Las Vegas' Busch may make jump to Winston Cup Series

Kurt Busch is the leading candidate to replace Chad Little next year as the driver for team owner Jack Roush in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, according to sources in the auto racing industry.

Busch, a native of Las Vegas who is in his first season driving one of Roush's two entries in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, could be named the driver of the No. 97 John Deere-sponsored Ford as soon as next month's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Roush announced last week that he was not renewing Little's contract to drive beyond the 2000 season, and said the search for a new driver would begin immediately.

Kevin Radvany, a publicist for Roush Racing, said speculation that Busch would replace Little is "premature," and added that Roush first must renew its sponsorship agreement with John Deere.

"Roush Racing is working closely with John Deere for next year ... that's the first priority," Radvany said. "And, as is the case with all sponsorship agreements, John Deere would have the first right of refusal on any driver Jack (proposed)."

Despite having the vast resources of Roush Racing at his disposal, Little has managed only one top-10 finish in 17 Winston Cup starts this season and is 21st in points. His best qualifying effort was 13th at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March, where he finished sixth.

Busch, 21, became the youngest winner in the seven-year history of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series when he took the checkered flag in last Saturday's Sears DieHard 200 at The Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisc.

In 14 NCTS starts as a rookie, Busch has one win, four second-place finishes and nine top-10 finishes and is fifth in the series points standings.

Rumors of Busch making the jump to Winston Cup next year began circulating after he qualified on the pole and won last weekend's race. The rumors gained momentum Wednesday when he failed to make a scheduled appearance on a national media conference call to promote the NASCAR Busch and Craftsman Truck series.

A source close to Busch said he had taken the day off to avoid what he believed was going to be a glut of media questions about his possible move to Winston Cup.

Busch was named to drive Roush's Exide Batteries Ford in the NCTS last December after winning the NASCAR Southwest Series championship in his second season in the touring series. Busch was the Southwest Series Rookie of the Year in 1998.

At the time of his hiring by Roush Racing, Busch said he was on a maximum seven-year timetable -- the length of his contract with Roush -- to make it to the Winston Cup Series.

"They want to take me on to Busch and Winston Cup -- it's just a matter of producing results," Busch told the Sun earlier this year.

"What they have told me is we can spend either one year in trucks or two years in trucks -- the maximum of three years in trucks -- and then move on to Busch and do the same thing, with a maximum of three, and then on to Winston Cup."

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