INDY 500 QUALIFIER TO DRIVE AT BENTON

Jimmy Kite could be handed offers in the next two weeks to race full-time on the NASCAR Busch Series and the Indy Northern Lights Series.

Choosing one, he says, could be the toughest decision of his life -- much harder than deciding whether to spend Saturday night behind the wheel of a winged sprint car at Auto Tire and Parts Racepark near Benton, Mo.

The three-time Indianapolis 500 qualifier from Stockbridge, Ga., will compete in the yellow No. 12 car owned by Joe Reddick of Jackson, Mo., rekindling a partnership that began two years ago.

"We've talked for a while about doing this again, and I hate that I've had to wait this long," said Kite, 25. "The great thing about racing with Joe is that there's no pressure. We get out there and enjoy ourselves."

Kite has raced little since his Indy Northern Lights Series partnership with the Blueprint Racing Team dissolved last year and left him without a ride. He said his future could be decided in the next two weeks, depending on two interested racing teams. One is a Busch Series two-car operation that could pick Kite as one of its drivers; the other is an INLS team that could put him back on the series where he's spent most of the past four years.

"Both projects are coming along," Kite said. "I'm trying to get myself prepared to make that choice, if I'm given the choice. I'll weigh the options and hope things work out for the best."

Although he's spent the past four years racing mostly on pavement, Kite's no stranger to shorttrack racing. At 18 he jumped into the United States Auto Club circuit, the series that produced Winston Cup stars Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. A successful 1996 season helped him secure an INLS ride.

He met Reddick through a mutual friend and struck a deal to race four times in 1999 at a track near Farmington, Mo., with limited success. He's been in the seat of a sprint car just once since then -- in April on an asphalt track in North Carolina.

"I'm sure that at least early-on Saturday, Joe's car will be faster than the driver," Kite said. "When we go out there for practice, the driver's going to be rusty. But those guys know how to set up the car, so by the end of the night I hope we have it running up front."