NOVEMBER 17, 2008

Busch loses Toyota test

Kyle Busch's plans to test a Toyota Formula 1 car have been cancelled because the NASCAR star now needs to fly back from Japan to attend an awards banquet in Florida. Busch was due to drive the F1 car at the Toyota Motorsports Festival at Fuji Speedway on November 23 but has to be at the NASCAR Nationwide Series prizegiving gala at the Portofino Bay Hotel, at the Universal resort in Orlando as he finished sixth in the championship. The top 10 driver in the series are obliged to attend. Busch is reportedly not very happy about NASCAR's insistence that he be there but he says that he hopes he will be able to get a run in an F1 car at some point, possibly in testing in Europe next year. The NASCAR Sprint Cup awards event takes place at the New York Waldorf Astoria on December 5 and there will be a week of events in the city to celebrate the season. Formula 1 has never even considered such events although sponsors such as Marlboro used to take their World Champions on intensive world tours after the championships were settled.