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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Busch Would Like Indy Shot, Too
Kurt Busch said he’d welcome a shot to drive one of Roger Penske’s IndyCars...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted May 22, 2009   Charlotte, NC
Kurt Busch swept both races New Hampshire in 2004. (Photo: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

On Sunday night, Kurt Busch will start the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway from 17th place in his Penske Championship Racing Dodge. But earlier in the day and a few hundred miles away, a trio of Roger Penske’s other drivers will start their race a little closer to the front.

Team Penske drivers Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe and Will Power will start Sunday afternoon’s Indianapolis 500 from first, second and ninth position, respectively, giving team owner Penske a great opportunity to win his 15th Indy 500. And that’s something that his Busch’s curiosity piqued.

Although the racing calendar no longer allows drivers to compete in both events on the same day, as Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon and John Andretti have in the past, Busch said he’d been interesting in running one of Penske’s IndyCars in at least one Indy 500.

“I do remember a guy like Donny Allison running in the Indy 500 and coming the next day and running in the (Coca-Cola) 600,” Busch said Friday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. “And working for a guy like Roger Penske, if that opportunity ever came up, it would be a hoot.”

Of course, Busch is realistic enough to know that racing has evolved to the point where drivers simply don't jump back and forth between open-wheel and stock cars as they did 40 years ago.

“If I was able to pass the rookie orientation and go through the proper training to run an IRL race, obviously you just don't show up and run Indy,” said Busch. “You have to get some races under your belt. You're going to make mistakes, and the older it seems you get the tougher it is to rebound from mistakes and in IndyCar, mistakes can lead to injury.”

Still, if there was ever a way to make it happen, Busch said he’d be all in.

“If the opportunity presented itself, working for the Captain (Roger Penske), I would have a really good shot at being able to do it,” said Busch.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to

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