NASCAR NEWS

Johnson, Montoya could be called as witnesses in Castroneves trial:

Jimmie Johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya and Roger Penske are among the potential witnesses that could be called in the tax evasion trial of open-wheel racing driver Helio Castroneves, his sister, Katiucia, and his attorney Alan Miller. The trial is scheduled to begin Monday in U.S. District Court in Miami. If convicted on all counts, all three defendants could face 78 months in prison, according to pretrial briefs. Miller, a noted sports attorney, has Johnson among his clients and has put Johnson and team owner Penske on his witness list. Montoya and other open-wheel drivers will also appear on the witness list for Castroneves, who has driven for Penske in the Indy Racing League. The scope of their potential testimony is not listed, and their inclusion on the witness list is no guarantee they will actually be called to testify.

Restart Line changes again:

NASCAR is still experimenting with new distances for the restart zone. This weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it’s 90 feet. The zone two weeks ago was 50 feet at Daytona. Last week, it was 110 feet at Auto Club Speedway in California. NASCAR has created the restart zone to limit the area where the leader may restart the event. Nationwide Series drivers were told of the change during their prerace drivers meeting Saturday.

F1 possible in the future for Kyle Busch:

#18-Kyle Busch said the timing isn't right for him to race in Formula One for the new F1 team based in Charlotte. Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor are partnering to form the team, which hopes to begin racing to start the 2010 season. Busch's name has been mentioned as a candidate to drive one of the cars for the new operation. "I have not been talked to yet, but I do toss the idea around," Busch said. "It's something I'd love to give a shot one day. It's not something I would shoot down, but I don't think it's the right time in my career to do something like that." Busch, who turns 24 on May 2, wants to win a Sprint Cup title before taking a shot at F1. He won eight Cup races last season and started the Chase in first-place before finishing 10th overall. "I want to get it done here first," Busch said. "If I could win a championship in the next two or three years, I wouldn't mind going over there and running Formula One a couple of years, then come back. I'd only be 28 or so. It was never on my radar screen as a kid, but racers want to race different things. I also wouldn't mind trying Indy car and running in the Indy 500."