(By Sarah Farlee Managing Editor, CupScene.com)
Posted: Friday,May 27th, 2011
Concord, N.C. – As teams gear up for one of the most historical races on the circuit – Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 – the buzz in the garage was Kyle Busch’s speeding ticket and Trevor Bayne’s return to the driver’s seat.
Bayne will be back in the seat on June 4 for the Nationwide race in Chicago and will resume the wheel of the Wood Brothers No. 21 in Michigan June 19. Bayne may not be in the car at Charlotte, but will be around the track to help friend Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. who will be filling and trying to qualify on time.
“It stinks not being in the car, but I am excited for Ricky to make his debut, he deserves it,” said Bayne.
It’s been debated all week whether Kyle Busch deserves a penalty after being caught driving 128 mph in a 45 mph zone in a rural area outside Charlotte. Regardless of what others have to say about the infraction Busch is “certainly sorry that it happened.”
Kyle Busch drives his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota through the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage as the world's largest HDTV displays practice results on Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. (Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)
“It was a lack of judgment and all I can do is apologize to the public, my friends, my fans, my sponsors and everybody, look at this experience as a learning experience and to move forward.”
Part of moving forward is being an owner in the Camping World Truck Series. Busch fielded a truck for Kimi Raikkonen’s in last Friday’s truck race and will field a Nationwide car for the Finns debut in a stock car. Busch was pleased with the outcome saying Raikkonen “certainly gave the truck a good ride.” Busch said as of now there are no further opportunities for the Formula One star to race additional races for Kyle Busch Motorsports.
“The contract states that we’re supposed to receive so much and we have not,” said Busch. “We’ve only received enough for these two races.”
“It’s either up to Kimi (Raikkonen) or up to the financial people that run Kimi’s business side of things and decide that they need to find the sponsorship funds in order to carry the experience for him further,” Busch added.
Matt Kenseth will get a little added experience – running double duty this weekend for Roush-Fenway Racing. Kenseth will fill in for Bayne in the Nationwide Series on Saturday before tackling 600 miles on Sunday.
“I haven’t run those [Nationwide Series] cars,” Kenseth said. “Everybody says they drive a lot like our Cup cars because they basically are Cup cars, so I don’t know if there will be some stuff you can translate and learn or not.”
Recent reports have Danica Patrick translating information to stockcars full-time in 2012. Patrick currently runs a part-time Nationwide Series schedule for JR Motorsports and owner Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who is in a wait and see mode. Earnhardt says that Patrick has to do what’s best for her and be happy doing it.
“She has been racing with us enough to know whether she [Patrick] is ready or not,” Earnhardt said. “It is really up to her. It is really not up to anybody else.”
“My opinion on that deal really doesn’t matter,” added Earnhardt. “She is the one who knows the truth and she’ll make the decision I think she needs to make and that will be that.”
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