Ex-IRL driver Stewart to keep an eye on Indy

As much as NASCAR Nextel Cup star Tony Stewart would love to be racing in today’s Indianapolis 500, he’ll be spending the day about 600 miles away in Concord, N.C.

But the five-time Indy starter, who will be racing in tonight’s Coca-Cola 600, will try to catch as much of the big event in Indiana as he can.

“I’ll wake up in time to watch the start of it and I’ll take a shower during the first commercial and watch as much of it as I can, just like I have the last couple of years,” Stewart said. “I enjoy the race and I enjoy watching the race. I think it’s going to be a tighter field than ever, so I’ll be excited to see it just like everyone else will.”

Stewart spent his formative years in open-wheel cars in the U.S. Auto Club and the Indy Racing League, where he won the championship in the combined 1996-97 season before heading for NASCAR.

The Indiana native couldn’t get open-wheel racing out of his blood and did a grueling double in 1999 and 2001, running both the 500 and the 600 on the same day, a feat that both John Andretti and Robby Gordon also have accomplished. But with Indy moving its starting time to 1 p.m. EDT this year, the double is virtually impossible now.

“It’s too bad, because I think the time change added a lot of excitement to the day, even though it was a very tough thing to do,” the 2002 Cup champion said.

Stewart loves NASCAR, but he misses racing in the IRL and would love to see more people discover the joys of open-wheel racing.

“Everybody likes NASCAR-style racing, where guys can race wheel-to-wheel,” Stewart said. “When I started in the IRL, I remember running at Texas with Buddy Lazier, and after the race was over he was yelling at me because we ran side-by-side for three laps.

“Now, they’re doing that for entire races at the mile-and-a-half tracks and the fans love it. It’s just a good formula. It’s brought NASCAR-style racing to open-wheel racing. I never would’ve had my opportunity to race at Indy if it weren’t for (IRL founder) Tony George and the IRL.”

The IRL has been criticized for having too many foreign drivers and too few Americans, but Stewart has a different view.

“I want to see the best drivers get rides,” he said. “If they come out of USAC, or if they come out of other countries, I don’t care where they come from. I’m not one of those people who say, ‘Hey, we have to have Americans in the series.’

“The Indianapolis 500 is about the fastest 33 Indy car drivers going for one prize. If they happen to come from America, that’s great. But it’s not fair to other drivers from around the world if they’re one of the best but they don’t have the chance to run Indy because of what nation they’re from. I just think there are a lot of drivers from the United States and all over that truly have the talent to do it, so they deserve a shot.”

Busch wins Busch race

A record number of cautions fell Kyle Busch’s way and he did the rest, holding off a trio of fellow Nextel Cup regulars Saturday night to win the Busch Series Carquest 300 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway at Concord, N.C.

With the victory, Busch joined three others who have won consecutive spring races at the track, a week after he became the youngest winner on the truck series. He will start sixth in the Coca-Cola 600 tonight.

Sterling Marlin, Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle followed Busch to the finish line, with rookie Reed Sorenson rounding out the top five. Four of the 11 cautions slowed the pace in the final 30 laps — not including one for a three-car wreck after the leaders took the checkered flag — but Busch pulled away on each restart to beat Marlin by about a half-second.

Kenseth crashes

Matt Kenseth’s woes continued Saturday when he crashed during the final practice for tonight’s Coca-Cola 600.

As he built speed on the apron of the track, he lost control of his Ford and spun up the track, where he backed into the wall in Turn 2. Dale Jarrett, Casey Mears and Bill Elliott narrowly avoided Kenseth’s car, so the damage was minimal. His Roush Racing crew will be able to repair the car, so he won’t have to rely on a backup, which would have cost him his third starting position.

Engine woes for Newman

Pole-sitter Ryan Newman spent two days trying to decide if he wanted to start on the inside or outside of the first row for the Coca-Cola 600, taking advantage of a rarely used rule that allows the top qualifier to choose.

He might not need to worry about it.

During the final practice Saturday, Newman felt a vibration, and his Penske South crew wasn’t sure if it was the engine, a tire or something else. It got a little better later in the session, so crew chief Matt Borland has hope that the problem went away.

An engine change would force Newman to the rear of the field.

“Usually, it doesn’t get better,” he said. “Usually, if the engine is vibrating, it’s going to go and it’s going to go pretty soon. They’ve torn everything down and everything looks as good as normal. We’re still looking.”

A final decision likely won’t be made until this morning.

Heidfeld grabs F1 pole

Nick Heidfeld delighted a home crowd by winning the pole position for the European Grand Prix In Nuerburgring, Germany, the first pole of his career and first under Formula One’s revamped qualifying format.

On a hot, cloudless day with track temperatures at about 112 degrees, the German was timed in 1 minute, 30.081 seconds on the 3.199-mile circuit in his Williams-BMW.

Heidfeld ended Kimi Raikkonen’s run of three straight first-place starts. The McLaren-Mercedes driver, winner of the past two races, was second quickest in 1:30.197.