series race, and owned the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, leading a race high 125 laps en route to becoming the inaugural winner of the Quaker State 400.

“This one ranks right up there with the best of them,” Busch said on Saturday night after winning the Cup race. “I haven't won any of the big races, unfortunately, yet. But, you know, it ranks right up there with Las Vegas being another of my prestigious wins that I feel like I've accomplished so far.”

Yet it began earlier in the week for the Las Vegas native. He mentioned that the car was fast right off the truck, and he worked with crew chief Dave Rogers to get the No. 18 just right throughout the weekend.

The one word that was thrown around all weekend was character. The bumpy surface at Kentucky was described as having character by Busch, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer, amongst many others who spoke with the media throughout the weekend.

“This place — you never get a comfort here at Kentucky,” Busch said after winning Thursday evening’s truck race. “It’s such a hard race track. Turn three is just my Achilles heel. It’s killing me. I think it has been all weekend. I’d like to be able to get faster and I’m working towards doing that. We just got to work on things that will help me.”

But after the cup race, Busch was happy to explain what he had to do to get the No. 18 to Victory Lane.

Busch chats with the media on Friday afternoon

“It's certainly a driver's racetrack,” he said. “There's a lot of characteristics here with all the bumps, the way you have to run the line around, whether it's the bottom or whether it's the second lane, where the bumps are, figuring out that, whether you go through them or around them.

“Certainly it makes for an interesting setup, having to talk to your guys, having to work around a shock package or springs that will help your car that will make your car handle best through the turns, over the bumps. You take all that into consideration, do the best you can.”

Now that Busch has cemented his name as the first-ever Sprint Cup winner at Kentucky, he’ll be the go-to man for advice on how to get around the track. While some drivers want Kentucky to be repaved right away, others say let it be for a year or two. Busch is one of them.

“I've heard rumors of repaving this place. Hopefully they ask us before they do it,” he said.

Busch chats with his team after Wednesday's Camping World Truck Series practice

And who could blame him? He pretty much owned the place this weekend.

Kentucky Speedway photos: Tuesday

On Tuesday the campers started rolling in to the areas in and around the Kentucky Speedway. I followed around FOX19 reporter Joe Danneman and photographer Dan Wood. I got some cool photos, which you can view below.

Kentucky Speedway, as viewed from the lower stands in the entrance to turn one on Tuesday afternoon

The newest grandstands at Kentucky Speedway. This photo was taken high atop the Kentucky Tower at the entrance to turn one. These are going to be sweet seats come Saturday night for the lucky fans who get to sit up here

Turns one and two as viewed from the inside of the track. You can camp right up against the fence and have an amazing view of the race

From pit road a panoramic shot of the frontstretch at Kentucky

And the same view from the grandstands looking down at the infield

For all of the photos, check out our special section on FOX19.com: http://www.fox19.com/category/215363/nascar-sprint-cup-quaker-state-400-at-kentucky-speedway

Logano looking forward to Kentucky

To say Joey Logano is excited about Kentucky would be an understatement. Logano is undefeated at the 1.5-mile track in Sparta. Three poles and three wins in NASCAR’s Nationwide Series have made him an easy pick to be the favorite for NASCAR’s first-ever Sprint cup Series race, the Quaker State 400, on Saturday.

“I'd say I've got a little bit of an advantage, but I think a lot of it is going to come down to getting your car good,” Logano said on Tuesday’s NASCAR teleconference. “I think my big advantage that I have is I just know what I need to make the car go faster. I know what I need when the race starts and all that. I think that's an advantage that I might have there.”

Logano at the tire test on June 1st

Logano still considers his first win in 2008 as his favorite Kentucky Speedway win.

“It was really, really big,” Logano said. “I felt like that was one of those key moments in my career that was able to get me into my Sprint Cup ride that I have now. You see some guys that are able to win a race pretty quick like that, they get people thinking about you and moving you up pretty quick.”

And Logano mentioned that moving up the track will be a common theme for the Cup guys this weekend.

“I'm real interested in seeing the race, how much higher [the line] goes,” he said. “Every Nationwide race that we've run there has gotten to about the second lane, second and a half lane. I think these Cup cars are going to move up quite a bit further than that once it rubbers up.”

Logano at the tire test

Logano participated in the Goodyear tire test on June 1st at the track, but knows even though he’s got a ton of experience at Kentucky, the guys he races with in the Sprint Cup Series are the best of the best.

“They're going to know what they need and they're going to know how to make speed pretty damn quick out there,” Logano said of his competitors, some of whom have never raced at Kentucky.

When Logano burst onto the Cup scene in 2009, he took over for two-time Cup champ Tony Stewart in the famed No. 20 for Joe Gibbs Racing. Even though Logano was dubbed “Sliced Bread” by some (as in, the best thing since) he had some growing pains as a rookie at NASCAR’s highest level.

“I always say all 43 drivers in the Sprint Cup Series were really, really good in whatever they did growing up,” the 21-year-old Middletwon, Conn., native said. “They were the best of the best in whatever series they were in. Now we're all racing against each other, you know, so it doesn't get any better than that. So it's the best race car drivers in the United States for sure that are all running against each other, and it's tough for sure.

“But when you win against these guys, it means that much more.”

And Logano wants nothing more than to win twice this weekend in Kentucky.

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Race prep has begun in Kentucky and I’ll have more tomorrow from the Speedway. Check out the special section on FOX19.com where I’ll be contributing videos and photographs all week long: http://www.fox19.com/category/215363/nascar-sprint-cup-quaker-state-400-at-kentucky-speedway

Mark Martin wins 50th career pole at Daytona

“This could be one of those memories, We want to hold on to, cling to, one we can’t forget… What if this was that moment, That chance worth taking, History in the making”—lyrics from Darius Rucker’s “History in the Making”

Pole No. 50 (Getty Images for NASCAR)

Even though he’s never won at Daytona, Mark Martin has been pretty quick in qualifying at the track located 15 miles from where he lives in Florida.

Martin's No. 5 during his qualifying run on Friday (Getty Images for NASCAR)

He became the oldest polesitter in track history when he won the pole for the 2010 Daytona 500 at age 51. And he broke that record on Friday afternoon by turning a lap of just over 182 mph to knock 2011 Daytona 500 champ Trevor Bayne off the pole.

“I really didn't expect to get the pole,” said the ever-humble Martin. “When I ran it could have been first or 21st. I had no idea. They didn't tell me what my first lap was, that it was actually the quickest of the first laps so I had no idea. You just go out and do your thing.”

Martin climbs from his car after capturing his 50th career pole (Getty Images for NASCAR)

Not bad for an old guy. And there’s some more good news for Martin: the past two July races at Daytona have been won from the pole.

Like I said earlier in the week, this could be a month of firsts for Mr. Martin. A first win at Daytona, followed seven nights later by a first win at Kentucky followed on July 31 with his first win at Indianapolis, would be an ideal month for NASCAR’s most respected driver.

And a dream for one of his fans: me.

Mark during qualifying (Getty Images for NASCAR)

In a little bit less than seven days the NASCAR Nationwide Series hits the track for the “Feed the Children 300.” Martin will pilot the No. 32 car for Turner Motorsports in that race, which could be renamed the “Joey Logano 300,” since the youngster has won the past three poles and races at the 1.5-mile oval in Kentucky.

And Logano won the Subway Jalapeno 250 on Friday night, so he’s on a roll.

Martin has had a rough time in the past season and a half in Cup after having “the time of his life” in 2009 where Martin and crew chief Alan Gustafson won five times on the way to Martin’s fifth runner-up finish in the points.

And winning at Daytona could jump start his team.

“It would be really, really nice to make the Chase, but I'm not counting the points,” he said after winning his 50th pole in 53 tries at Daytona. “I'm not counting the points that closely. Right now, I am focused on trying to elevate the performance of our team.”

He said the same thing at Indianapolis last year. And he’s honest about it. This is the same man who said he should be fired for qualifying 32nd for a race in 2009 at Michigan. It’s a race that Martin ended up winning.

There are only five tracks Mark Martin has never won at: Daytona, Kentucky, Indianapolis, Pocono and Homestead-Miami. He’s got a chance in the next 29 days to knock off all three. He’s come so close at both Daytona and Indy, but the Batesville, Ark., native remains as humble as ever.

 “I’ve had a chance to race 53 times here. I’ve survived some really hard crashes here and I’ve had some good times here,” Martin said. “I’ve got a lot to be thankful for. The place doesn’t owe me a thing. Matter of fact, I owe the place and the sport a great deal for just letting me be a part of it.”

History is already in the making for Mark Martin with the pole, so why not cap it off with a win? I’d be OK with it, and I’m sure a lot of other fans would be too.

One last fun fact, as provided by NASCAR.com: “Mark Martin is the 12th different pole winner in 17 Cup Series races in 2011.”

As fired up as I am for Kentucky, it’s hard not to be excited about Daytona. Sure Mark Martin has had a rough time at the track, but he was in striking distance to push Tony Stewart to the win in the season’s opener, and he’ll be paired up with Jeff Gordon tomorrow.

Gordon and Martin talk on pit road before qualifying on Friday afternoon (Getty Images for NASCAR)

It should be exciting and I’m darn fired up for it.