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Texas
By A.J. Foyt
 This
past weekend was one of the worst I've ever had at Texas Motor
Speedway.
Airton Dare, who was making his second start for me this year, was
injured in practice on Thursday evening when the right front
suspension failed on the car as he was going through Turn 4 at over
200 mph. He shot into the wall which sheared off the right sidepod,
broke fuel lines and caught fire. Then he hit the wall again and I
think that's when his right side took a beating, breaking his upper
arm, hand, thigh and foot. Luckily, he didn't lose consciousness,
although that also means he felt all of the pain of his injuries.
They did surgery on him that night, putting rods in his arm and thigh.
Then he went to Methodist Hospital in Indy on Sunday for further work
on his hand and foot. The doctors say he'll be out for about three
months. Airton's got a long road ahead of him, but being just 25, he's
got youth working for him. He'll probably surprise the doctors with
how fast he recovers.
 The
Bombardier 500k was the first night race of the season for the Indy
Racing League so it was A.J. IV's first ever night race in an Indy
car.
Rain cut short the practice time, but even so he had his best
start--14th in the Conseco G-Force/Toyota. If I hadn't messed up on
choosing his gear ratios, I think he would have had an even better
start. He ran good in final practice so we were optimistic about the
race.
I had decided to run Jaques Lazier in Airton's back-up car but I
decided too late to get him ready for qualifying so he started at the
back of the field. In his first practice in the car on Friday he was
in the top-10, so I figured he wouldn't stay in the back of the pack
very long.
In the race, A.J. IV's car had a bad push right from the start. That
means his Conseco car wouldn't stay in the groove, it drifted towards
the wall in the turns. One of the problems that we had was that our
final Indy car practice ran before the NASCAR Craftsman Truck race.
The rubber laid down by the trucks on the track's surface changed the
track's grip. Whatever the reason, A.J. IV didn't have any grip from
the start.
The bad part was he didn't tell me just how bad the car was handling.
If he had, I would have pitted him early like Indy 500 winner Gil
DeFerran did. Instead, A.J. IV did everything he could from inside the
cockpit by adjusting the bars and trying different lines on the track.
He was trying to hang on until the first round of pit stops or first
caution period but he didn't make it that far. In fact, he was the
reason for the first caution because he brushed the wall coming off
Turn 2 on lap 41. It wasn't a real hard hit but it was hard enough to
bend the right rear suspension. He was done for the night. He finished
21st.
We had a good talk afterwards about his not trying to be a hero and if
the car wasn't drivable, he needed to tell me. After all, my other
drivers were quick to complain if the car wasn't just right for them.
Lazier, meanwhile was doing a good job in my other car. He came from
last up to 11th. We had some problems on one of the pit stops so he
had to pass one pack of cars all over again. It made for some exciting
racing. He was running with Bryan Herta and Scott Dixon and the three
of them were gaining on the lead pack.
While A.J. IV had handling problems, Jaques's car developed low fuel
pressure problems and the car would lose power. It got bad enough to
the point I told him to park it after 163 laps. I didn't want the
engine to blow and put him or someone else in the wall. He finished
19th. I know he enjoyed the race up until that point because it was
his first time in a Toyota-powered car and he loved the horsepower.
I was happy to see Al Unser Jr. win the race, especially one that was
so tight at the checkered. Texas is living up to its reputation of
close finishes and he did a great job.
This week the IRL goes to Pike's Peak Int'l Raceway just outside of
Colorado Springs where A.J. IV will be racing for the first time. We
didn't get a chance to test the Conseco car at that track so it will
be another learning experience for him and me. |
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