| | | | | | ONE MO' 'GAIN | Can Sam Hornish get points help from Kurt Busch again? | |
| | By SceneDaily Staff BRISTOL, TN -- Penske Racing decided to swap owner points for drivers Kurt Busch and Sam Hornish Jr. before the start of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, giving both spots in the first five races.
But one race before '08 points are used to determine guaranteed starting spots, Hornish Jr. is outside top 35 and would have to make the Martinsville race via qualifying if he stays there.
So would Penske switch points again, giving Hornish the points Busch has earned to lock him into a race? Would Busch like having to make races through qualifying again, as he has done in the first four races?
Busch does have a past champions provision at his disposal in case of problems in qualifying, but he didn't sound thrilled about the possibility of having to continue to qualify for races, if the team decided to swap points again.
"That's the first I've heard of it," Busch said Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway when asked about the possibility. "I didn't know that was possible. Don't tell [team owner] Roger [Penske]. Don't tell anybody that you know that that's possible.
"I hope [Hornish is] able to race as hard as he can, as smart as he can these next few races to get locked in. It's a tough road. It's an uphill battle when you don't have points. Not only do you end up getting your tires last, the way you're back there in points, trying to qualify in with all those other guys, it's an uphill battle."
And it's an uphill battle Busch would rather not face.
| | Posted March 14, 2008 , 6:07 pm EST
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