Chad Blount, who is under contract with Roger Penske for uncertain duties, will test at Kentucky next week for Penske and Rusty Wallace, fueling rumors that Blount, 23, has a bigger future, perhaps as the next Ryan Newman. And Wallace’s proposed Busch team, according to sources, is a possible Winston Cup team. But crew chief Bill Wilburn dismisses rumors about a shakeup looming in the Penske camp, though he recognizes pressure from sponsor Miller’s new owner, South African Breweries, the second-largest beer company in the world. ‘As far as I know, Chad Blount is testing for us, and that’s it,’ Wilburn says. ‘He has no commitments to race anything. He has no commitments to drive a Busch car for Penske Racing, other than we might provide a engine or build a car. He’s not going to be racing any Penske-owned car. He is not driving any Miller car. Rusty has his own Busch team going, and he’s going to lease engines from Penske Engines, and he’s got a couple guys he’s looking at as drivers for 15 races.'(more at Winston Salem Journal )(7-21-2003)
