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Setting the Standard
By A.J. Foyt
The Indy Racing League season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway
proved that this series isn't there for the taking by the newcomers
from Championship Auto Racing Teams.
Defending IRL champion Sam Hornish won in dominating fashion, and for
a good part of the race, it looked like the Harrah's No. 14 would
finish second with Airton Dare driving.
Airton Dare?
He is the 23-year-old from Brazil now living in Key Biscayne, Florida
who subbed for Donnie Beechler in Saturday's race. Beechler got
injured Friday morning in practice. He sustained a concussion after
hitting the wall hard in turn four when a gust of wind unsettled the
rear end and sent him spinning. He was airlifted to Jackson Memorial
Hospital in Miami and kept overnight as a precaution. As it turned
out, quite a few drivers suffered from that fateful wind but none hit
the wall quite as hard as Donnie.
But back to Dare [pronounced DAR-ay].
It was apparent that Donnie wouldn't be able to drive so I began
looking for a substitute when someone mentioned Dare. To be honest, I
might have gone with a more experienced driver in that situation but
they weren't around and he was. I've admired his driving (his last
name fits him--he is daring) but he hadn't been in a car since October
(the last race at Texas), so I was a little leery.
He, on the other hand, seemed pretty confident.
That became evident to everyone when in only his second lap in the car
he turned it at 188-mph. His "practice session" consisted of the three
warm-up laps of his first qualifying attempt. He waved off, and took
his final attempt at the end of the line. He then qualified at 196 mph
and was mad at himself because a mistake on the second lap cost him a
shot at the top-10. He started 21st. He did get more practice in the
final warm-up on Saturday morning.
In the race, we used pit strategy and some nine-second pitstops while
Dare used aggressive driving to come from 21st to second place. At the
time, he was running between two defending champions, the IRL's champ
Hornish and CART's champ Gil deFerran, who ended up finishing second.
My other driver Eliseo Salazar, who qualified 15th, was running in the
top three until some handling problems crept in. We got the No. 11
Banco Chile car to his liking in the final stages of the race and he
climbed back to finish fifth. For the third straight year, he finished
in the top-five in the season opener.
Unfortunately for Dare, the last set of cautions proved our undoing.
Pitting on lap 163, we came out in fourth (two cars didn't pit) and
then he lost a couple positions in the following laps as the handling
faded a bit. He was running sixth on what should have been the final
restart on lap 196, when he entered turn one in the outside groove.
The lapped car ahead of him shifted to the outside and cut off Dare's
air causing his car to drift into the marbles. He was along for the
ride as the car brushed the turn two wall, knocking out the right
front suspension. He didn't get hurt and still finished 10th. He ran a
helluva race in the Harrah's Dallara/Chevy.
Races are a team effort and everyone on the team contributes to the
final result. So, while a premium is put on driving skill, the pit
crew, the spotter, and the guy keeping tabs on what the competition is
doing, all play critical roles in the outcome of every race.
Sam Hornish and the Panther Racing team set a high standard for the
season and the rest of us have to sharpen our game if we want to play.
I am confident that the Harrah's team and Banco Chile team have what
it takes to give them a run for the money.
This should really be a fun season and I am looking forward to the
gamesmanship. |
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