Associated Press

Michael Waltrip says he may only run the four restrictor-plate races in the Sprint Cup Series next season.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A NASCAR official said the Sprint Cup Series could use a corn-based ethanol blend by 2011.

Steve Phelps, NASCAR's chief marketing officer, made the comment during a panel discussion at the North America Motor Sports Business Forum this week.

"I'm not definitively going to say that for 2011 we're going to have ethanol,'' Phelps said. "It's something that we're looking at now.''

After the session, Phelps detailed what has been done in regards to ethanol.

"Our guys are testing it at this particular point and trying to determine whether that's right for our series,'' he said. "They're on the engines now. What does it do to different parts? How does the engine run? Does it run cooler, does it run hotter, those types of things. We would certainly not institute a rule change or a fuel change that would affect the racing at all.''

Such a timetable could work well. There are indications that NASCAR could switch from carburetors to fuel injection in 2011 and altering the fuel then could be a good time to make the switch. Also, NASCAR chairman Brian France has stressed the sport's need for green initiatives.

Looking for work

Michael Waltrip says he might only run the four restrictor-plate races in Sprint Cup next season unless more sponsorship is found.

As for any other races he might run?

"I'd like to run some Nationwide races,'' he said. "I'd like to run some Truck races, so I'm still just seeing what's out there. I'll do anything. I just want to race every now and then.''

Recall that Martin Truex Jr. is replacing Waltrip next season.

Off-season testing

Goodyear has four off-season tire tests scheduled.

Kasey Kahne, Brad Keslowski, Joey Logano and Jeff Burton are scheduled to test Dec. 15-16 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

Martin Truex Jr., Mark Martin, Sam Hornish Jr., and Carl Edwards are scheduled to test Jan. 12-13 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Brian Vickers and Kurt Busch are scheduled to test Jan. 19-20 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Biffle also is set to test with Roush Fenway Racing Dec. 16-17 at Phoenix. That test is for Goodyear's 17-inch tire, the bigger, wider tire Goodyear is developing for possible future use. This will be the second test for that tire, which still has a lot of development work ahead before it would be seen in competition.

No decision yet

NASCAR officials are discussing eligibility requirements for the Budweiser Shootout, scheduled for Feb. 6 at Daytona International Speedway.

The top six cars for each manufacturer in the owner points made last year's race with one additional spot for each manufacturer going to either a past series champion or the seventh-place car among the manufacturer in the car owner standings.

Dodge has only three teams with Richard Petty Motorsports moving to Ford next year, thus can't fill its allotment.

Still looking

Lesa France Kennedy, chief executive officer of International Speedway Corp., says that although plans failed to build a track in Staten Island, the idea of a track in New York remains appealing some day.

"We're always going to have an interest in that area,'' she said, noting it's the nation's No. 1 media market.

Pit stops

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s new race engineer comes from teammate Mark Martin's team. It's part of a plan to get those teams, which share a shop at Hendrick Motorsports, to work more closely together in how they prepare their cars. ... Matthew Becherer replaces Curtis Gray as president of Homestead-Miami Speedway. Gray is leaving to pursue other opportunities. Becherer had been at Richmond International Raceway since 2003. Most recently he was the track's vice president of marketing.

France in court

France was in Mecklenburg County (N.C.) District Court on Friday. The Charlotte Observer and WCNC filed a motion seeking to unseal court documents between France and his ex-wife Megan a year ago.

After about a 35-minute hearing, Judge Jena Culler ordered the documents to be unsealed. She set Dec. 31 for the records to be unsealed but appeals are expected to delay that date.

New owner

Kyle Busch announced that he is starting a Truck series team.

Kyle Busch Motorsports will have two entries. Tayler Malsam will drive one entry. Busch and Brian Ickler will share duties on the other entry. Busch will drive in races at the same track and on the same weekend as Cup events.