AUTO RACING

Merger May Open Door To NASCAR For Bourdais

Published: Jul 28, 2007

INDIANAPOLIS - St. Petersburg's Sebastien Bourdais lobbied hard for a shot in NASCAR after winning the second of his three Champ Car titles in 2005.

If he still wants it, the chance may be there.

Bourdais' Champ Car team, Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, announced a partnership with NASCAR's Robert Yates Racing on Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After a news conference, two of the principals - Carl Haas and Doug Yates - said they're interested in bringing Bourdais to Nextel Cup.

The problem is Bourdais may be on the verge of signing with Formula One's Scuderia Toro Russo team, for whom he has tested three times.

However, Bourdais has said in the past he only wants to go to Formula One if he can sign with a competitive team, and Toro Rosso is one of the worst. Additionally, the 28-year-old Frenchman has been intrigued by NASCAR since beating some of stock car racing's best in an IROC race at Texas a few years ago.

Haas, who begins his third stint as a NASCAR team owner, said there have been discussions with Bourdais about moving to NASCAR.

"Well, he's getting a Formula One offer, but he might stay where we're at [Champ Car]," Haas said. "He's rather interested in doing what's being done here [the NASCAR partnership], but I don't know. We'll have to see."

Doug Yates, who has owned Robert Yates Racing with his father, said Juan Pablo Montoya having some degree of success after coming over from F1 - he won the Nextel Cup road race at Sonoma, Calif., last month - has shown that the best open-wheel drivers can make a direct transition to Nextel Cup.

"That has definitely been a discussion we've had, and I think Sebastien is very interested in NASCAR," he said. "And I think it would be great for NASCAR to have Sebastien here.

"We don't go into this Day One saying that's our plan, but it is a possibility.

Bourdais was in California on Friday for Champ Car's San Jose Grand Prix, and couldn't be reached for comment. He is on pace to win a fourth consecutive series championship.

Doug Yates was asked if he thought Bourdais could go directly to Nextel Cup without some time in the Busch Series or other developmental divisions.

"We do have 17 more races this year, so we have some time to get him some seat time," he said. "But we haven't got to that point yet."

The new team - Yates called it a partnership and not a merger - will be known as Yates/Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, and will start immediately. Among those appearing at Friday's announcement was Paul Newman, the 82-year-old actor and race driver who makes his first serious foray into NASCAR.

FRIDAY RAIN: Practice for Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard was rained out Friday, forcing changes to today's schedule. Instead of qualifying this morning, teams will practice from 8:30-11 a.m., and qualifying will be pushed to 4:05 p.m.

That will complicate matters for drivers competing in both the Nextel Cup race and the Busch Series race at nearby O'Reilly Racing Park. Among them is Zephyrhills' David Reutimann, who said he will have veteran David Green available to practice and qualify his Busch car.

PLAYING HURT: Carl Edwards, who is fifth in the Nextel Cup points and holds a commanding lead in the Busch Series standings, will wear a splint-like brace on his dislocated right thumb.

Edwards was injured Sunday while competing in a dirt-track late model race in Nebraska.

Asked if team owner Jack Roush had anything critical to say when he learned about the injury, Edwards said, "His quote was, 'It's good to see that it's only going to cause you pain and suffering and no permanent damage.'"

STILL IN FIRST: Zephyrhills' Wayne Reutimann Jr. retired after 91 laps in Thursday night's J.D. Byrider 100 USAC Silver Crown race, but he managed to keep the points lead by seven points against defending series champion Bud Kaeding. Bobby East of A.J. Foyt Racing led all 100 laps after starting next to polesitter Jason Leffler.

Tony Fabrizio