Harvick critical of RCR form

Kevin Harvick has voiced his disappointment over his team's performance this season, amid reports stating that he has asked Richard Childress Racing for an early exit from his contract with the outfit.

Harvick currently ranks in 25th place in the drivers' standings in what is turning out to be his worst ever season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Since finishing fourth at Atlanta in the fourth race of the year, he has failed to score another top-ten finish.

Following a couple of years when all three drivers from the team had been in contention for the title, this year none of them are currently in position to make the series' play-off with Clint Bowyer being the best ranked in 15th place.

Earlier this month Richard Childress issued a statement saying that Harvick is signed on a multi-year contract including 2010 after it was reported that the former Nationwide Series champion wanted to leave the team at the end of the season.

Although Harvick would not comment on his contractual situation with the team, speaking at Indianapolis he was vocal about his feelings on his team's poor form.

"As a team, we've been off in everything," Harvick said. "We started the year off, and once we started in California, we had one car that we felt like was competitive and the oil filter fell off of it and totaled it. Pretty much from that point, it's been struggles.

"The last four or five weeks, we've been an eighth to tenth-place car and just have had crazy things happen. It's just been one thing after another. But the performance has been fair the last four or five weeks."

Back in May, Harvick started working with a new crew headed by Gil Martin, following many years beside Todd Berrier, who was switched over to work alongside is team-mate Casey Mears.

Harvick said the change did not really have any effect in helping the team overcome the issues that have hampered their season.

"I don't think that the crew chiefs are necessarily the things that have been changed that have helped the performance of the cars come up over the last four or five weeks," Harvick said.

"Basically, what's changed is everything. Every body, every piece on the body, just about every piece of the car has been changed over the past four or five weeks.

"It's really a lot of unfair pressure that gets put on our crew chiefs. I don't think moving from one crew chief to another necessarily did anything other than make everybody realise that the problem lies somewhere else other than our crew chiefs."

Harvick expects to see an upturn in performance this weekend at Indianapolis, where he is racing with a completely new car, implementing some changes to try to overcome some of the problems that have kept them racing in the midfield recently.

"We brought a new car here and everything has gone well since we unloaded it," Harvick said. "Our focus is to do what we need to do on the race track and go from there. Everything has gone well this weekend, and we'll continue working at it and we'll go from there."

Harvick won the Daytona 500 in 2007 but he has not managed to win a race since then. This year he won the Budweiser Shootout and a week later he claimed his best result of the season to date with a second place finish at the season opener.

Kenseth seeks return to early formZigic staying at Valencia

Truex to drive for Waltrip in 2010

Martin Truex Jr will leave Earnhardt Ganassi Racing at the end of the year to join Michael Waltrip Racing in 2010, his new outfit has announced.

Truex signed a multi-year contract with MWR to drive the #56 Napa Toyota from 2010. He will be replacing team owner and driver Michael Waltrip, who will now focus mainly on the management duties of his squad.

Waltrip will retire from full-time Sprint Cup competition at the end of the season while running a very limited schedule next year, starting with the Daytona 500.

"There was a lot of things that went into my decision, it wasn't just one thing," said Truex about joining MWR. "It was me talking with them and their passion, how bad they wanted me and how much appreciation they showed me that I was thinking about coming here and talking to them.

"Their on-track performance, [David] Reutimann and [Marcos] Ambrose have been running really, really good since the middle part of last year even. There was just a lot of things. I really like the way they do business here. My little brother's [Ryan] been racing here all year [in the NASCAR Camping World East series] and going after it, winning and doing a great job.

"I hope I can make an impact coming here and help them do even better. So for me it's just a great situation overall."

MWR is technically only the second team that Truex will drive for in NASCAR's top division. He made his Sprint Cup Series debut with Dale Earnhardt Inc. in 2004 but only completed his first full season with the team in 2006 after winning back-to-back titles in the Nationwide Series while driving for the same squad.

In 2007 he made the Chase for the Sprint Cup and finished 11th in the championship, taking his first and only win in the top series to date at Dover.

Despite starting this year strong with pole position in the Daytona 500 following the merger between DEI and Chip Ganassi Racing, this season has been a struggle for the 29-year-old, as he currently ranks 24th in the driver standings with a sixth place at Darlington being his best result and one of only three top-10 finishes thus far.

Truex will inherit Waltrip's owner points from this season into 2010, although Waltrip will keep his #55 number when he races in the Daytona 500 next year.

Waltrip happy to hand drive to TruexZigic staying at Valencia

TRG gives Lally Sprint Cup debut

Sportscar driver Andy Lally will attempt to make his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut in the road course event at Watkins Glen on 9 August.

The Grand-Am regular, who has a handful of Nationwide and Truck Series starts to his name, will drive a second TRG entry alongside team regular David Gilliland. The 34-year-old currently drives for TRG's sportscar arm in Grand-Am's GT class.

He tested TRG's Cup specification Chevrolet prior to the Sears Point event, and is confident but realistic about his chances on his debut in NASCAR's premier championship.

"In qualifying, I just want to make the race and secure a spot in the field," said Lally. "In the race, I think a realistic goal is a top 20 finish."

Team boss Kevin Buckler was pleased to give Lally this opportunity.

"Andy has been an integral part of our sports car team for over four years now and has also been a good friend," Buckler said. "He is one of the best road racers there is and he knows Watkins Glen like his own backyard.

"We brought him into NASCAR in 2007 when we started our programmes, so I feel it is really cool to give him this shot in the Sprint Cup. I obviously have a lot of faith in his ability and judgement."

NASCAR: Mayfield failed test again

NASCAR: Mayfield failed test again

Jeremy Mayfield has once again tested positive for methamphetamines, according to documents filed in court by NASCAR in an attempt to overturn a temporary injunction the driver was granted two weeks ago.

The 40-year-old tested positive for a second time on July 6, according to NASCAR, following his indefinite suspension, which arose form his first positive back in May when he was tested at Richmond.

The Sprint Cup Series veteran had succeeded in getting a temporary injunction from a judge, which allowed him to return to racing, but he has not been able to compete again due to lack of sponsorship for his own team and denials from other outfits to put him in their car.

"Within days of this Court's preliminary injunction, Mr. Mayfield flouted both this Court's authority and NASCAR's Substance Abuse Policy by ingesting the same illegal drug that he has repeatedly denied taking," said NASCAR in their court filing.

"By misleading this Court about his drug use, Mr. Mayfield has compromised NASCAR's ability to protect its drivers, crews and fans."

The same day Mayfield was last tested by NASCAR this month, the driver's attorney had a second sample tested at a different laboratory, and according to him, the results were negative as opposed to those of NASCAR's liaison.

But besides the positive test, NASCAR has also filed in its documentation an affidavit of Mayfield's stepmother Lisa, who claims in her testimony to know that the driver has used methamphetamines many times since 1998, including once before a race.

However, Mayfield has played down NASCAR's claims, while saying his stepmother's testimony doesn't say the truth.

"I don't trust anything NASCAR does, anything [substance abuse program administrator] Dr. David Black does, never have, never will," Mayfield told The Associated Press.

"And they picked the wrong woman to use against me because that [expletive] is trash and has got nothing on me but lies."

This week Mayfield also lost his last employee, his team's general manager Bobby Wooten, which makes it ever more unlikely that the five-time Sprint Cup Series race winner returns to the track soon, even if the court ruling stands in his favour.

Burton wants assurances on MayfieldEspanyol starlet set for Wigan

Ganassi in no hurry to fill Truex void

Chip Ganassi is in no rush to find a replacement for Martin Truex Jr after Michael Waltrip Racing announced it has signed him on a multi-year contract from 2010.

Truex joined the merger of Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Chip Ganassi Racing over the winter after being a DEI driver since 2003. However, this season has been a struggle for the 29-year-old, who has been outperformed by his team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya.

Ganassi says he understands Truex's "business" decision and wished him well on his move to MWR in 2010, while expecting him to continue to deliver for the reminder of the season in the #1 EGR car.

"Martin made a business decision that he felt was in his best interest and we can't fault him for that," Ganassi said. "Martin and the whole No. 1 team are committed to success for the remainder of the 2009 season and we would expect nothing less from them.

"Martin is a good guy and wish him nothing but the best. As for who will be in the car in 2010, there is a lot of time between now and the 2010 Daytona 500 and we are looking at all our options."

EGR started the season with three cars for Montoya, Truex and Aric Almirola, but the latter only ran in seven races before his team had to be shut down due to lack of sponsorship.

Montoya's team has secured funding from the outfit's long-time partner Target and other associate sponsors for the next few years, while Truex's car has sponsorship from Bass Pro Shops, which according to team sources is signed through 2010.

Ganassi says that despite the departure of Truex at the end of the year, the team's future looks bright, as Montoya's results have shown lately. The Colombian is currently 11th in the standings, with a clear shot at making the Chase, which would be the first for a Ganassi driver ever.

"We have a lot of great things going on right now in our organization - most importantly that our cars are running better," Ganassi added. "Montoya and the No. 42 are in the top-12 and we couldn't be more proud of him and the effort the whole organization has put forth in improving our performance on the track.

"I really think the future is bright."

Truex and EGR team penalisedZigic staying at Valencia

No tyre worries after Indy practice

Friday's NASCAR Sprint Cup practice sessions at Indianapolis Motor Speedway confirmed that the tyre issues that hampered last year's running of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard have been finally solved.

Although no driver ran a full fuel run, which is about 34 laps, on the same set of tyres, according to Goodyear's Greg Stucker they were able to run up to 27 consecutive laps on a single set during Friday's opening session with Dale Earnhardt Jr.

His Hendrick Motorsports team-mate Jeff Gordon was one of several drivers who confirmed there were no issues with excessive wear despite the track still being green during Friday.

"I think the tyres are a non-issue," said Gordon, who ran around 20 laps on a single set on Friday. "I think we need to move to an all-new subject because it's done. They have created a great tyre. If anybody has an issue with tyres it's not because they're wearing out.

"[Goodyear has] done a great job, they've backed it up with testing and they've now proven it here at the racetrack where I think is the most crucial practice that we had. I could've probably ran all day long on one set of tyres if I wanted to."

Stucker said that despite all the preparation that took place for this year's race on Goodyear's side, he was still a bit nervous before a car turned a wheel during the opening practice at Indianapolis.

A total of seven tests were needed since last year's race for the tyre manufacturer to find the right specification of tyres for the unique combination of surface and layout that it faces at the 2.5-mile track.

"We thought we had asked ourselves all the questions, made sure we had all the answers," said Stucker. "Both of the last two tests were dressed rehearsals for this weekend and everything looked great.

"We felt like we ran on all kinds of different weather, under a lot of different conditions, green racetrack, with a lot of rain during the month of May and prior to that first June test.

"Nonetheless you're still a little bit apprehensive but that was all gone pretty quick when we saw the track take rubber right away."

Although there is a considerable chance of showers at Indy during the weekend, Goodyear officials were confident that even if all the rubber gets washed out before the race, there should not be a repeat of last year's issues.

Villeneuve to race at Montreal againZokora targets Sevilla glory

Kahne hoping to gain momentum

Kasey Kahne hopes his first win of the season will give him enough momentum to get back in the top 12 in the driver standings in order to make this year's Chase for the Sprint Cup.

The 29-year-old climbed to 13th place following his victory at Sears Point last weekend, with just three points separating him from 12th-placed Juan Pablo Montoya.

Kahne's team recently ran its new R6P8 Dodge engine for the first time and has had a boost in performance. Although he didn't run it last weekend at Sonoma, he believes that and his first victory of the season can set his team up for a string of good races to get into the hunt for this year's title.

"The timing is perfect because with 10 races to the Chase, we're right there in the mix," said Kahne. "We've been strong for the last month and really haven't had the results that we're looking for.

"But we have our newest, latest cars and our newest, latest engines. To me, it feels like February and we're about to start the season with all the new stuff that we have."

The Richard Petty Motorsports driver has only made the Chase once in his career, back in 2006 when he finished eighth in the championship with six victories. Last year, he finished the season in 13th place, just missing the cut.

Kahne hopes Petty's new engine, coupled with the lighter cars they've been running lately, can will help him to be among the title contenders come September.

"The [new] engine has more power; we just need to work on better fuel mileage when it comes to fuel mileage races," Kahne said. "We've been working hard on making that better and still having the power that we need."

"In the past couple of years, I'd say that we've been close with all that stuff, but we're always on the edge of making [the Chase] or not making it. We have to be strong here in the next five races and get more solidly in there than being right on the edge."

In the past, Kahne has won at four of the coming 10 tracks before the Chase starts.

Kenseth seeks return to early formBarca admit Ribery defeat

Petty open to manufacturer switch

Richard Petty has admitted that his team is considering all options for next year as its contract with Dodge expires at the end of the season.

Following the team's victory with Kasey Kahne at Sears Point, the first since Petty gave the former Gillett Evernham Racing a new name, the seven-time Sprint Cup champion said the team will look at every option they have for 2010 as its deal with Chrysler is up for renewal at the end of the year.

When asked about a possible switch to another manufacturer, after Chrysler recently filed for bankruptcy protection, Petty said his team is open to talks with anyone interested in supporting the squad's long-term future.

"We are looking at all options we have," said Petty. "We've been with Dodge all these years and we don't really know where they are at. We are talking to Dodge, we're talking to anybody that wants to talk.

"Right now, we are in the process of trying to come up with what we think is going to be best for Richard Petty Motorsports, not only in the near future but in the future way out there."

Petty's outfit is running a four-car operation, which also includes Dodge Chargers for Reed Sorenson, Elliot Sadler and AJ Allmendinger.

Petty has been through other recessions during more than 50 years in NASCAR and has seen manufacturers come and go, but he says the impact of the current downturn has been felt more than any before.

"We have been there when the factories were involved and the factories got out, and we've been through other recessions or whatever they want to call it, over a period of time. But none of them have affected us as directly as what's going on today," Petty said.

"Now, the way the economy is, it's affecting everybody. Whether you're in the limelight or wherever you're at, it's really affected everybody."

Although Petty has raced with other manufacturers in the past, his last name has been tied to Chrysler for many years, since Petty Motorsports ran Plymouths for his father Lee Petty in NASCAR's inaugural season.

Petty himself won his maiden Sprint Cup title driving a Plymouth in 1964.

Ibra agrees Barca dealKenseth seeks return to early form

Kenseth seeks return to early form

Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth is hoping to regain the form he had at the beginning of the season, as he feels his Penske team's current performance could end up hampering its title chances.

The former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion claimed victory in the first two races of the season, but after leading the standings early on he currently ranks 10th in the drivers' points, and a fourth place at Dover has been his best result since then.

Although Kenseth says he does not keep a close eye on the standings on a weekly basis as the season is nine races away from starting the Chase for the Sprint Cup, he admits that if his team does not improve in the next few races, they could well be left out of the final 'play-off'.

"I look at the standings every few weeks or something, somebody will say where you're at. But, if you run good and you finish good, you'll get the points to make it to the Chase," Kenseth said.

"Certainly, it's a real big deal to make the Chase, and if you make it, you want to have a legitimate shot at a championship every year. We've been one of them the whole time. But, you want to get in, and we used to be really good at taking cars that didn't run that good and get better finishes than what we ran.

"But lately we've been doing the opposite of that for a long time, for the last couple of months, and that needs to stop and we need at least to get back to finishing where we run, and if we don't do that, we won't make it. I think we all realise that."

Kenseth reckons his team has to get back to its winning ways from the early part of the year, as otherwise he does not expect to be among the title contenders in the last ten races of the year.

"We haven't really been contenders to win races - there have been a couple of races where we ran pretty good - but we haven't been contenders to win races," said Kenseth.

"We've got to get running better to start with, but we've certainly got to get finishing better. Like, last week we ran 12th all week, which was nothing to be too excited about, and finished 22nd.

"We've been doing that a lot. Pocono, we ran third all day and finished 18th or something. We've got to figure out how to get that to stop. There's no way we're going to make it doing that."

Kenseth is currently just six points ahead of 12th placed Juan Pablo Montoya in the drivers' standings.

Truex and EGR team penalisedIbra agrees Barca deal

Court lifts Mayfield suspension

Jeremy Mayfield has been allowed to return behind the wheel of a Sprint Cup Series car after getting his suspension for drug abuse lifted by a US court.

Mayfield had been suspended indefinitely from NASCAR after he allegedly tested positive for methamphetamine in a random drug test at Richmond in May, but on Wednesday he got a temporary injunction from a court in Charlotte that enables him to race again.

The 40-year-old will thus attempt to compete in next weekend's event at Daytona, although he admitted it could be a bit late for him to get his team ready for Thursday, when practice takes place for the Coke Zero 400.

"I'm happy I can go back racing and just glad the justice system works like it does and just thank God," said Mayfield. "It might be a little late for this weekend, but we'll see what happens. I'm able to race, that's the main thing. I think so now. I have to go back and see where we stand on that and where they are.

"The main thing is to be able to go back and be able to do that. The truth came out, and now I can go back and say we're clear of all this. I cleared my name, and now we can go racing again. That means more to me than anything."

Mayfield has denied taking methamphetamine, while saying since the very beginning that a combination of prescribed medicine and over-the-counter drugs resulted in a false positive result in the test.

The driver's defense argued in court that NASCAR did not follow the right procedures in testing Mayfield and had experts contesting the sanctioning body's conclusions about the results of his A sample test, which according to them were inconclusive.

In the court filings, judge Graham Mullen said that the financial harm to done to Mayfield preventing him from racing, substantially outweighs the potential harm to NASCAR.

NASCAR officials stood by their arguments while respecting the court ruling. However, they plan to continue to fight Mayfield's case in the courts.

"We are disappointed, but we respect the judge's ruling," said NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston. "This is only a temporary injunction. The legal case continues beyond this point, and we will continue to make our case."

Mayfield started his own team this year and qualified for the season-opener at Daytona back in February.

After that he qualified for four more races, but since being suspended he had been forced to withdraw his team from competition, only attempting one more race with driver JJ Yeley at Charlotte. A number of crew members were also laid off from his team as a consequence.

Burton wants assurances on MayfieldZokora targets Sevilla glory

Burton wants assurances on Mayfield

Jeff Burton wants NASCAR to give him and fellow drivers assurance that Jeremy Mayfield is not under the influence of any drugs whenever he gets back behind the wheel of a Sprint Cup car in an official event.

Mayfield was suspended indefinitely from NASCAR in May after he failed a random test for drugs at Richmond, but on Wednesday he got a temporary injunction from a federal court in the US, which allows him to race again.

Burton said on Thursday at Daytona that he does not agree entirely with the judge's ruling, because even if it takes some time to get the results of a test, safety for all concerned should be considered above everything else.

In the court filings, judge Graham Mullen stated among the reasons to allow Mayfield an injunction that the financial harm done to the driver by preventing him from racing, far outweighed the potential harm to NASCAR's event safety.

"One thing that I disagree with the judge on is that my safety is important to me and if there's an instant test available then I think the judge's opinion is 100 per cent right," said Burton.

"But there is no instant test available. At the same time, from Jeremy's perspective, if the judge ruled that [the result of the test] can be questioned then it should be questioned and he should have the ability to look into it. If that's what the court's ruled.

"It's a tough situation for anybody to make that decision because he potentially puts my safety in jeopardy with that decision. The other decision potentially puts Jeremy's career in jeopardy so what do you do? That's almost not a right answer."

Burton says that if and when Mayfield is back in Sprint Cup competition, he would like NASCAR to test him as many times as it deems necessary in order to ensure that he is completely clean when he returns to the racetrack.

"If it takes 72 hours, in my world, in this case and nothing against Jeremy, I consider Jeremy a friend of mine, but 72 hours from him being on the racetrack, if that's how long it takes to get a result [from a drug test] then he should be tested," said Burton.

"And 24 hours after that he should be tested again and 24 hours after that it should be tested again and 24 hours after that it should be tested again. I don't consider that harassment.

"The fact of the matter is that he failed a drug test and that opens the door to question. I deserve to 100 per cent know that he is 100 per cent clean and so he should be tested soon enough, early enough, often enough to where he can never be on the racetrack while he is using drugs."

Mayfield was expected to attempt to race this weekend at Daytona, but the 40-year-old was unable to get a drive for Saturday night's event.

Villeneuve to race at Montreal again

Waltrip happy to hand drive to Truex

Michael Waltrip says he is "happy and proud" to hand his drive to Martin Truex Jr as he announced that he is set to retire from full-time racing in the Sprint Cup Series at the end of the season.

Although he still plans to compete in a limited number of events in 2010, starting with next year's Daytona 500, this season is set to be his last full-time effort in NASCAR as a driver as he shifts his focus to his team's management.

Over his 25 years driving in the Sprint Cup Series, Waltrip has achieved four victories—all of them in restrictor plate tracks - including two Daytona 500 wins in 2001 and 2003 while driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Before the season started Waltrip had already hinted at his decision of stepping down from his driving role and he believes to be doing so at the right time. He says he is confident that Truex is the right driver to take his team to the next level.

"I'm turning my car over to a guy that I think can go win the championship in it," said Waltrip. "I've always said, I've been racing this cars for a long time as we all well know. If I thought I wasn't the best man for the job I wouldn't have had to ride this long.

"If I wasn't the best guy that could run in the car and go racing on Sunday, someone else would take my place. I just believe at this time in my career that Martin is the right guy to take over my car and go win races in it.

"I didn't have to quit, I didn't need to quit. I just wanted to do this for... to me it's always been about the sponsors and Napa is the greatest sponsor I could ever have and I thought this was an opportunity to put then on Victory Lane on a regular basis."

This year, in only the third season for Michael Waltrip Racing in NASCAR's top series, David Reutimann gave Waltrip his first win as an owner in a rain-shortened 600-mile race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Waltrip says after that victory he feels he can continue to get as much satisfaction out his team's success as he has done from his wins behind the wheel.

"I was genuinely more happy when David [Reutimann] won that race in Charlotte than I've been in a long time in my career," said Waltrip. "That was just confirmation that I had made the right decision. That I could get a lot of joy out of helping mould and shape MWR."

It is yet to be determined how many events Waltrip will race next year but he says he plans a "very limited" schedule, while his intention is to continue to run a three-car full-time effort in 2010 with Truex, Reutimann and Marcos Ambrose ran in association with JTG Daugherty.

Dudek wants Alonso reunionTruex and EGR team penalised

Truex and EGR team penalised

Martin Truex Jr and his team have been penalised after their car failed the post-race inspection at Chicagoland Speedway last weekend.

Truex had finished the race 16th but his car was found to be higher than the NASCAR rulebook allows for the right-rear quarter panel.

As a consequence, Martin was docked 25 points in the drivers' standings, car owner Teresa Earnhardt was docked the same ammount in the owner standings, while crew chief Kavin Manion was fined US$25,000 and place on probation until the end of the year.

Manion said Earnhardt Ganassi Racing doesn't plan to appeal the penalties imposed.

"We completely understand NASCAR's position on the rule violation and will not appeal the penalty imposed," Manion said. "In addition, we are taking steps internally to ensure this will not happen in the future."

The points penalty doesn't affect the driver's ranking in the standings where he sits in 24th place.

Villeneuve to race at Montreal againZokora targets Sevilla glory

Villeneuve to race at Montreal again

Jacques Villenueve will return to the NASCAR Nationwide Series next month to compete in Montreal's round of the series for the second year in a row.

The former Formula 1 world champion will return to NASCAR's second-tier series for a one-off appearance at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where he is set to drive the #32 Braun Racing Toyota Camry.

Villeneuve last competed in NASCAR in last year's rain-affected event at his home track, where he was classified 16th. He started fifth and actually led the race for a lap before crashing into the back of another car due to the poor conditions, shortly before the race was stopped.

"I am very happy to return to the track this year in Montreal with Braun Racing," said Villeneuve. "I enjoyed greatly my experience last year and their trust is greatly appreciated. It is also a team that prepares great cars. I am confident the #32 will be at least as good as the car the team prepared for me last, which is exciting.

"But what makes me even more happy is the fact that this time around, I'm part of the equation from a much earlier stage. Together we will be able to better prepare for the end of August race and it should have a good influence on our results."

The Quebecoise, who recently admitted his interest in returning to F1, competed last weekend in the Canadian Tire stock car series at a 0.4-mile oval at Saint-Eustache, where he crashed out of the event on the first lap.

Besides his commitments in Canada, Villeneuve is also set to return to the Argentinean Top Race V6 Series, where he will race next weekend at Interlagos. He is also scheduled to compete again in September at Buenos Aires, where he made his first outing in the series last year.

Dudek wants Alonso reunionBusch: Stewart caused Daytona crash

Busch: Stewart caused Daytona crash

Kyle Busch is still unhappy about the incident between him and Tony Stewart at Daytona last weekend, saying the two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion "dumped" him out of the lead on the final lap.

Earlier this week Stewart spoke to Busch on the phone about the incident and the current points' leader said at Indianapolis during a press conference that both of them were "on the same page" about what had happened on that final lap last Saturday.

However, speaking on Thursday at Chicagoland Speedway, Busch did not seem to be at ease with the situation yet.

"I really don't have feelings, it really didn't mean a whole lot," Busch replied when asked about how felt about Stewart calling him to clear things up. "I thank him for I guess, checking on me to see if I was alive."

Busch agreed with Stewart's explanation of the incident, which suggested that the Gibbs driver moved twice to block his former team-mate, making contact the second time as the nose of Stewart's car was already on the outside of Busch's Toyota, ultimately igniting the wreck.

But despite that, Busch pointed out that before the incident, Stewart had hit him while driving out of Turn 4, unsettling his car and getting him loose. He suggested NASCAR should act in those cases, and penalise the driver hitting the leader from behind whenever an accident emerges after that.

"I think NASCAR can take a step and look at it and if the second place driver 'dumps' the leader, then black-flag his [butt], he doesn't get the win, you know," Busch said.

"If he's on him from behind and moves him out of the way and there's no wreck then fine, he can win the race. But if you're up alongside the guy and you dump him, then I'd say black-flag him and give the win to the third-placed car."

Busch then reckoned Stewart "dumped" him on that final lap at Daytona.

Meanwhile Stewart avoided controversy, saying he had already cleared the air with Busch on the phone on a 30-minute conversation on Tuesday.

"I talked to Kyle I guess it was on Tuesday that I spoke to him and we had a good conversation with him and that's the conversation I'm going off of," Stewart said. "So that's all I'm going to talk about it."

The Daytona finish was a nearly a carbon copy of the incident that unfolded between Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski on the final lap at Talladega earlier this year. Neither time NASCAR has issued any penalties to the drivers involved.

Zokora targets Sevilla glory