Kyle Busch open to F1 future

The 23-year-old, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Sprint Cup series, was one of several American drivers mentioned by Peter Windsor last Tuesday during the launch of USF1 in Charlotte.

Busch admits he would like to get a proper opportunity to drive in Formula One one day to see if he has a future in racing beyond NASCAR.

"It's something I'd love to take a shot at one day," Busch told reporters at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday, where he qualified on pole for Sunday's Sprint Cup race. "Hopefully, one of these days I'll get a chance to drive one and see if I'm good at it."

However, Busch doesn't reckon it's yet time for him to leave NASCAR in pursuit of a possible future in F1. First he would like to become champion in the Sprint Cup series, where he would like to return once he has tried out F1.

"It's not quite time for me to do that yet," he said. "If I could win a championship here in the next two or three years, then I wouldn't mind going over there and doing that, trying it for a few years and coming back.

"I think I would still be young enough where, if I could win a championship by 25, go run Formula One for a couple of years and be back by 28, I've still got plenty of time left to run in NASCAR."

The Vegas-native believes it would be easier for him to adapt to an F1 car than it has been for drivers coming from open-wheel racing to master the heavier, slow-reacting stock cars.

"I feel like it's probably easier to go that route than it is for those guys to come to this route because these cars have less downforce, less grip, more weight on the car, less technical advancements and stuff like that," said Busch.

"To me it seems like it would be a lot easier to drive a car that's fully equipped. It's kind of like getting in a Volkswagen Beetle versus a Ferrari. Those are kind of the differences."

Busch was expected to drive a Toyota F1 car last winter in Japan, but his run was called off because he was required to attend the clashing Nationwide Series awards event.