NASCAR WCUP: First Impressions: Rookies comment on first visit to Indy

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

July 20, 2001

First impressions: For Kurt Busch, Mark Green and Hermie Sadler, the testing July 16-17 provided their first laps at the Speedway.

KURT BUSCH: "It's actually my second time (here). I snuck into the grandstands here last year as a spectator and sat in Turn 1 to watch a little bit of practice. But this is my first time on the racetrack. It's not your conventional oval. It's very unique, and it's very nostalgic and historic, and it's just a wonderful treat to drive on it. It's a bit more of a professional-type atmosphere. It's almost like an amusement park inside with the garage area, the golf course and the road course. It's just the whole feel that it has on the racetrack. It's completely different. It's smooth; it's got different aprons on each of the four corners. It's just a very well thought-out racetrack. I think every driver in his own mind wants to run at Indy eventually once or twice. Whether you're a stock-car or open-wheel fan, it's just a dream come true, so to speak, to hit Daytona for the first time in a Winston Cup car and come to Indy for the first time. It's really neat to experience all these different racetracks, and this place puts an exclamation point on all of them."

MARK GREEN: "Fast. I came here when the Indy cars were testing. The biggest thing I saw was, a car would go by, and you couldn't hear it and a second later, you hear it and I said, 'Where's that car?' The speed is so fast, they go by, then you hear them, so it's an awesome place to be. It's fast, and it takes some getting used to."

HERMIE SADLER: "It's an awesome facility, for sure, unlike anything I've ever been on. I enjoy the racetrack. It has some speedway and short-track characteristics altogether. We've been making some progress since we've been here, and hopefully we'll come back with a legitimate chance to make the race."

Text provided by Paul Kelly

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit The Racing Photo Museum and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.