The
Indy Racing League season is finally over and I am glad. We had
problems but they were nothing compared to what my good friend and
former driver Kenny Brack had in the closing laps.
His car rode over the wheel of another car and he went airborne, hit
the fence and tore down quite
a bit of fence before bouncing back onto the
track with most of his car in pieces. Luckily for him the tub (cockpit
area) stayed intact. He came out of it with some major broken bones
but it seems like he'll be alright. It looked bad so I'm really glad
that Kenny's injuries are the kind that will heal in time.
Kenny has been close to me and my crew since he drove for me in 1998.
He won the IRL title that year and in 1999 he won Indy. We were all
very worried until we learned he would be okay.
As
drivers we all know when we strap ourselves into that race car, we may
not be the ones to take the belts off. But because we are doing
something that we love, it is a risk that we accept.
The really good drivers put more into it. They have to because that
extra effort is what separates them from the rest and wins races. But
sometimes things go terribly wrong as they did in Kenny's case.
I know Kenny has a long road ahead of him but he is determined and
focused. It is why he won races and why he will heal fast and be back
racing (if he wants to). Our prayers and thoughts are with him and his
beautiful wife Anita who is expecting their first child.
As for my Team Conseco, we didn't finish the season the way we had
hoped. Going into Texas we were pretty pumped because A.J. Foyt IV had
had a good test session there.
Unfortunately, engine problems prevented us from finishing the race.
We haven't had too many engine problems this year but when we did,
they always seemed to come when we had the Conseco car running decent.
The engine problems started in our second practice but we blamed other
things for the slowing speeds. I thought about changing it after
qualifying but decided against that plan. Now I wish I had.
At the start, A.J. IV took off and passed some cars and things were
looking good. The car started pushing a little bit but we had that
taken care of after the first pit stop. That's when the engine
problems started to really show-it was cutting out going down the
backstretch.
With all of the technology that Toyota has put in the cockpit there
were some adjustments that A.J. IV could try while he was running. But
those fixes didn't work so he pitted and we changed the electronics.
That didn't work either so I knew it was internal and told him to park
it. There was no sense staying out there because he couldn't run as
fast as he had been. There was always the chance that the engine could
cut out at a really bad time and someone would run over him.
He drove a good race up to that point and I felt bad for him that we
didn't give him the car he needed that day. But this season is over
and now it is time to get working on 2004. We have a lot of work to do
but I think you'll see some good things happening for A.J. IV and Team
Conseco next year.
Before I go, I want to congratulate Scott Dixon and his owner Chip
Ganassi on winning the IRL championship this year and Gil deFerran on
winning the race at Texas. It was a great way for Gil to close out his
career and I wish him the best. I just hope he's better at retirement
than I am.
