The all-American dudes at Team USF1 are apparently targeting NASCAR "ace" Kyle Busch for a race seat with the team "in 2011", as their desperate search for any American-born driver who can actually be bothered with F1 continues undaunted.
USF1 had originally hoped to fill their two seats with fine American talent, with the likes of NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon, A1GP midfielder Jonathan Summerton and swimsuit model Danica Patrick all linked with a drive. But recently team principal Peter Windsor has been forced to admit that the team now hoped to have one American driver in 2010, and that in all likelihood it wouldn't have any.
Nevertheless, the team is continuing to target potential American F1 drivers, with the plan being to ensure at least one Yankee doodle in a race seat with the team in 2011.
And Windsor has said that Busch, who has won 16 NASCAR events since making his debut in the top tier of the ridiculously convoluted American stock car scene back at the 2004 Las Vegas race and currently leads the second-tier Nationwide championship, is very much a target of theirs, and that the team would look to give him a test drive next year.
"If he wanted to drive for us in 2011, we'd certainly be keen on that," Windsor told USA Today, "I think there'll be a lot of speculation about that as time goes on. 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. We're going to do a good job. I know when Kyle gets to see it, I'm pretty sure it'll get his pulse rate going."
Windsor said that despite the obvious potential for hilarity in trying to switch an oval-racing NASCAR man into a single-seater driver, he believed Busch could be world champion in the future, which would be almost as good as being American champion at something.
"I've watched him a lot and have massive respect for him," Windsor gushed like a fanboy, "I know people who know him very well. I believe Kyle can win a world championship in Formula 1. I think he's got exactly the right talent, the right approach. I'd love to see him in a Formula 1 car.
"If he wants to jump in our car next year for doing some demonstrations here in the States, he's very welcome to do that."
Busch's current NASCAR contract with Joe Gibbs Racing expires at the end of 2010, giving him an easy option to switch to F1 should he so desire. When the USF1 concept was launched, Busch was quoted as saying that he would certainly not rule out a switch to F1 in future.
"It's definitely something I wouldn't shoot down," Busch drawled, inevitably using a gun reference, "If I could win a championship (in NASCAR) in the next two or three years then I wouldn't mind going doing (F1) for a few years and coming back.
"I think I'd still be young enough that if I could win a championship by 25, go run Formula 1 for a few years and be back (in NASCAR) by 28."
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
