Penske Racing to start test team
By Kris Johnson
Friday, November 30, 2007
NEW YORK - Kurt Busch said Penske Racing has plans to form a designated test team to prepare for the 2008 Sprint Cup Series season when all 36 races will feature the car of tomorrow.
"We need more laps, more time with the new car to be more competitive," said Busch, who finished seventh in points this year, following the NMPA Myers Bothers Awards Luncheon at Cipriani's.
With the addition of new teammate Sam Hornish Jr. in the No. 06 Dodge, the fourth team is expected to focus solely on testing. Busch said teammate Ryan Newman, Hornish, himself or an "outside driver" could all be involved in the tests.
Busch, who has already tested at Atlanta, said the remainder of his offseason schedule includes scheduled stops at Daytona International Speedway, Lakeland, California and Las Vegas. Nashville is also a possibility if the weather cooperates, he said.
With the Cup series already running twice in the COT at Bristol this year, Busch is comfortable heading into the first handful of races in '08.
"We feel like we're prepared really well for the first five or six, then we hit tracks like Texas [and Charlotte], and that's where the teams that are ready to go will prevail," he said, adding,
"I hope not to be in a Cup car until January. I might end up doing a shakedown test for the Rolex 24. Penske's putting together a team. It might be double top secret until now. But we're having some fun with that."
