March 4, 2009
Kyle Busch's future.
By Peter M. De Lorenzo
Detroit. It was no surprise that when the possibility of F1 was brought up to Kyle Busch last weekend he envisioned a scenario where he'd give it serious consideration. The finest driver in all of American racing and clearly the brightest young driving talent to come along in a long time, I have no doubt that if Kyle Busch were given the right set of circumstances to succeed, he could win in F1 too. But it's that "right set of circumstances to succeed" that has vexed every American trying to compete in F1 throughout history that presents a giant stumbling block.
We all know that F1 is a closed society made up of the "haves" and the "have more" in terms of the teams competing, but for Busch to go over there he'd have to have a real shot at running up front, otherwise just doing it for the "joy of competing" wouldn't cut it. And the likelihood of the "right set of circumstances" developing for Busch are slim and none, even if the new US F1 effort comes together as planned.
Despite all of the posturing about creating a "new" F1 with a more level playing field and reduced costs, etc., let's face it - nothing has changed: American drivers just aren't welcome. American corporate sponsorship money? Well, that's another story entirely. The F1 circus loves American sponsorship money, except even that is in question when they can't even figure out a way to conduct a United States Grand Prix, still the most important market for several of the auto conglomerates competing in F1.
F1 insists that Americans have to go over there and start at the bottom and work their way up the ladder, but even when young Americans jump through all the hoops thrown up by the F1 politburo, it's still not enough, and that's unmitigated bullshit, frankly. And this business about a set number of teams with a locked-in list of "nominated" drivers that doesn't change throughout the season is bullshit too. Ferrari gave Mario Andretti several "one-off" rides in F1 long before he committed to Colin Chapman's Lotus team, and F1 should give their teams the flexibility to enter third cars at certain events for special "guest" drives now, if it's truly a "new" F1, that is. But I'm not buying that it is, frankly, which is why Kyle should stay right where he is for the time being.
Now, Kyle has also mentioned running the Indianapolis 500, too, which is an entirely different notion altogether. Joe Gibbs should accommodate Busch's wishes in this regard, and you just know the top teams competing at Indy would gladly add another entry for the young superstar.
Now that would be worth seeing.
Publisher's Note: As part of our continuing series celebrating the "Glory Days" of racing, we're proud to present another noteworthy image from the Ford Racing Archives. - PMD
(Ford Racing Archives)
Indianapolis, IN, 1969. Colin Chapman, Mario Andretti and car builder Clint Brawner talk early in the month of May. Mario would win the Indianapolis 500 at the end of the month, his only victory in the world's most prestigious motor race. Dan Gurney finished second, and Bobby Unser came home third.