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Turning the Corner
By A.J. Foyt
 Saturday
night at Richmond, A.J. Foyt IV drove the best race of his short Indy
car career. The results don't show it because his race ended early but
while he was running, he was running strong in the Conseco 14 car. He
was having fun for the first time this year, and so was I.
It came as a surprise but I think we turned the corner in A.J. IV's
development as an Indy car driver at a bullring track that makes even
the quick drivers stumble. Heck, three of the top four qualifiers
crashed in final practice at Richmond International Raceway.
A.J. IV crashed in the SunTrust Indy Challenge just past the halfway
mark of the 250 lapper when he tried to pass a slower car coming off
two. He got on the gas too early and the back end jumped out on him
and he spun, hitting the inside wall with the right side of the car.
He was on the radio apologizing to the crew and cussing himself for
his mistake. I told him, ‘Don't worry about it, you drove a good race.
I'm proud of you.'
And I was proud of him especially considering the lack of practice
time he had on that small, banked three-quarter mile track.
 In
the first practice, he was 18th fastest of the 22 cars and I made some
changes for the second session. He got a little impatient and just
four laps into the second session, he missed his entry point in turn
one, got high and ended up brushing the wall in turn two. The right
side suspension had to be replaced and that was it for his practice. I
was really mad at him and I got on him really hard.
I sent him out in qualifying and maybe I had gotten on him too hard
because he was really cautious, too cautious. Despite a short rain
shower that interrupted qualifying and made the track faster, he still
qualified last. He was goosey.
 Right
after qualifying, we had to change the engine before final practice.
With the rain delay, we had even less time to do it, about an hour. We
couldn't do it that fast so A.J. IV only had five minutes to practice,
and most of it was under yellow. He got three hot laps--not enough time
to figure out a race set-up. I did some educated guessing from what we
had run as well as what my other driver Jaques Lazier had run.
Going into this race, I had my doubts about the set-up and I wasn't
sure how A.J. IV was going to handle the track and the traffic. I told
him to just use his head and feel the car out because he hadn't run
with this set-up yet.
Ten laps into the race, I stopped worrying because he was running
good, real good.
He did get lapped. At Pikes Peak it took 11 laps for the leaders to
pass him. At Richmond where is should happen faster because the track
is smaller, it took 53 laps for the leader to get by. A.J. IV had
passed 2nd and 3rd place qualifiers Sarah Fisher (struggling) and Tora
Takagi (who started last in his back-up car but had gotten a jump at
the start). He passed inaugural Richmond race winner Buddy Lazier and
Scott Sharp and was closing in on his won teammate Jaques Lazier. Then
pole sitter Scott Dixon lapped him. Dixon went on to win the race
after leading every lap. He became the first driver to do so in the
Indy Racing League.
As our luck would have it, the yellow came out the next lap for Vitor
Meira's accident in turn two. That is where most of the wall-banging
action was because the turn is bumpy there plus the track falls off so
it shoots you into the wall if you're not extra careful.
It was a lucky break for Jaques but not so good for A.J. IV.
Anyway, we pitted with the leaders and the Conseco team did a good job
on the stop because A.J. IV came out in the same position on the track
(third behind Dixon and Gil DeFerran). He ran in the "top five" for
quite a while before getting shuffled out of the groove which allowed
about six cars to pass him in two laps.
As soon as he got back in the groove, he began to close in on the lead
pack. That was one of the things that impressed me because before when
he got lapped earlier this year, he'd take three or four laps to
regain his rhythm. Saturday night he took a straightaway to get back
in his groove.
On lap 130, A.J. IV was trying to get pass Buddy Lazier who was really
struggling. There were cars in front and behind. Up ahead, someone
checked up so A.J. IV went low and gassed it coming off two. His
position on the track where it was bumpy and getting too hard on the
gas was a bad combination. The car spun around and he hit the inside
wall. His race for that night had ended, but it became obvious to me
that his Indy car career was just getting started.
Jaques had problems in the race too. He admitted getting into turn two
too hard and pushing up into the marbles. That messed up his tires and
he was off the pace until he could get them cleaned off. It happened
to him later in the race when one of the lead cars dove under him
going into the corner and he had to lift which caused him to go into
the marbles again, losing more time. But he did finish the race which
was called after 206 laps because of rain. Jaques finished 16th.
We head to Kansas City this week with A.J. IV and Jaques. Kansas
Speedway is where A.J. IV got into the fast lane one year ago when he
won his first race in the Infiniti Pro Series, and won it from the
pole! He didn't have much time to celebrate because he had to change
uniforms and become the right front tire changer on Airton Dare's car.
Then Dare won his first Indy car race that day too.
That was a happy day for the Foyt Racing team. A.J. IV is already
thinking Kansas would be a great place to keep up the trend of first
wins. And, he pointed out to me that he already knows where Kansas
Speedway's Victory Lane is.
Oh man, to be 19-years-old again! For me, older and wiser, a top-10
finish at Kansas would feel as good as a win this season. |
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