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Nazareth
By A.J. Foyt
 Kids
do the darndest things. I think that was an old Art Linkletter saying but that
was the case this past weekend when my 19-year-old grandson A.J. Foyt IV scored
his best finish of the season at the toughest track on the circuit.
He finished 11th at Nazareth Speedway, a one-mile tri-oval that has just one
groove and too many blind spots and elevation changes. Making it even tougher
was having three USAC Series divisions running there this past weekend which
meant a different tire rubber compound on the track that made it even more
slippery for the Indy cars.
Going into this race, I felt that if we came out in one piece, it would be a
victory for us.
We didn't test there and that hurt us in several ways. A.J. IV had to learn the
track, and we had to make an educated guess on the gear ratios and car set-up. I
know we were off in qualifying but by race morning we figured out what would
work best. It looked like we made the right decisions because he didn't complain
too much about the Conseco car in the race.
 One
of the problems with not qualifying good on a short track is that you can get a
lap down pretty quick and we did. But, after a couple of the leaders got by, A.J.
IV was able to hold his own. He was shifting gears, twice a lap, and running the
same pace as most of the field.
The couple of times he did get into trouble was when a leader would get
underneath him and shove him up into the loose stuff. I kept telling him to run
a tight line and make them go by him on the outside but every now and then
they'd slip by underneath.
He told the crew afterwards that I was saying ‘Get Down' so loud that he could
hear me without the radio.
I don't know about that but I do know that when he listened to me, he went
faster.
All in all, both A.J. IV and the Conseco crew did a good job this weekend. We
still have some problems but we're gaining on them. I knew this would be a
training year and there would be frustrations but we've been able to stick
together and work together. A.J. IV gets better and better and the team has
picked up its act too.
With just three races left –all on superspeedways – I think we have a good
chance to get a top-10 or two. And who knows, we may pull out a top-five or even
a win! After all, kids do the darndest things. |
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