Filed under: Motorsports, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs
Klye Busch: the next American to test in F1
Formula One has lacked an American hero for a long time now, and with Scott Speed gone from the paddock, the land of the free and home of the brave lacks a standard-bearer to represent one the biggest motorsport cultures in the world at the pinnacle of racing. Several drivers, however, are lining up for the opportunity.
The first step for any aspiring F1 driver is always a test. The bigger the team, the better. We recently brought you news of Danica Patrick's potential test with Honda, while racing scion Marco Andretti was likewise linked with a Honda test. Next up to bat is Kyle Busch, who is finagling his way into a Toyota F1 car at the end of the year for a trial run in Japan. Busch, who currently leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup in points driving a "Toyota Camry", says he'll see how he manages on a road course and with the tremendous strain on the neck endured by trained F1 drivers before he speculates on a potential switch in racing series. However, Juan Pablo Montoya, who made the switch in the opposite direction, remains skeptical. Montoya did a similar swap at Indy with Jeff Gordon when Juan Pablo was at Williams-BMW.
Meanwhile Graham Rahal dismissed the prospect of moving to F1 like his father Bobby had, reasoning that "If you're not with McLaren or Ferrari, you're not going to win a race." The young Rahal elaborated that with open-wheel racing reunited in America, he'd be happy to stay put.
[Sources: Autosport and F1-Live, Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty]
_opt_thumbnail.jpg)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Kyle 6:09PM (5/23/2008)
klye busch? who's KLYE busch?!
Reply
Fyrewerx 6:34PM (5/23/2008)
... sounds Danish, or Swedish.
geo.stewart 6:56PM (5/23/2008)
kyle's personality is perfect for F1. beyond that, he does have a bit of skill so i would not bet against him being able to handle the F1 though he may balk at how much control there is of the car, he typcially prefers to hang it out a bit.
let him go swiftly.
stealth 7:34PM (5/23/2008)
Epic FAIL.
jake 10:18PM (5/23/2008)
It is NOT a test. It's just a demo run.
Get real, the guy has ZERO chance of actually competing in F1. Trucks and lard-ass cars only for red-neck Nacsrap hicks.
RoadrunnerSTi 6:15PM (5/23/2008)
Well Graham Rahal sure proved what a moron he is. Sure Ferrari and McLaren are the top teams at the moment, but Renaut was a 2-time world championship team(yes with the help of Alonso) only two years ago, but are on their way back to the top, now that Alonso is back, and with no more doors open to him.... and who excpet an idiot like Graham Rahal could ignore BMWs major leaps forward this year... I wouldn't be surprised if they become a possible championship contender for the 2009 season and win the driver or constructers titles.
...and all of this coming from nut-swinging Ferrari fan.
Reply
spdracerut 7:09PM (5/23/2008)
Rahal is not off the mark. Basically, he's saying that unless you're on one of the top two teams, you have a VERY slim chance of winning. Of course, those 'top two' teams change, but there's usually only two teams capable of winning with maybe a third team able to sneak in a win over the course of the season. It's been this way in F1 for as long as I can remember.
Tom Winch 8:30PM (5/23/2008)
I don't think Rahal's an idiot, although I'm surprised to hear him say that considering he has driven a BMW F-1 car in a demonstration in Las Vegas and he's going to drive a BMW M-3 race car in some sports car races next year for his father. I would think the improvement BMW has shown this year would have Graham looking to drive for BMW-Sauber in the future. BMW sells a lot of cars in the U.S. and an American driver would draw a good number of American viewers to F-1 and BMW in my opinion.
RoadrunnerSTi 6:17PM (5/23/2008)
Sorry for the spelling errors, I didn't catch them, I wish you could edit comment for spelling...
Reply
Todd 6:18PM (5/23/2008)
Oh WTF? He doesn't have the skills. Sounds like a "sweeps week" prank done just to get his sponsors more attention. The day Kyle Busch starts testing F1 cars is the same day I parade around the offices of The Auto Blog in a prom dress!
Note Kyle Busch: They have to shift and turn right in Formula One.
Reply
Brendan 6:26PM (5/23/2008)
To be fair, it is paddle shifting...
JD 6:36PM (5/23/2008)
Don't forget, they have to brake too. For things other than pit stops, like "turns."
sw 1:33PM (5/24/2008)
I liken nascar to a world war 2 fighter and f1 to the modern airforce jets. In that regard, I think that a modern airforce pilot with minimal training could fly a world war 2 aircraft. It doesn't go so easily the other way though.
Richard 6:25PM (5/23/2008)
AB, I love this site. But, you know, you should either be current with motorsports news or not do it at all. This is from Tuesday or Wednesday and those of us who are interested already have read it. You are just damaging your motorsports cred here.
Reply
Luis 6:27PM (5/23/2008)
All the more reason to confuse Kyle...
Luis 6:28PM (5/23/2008)
@ Brendan: All the more reason to confuse Kyle...
Luis 6:26PM (5/23/2008)
Graham Rahal fell on his head; reunification of open-wheeled racing in America doesn't mean success. And Kyle is not my idea of an American in F1.
Reply
Noah 6:28PM (5/23/2008)
Serious Face, ACTIVATE!
Reply
VP 6:56PM (5/23/2008)
@JD,
Maybe you should comment on NASCAR after actually watching a race. You think nascar drivers only brake in the pits? No reason to show your ignorance like that.
Cameron 6:45PM (5/23/2008)
You guys should post all of what JPM had to say about this...
Reply