Jack Roush will take his time before naming the next driver of the No. 6. Credit: Autostock

Roush in no hurry to name Martin successor

Owner confident one of his development drivers can take over 6 car

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Jack Roush says he and sponsor AAA will take "all winter" to decide on a driver -- or drivers -- for next season in the No. 6 Ford fielded by Roush Racing, if need be.

Mark Martin, who has driven that car for 19 seasons, has already said he won't return in 2007, and the media has created an environment of speculation bordering on frenzy on who who will replace him.

	Todd Kluever is 18th in Busch points. Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Todd Kluever in 2006 Starts 29 Wins 0 Top-5s 0 Top-10s 2 Poles 1 DNFs 1 Laps Led 17 Avg. Start 20.5 Avg. Finish 24.0

Roush has made it no secret that his group of development drivers, including Todd Kluever, David Ragan, Danny O'Quinn and Erik Darnell, are the primary candidates to fill the seat.

But Friday at Kansas Speedway in the Busch Series garage, he said no one had a clear advantage at this point and, despite media speculation over a "deadline" to have a driver named by this weekend, that he was in no hurry to make a decision.

"We've still got a number of races and a number of months in the winter to think about who needs to drive the 6 car -- whether it's one driver or more than one driver -- I'm not sure," Roush said. "We're working our way toward the best 2007 for the 6 car that we could have.

"We don't yet know who's going to drive it [though] we know the sponsor is going to be AAA. The team is a good team and we're proud of the team. So a lot of things are in place but we're just not sure who's going to drive it yet."

This season, Kluever is driving a No. 06 Ford in the full Busch Series, where he's 18th in the standings with two top-10 finishes heading into Saturday's Yellow 300.

He's also attempted four races in a No. 06 Fusion in Nextel Cup. He qualified for events at Chicagoland and Michigan, but finished 41st and 43rd. He missed the September race at California, but rebounded by qualifying a career-best 22nd for Sunday's Banquet 400, his best starting position by 13 spots.

O'Quinn made the first 26 Busch races in the No. 50 Fusion, scoring three top-10 finishes, before that car became part of Roush's audition process. Ragan drove the car at California and Dover, with O'Quinn -- who is 21st in the Busch standings -- wheeling it to 14th at Richmond.

	Erik Darnell is 14th in Truck points. Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Erik Darnell in 2006 Starts 19 Wins 0 Top-5s 1 Top-10s 7 Poles 1 DNFs 2 Laps Led 11 Avg. Start 13.5 Avg. Finish 15.4

Ragan, who at one point was taken out of Roush's No. 6 Ford truck during the Mansfield race weekend after he crashed in a pre-event test, has resurrected his career to the point that he made his Nextel Cup debut last weekend at Dover, where he crashed after 46 laps.

That inconsistency has plagued Ragan, who crashed in his first Busch race this season, at California, but finished 18th at Dover.

Darnell is 14th in the Craftsman Truck Series standings after 19 races with a Bud Pole, one top-five and seven top-10s. In 14 races in the No. 6 and No. 50 trucks Ragan also has a pole, one top-five and five top-10s.

Roush said he draws some comfort from having a diverse program across NASCAR's three national series in which to place his up-and-coming drivers.

"I think that's one of the reasons we were very progressive thinking about, and very deliberate about having a good farm club of young talent," Roush said. We wanted to be able to watch them develop at their own rate.

"Todd Kluever is a great talent. He won the competition [annual Gong Show driver elimination] over at least 25 kids that we had selected in 2004.

"And then we took four more guys: Matt McCall, David Ragan, Erik Darnell and Danny O'Quinn in 2005. So we've got five of them out there that we're working along with.

"Matt McCall drove part of the year for Robert Yates [in Busch and ARCA] and he's got a good technical background. Certainly there will be more heard from him.

"David Ragan has looked real promising, Danny O'Quinn looks promising and, of course, Erik Darnell was the winner last year of our Driver X competition and he's doing very well in the truck -- so we've got time."

Roush said the biggest thing that impresses him about his group of youngsters is that faced with a competition that will be rewarded with a major career step they've remained teammates.

"They're really a good bunch of guys," Roush said. "In their own way, they've got to be competitive against the other guys in their class, but they've been courteous and respectful in every way that's important to me and the sponsor."