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Kentucky
By A.J. Foyt
 Racing
luck is a strange thing. When it's good, you can do no wrong and when it's bad,
everything seems to work against you.
This past weekend at Kentucky should have been one to celebrate because my
grandson A.J. IV drove one of the best races of his career, passing (with ease)
competitors who finished in the top-10. The Team Conseco pit crew didn't miss a
beat on their pit stops, all of which were in the eight-second bracket. And yet
we finished 18th, one lap down.
It all came down to an untimely yellow flag.
We pitted under green a lap earlier than anyone else. Tomas Sheckter, who was
leading, came in the following lap and had a problem with a pit fire and the
yellow came out. Most of the other teams planning to stop didn't and it worked
to their advantage. We weren't the only one caught out--Sam Hornish Jr. driving
for Team Penske was in the same predicament--he finished one lap down in 14th.
We did have another problem -- youthful impatience. My grandson was taking
flyers on the restarts, often gaining two or three positions but then he'd get
eased up high where he'd have to get out of the throttle and lose what he had
gained and more. Shuffled to the back, he'd work his way through the field.
He drove a hard race and he should have had a top-10 finish. I know he was
frustrated because he drove hard all day long and the Conseco crew gave him
great pit stops. The chassis worked so good that he didn't want any changes
during the race; any minor adjustments were done from inside the cockpit.
We are going to have to work on our fuel mileage because having to pit early put
us in a vulnerable position. It can happen to anyone but the longer you can stay
out, the better off you are. If a yellow does come out in the middle of the pit
stop window, you're in a position to take advantage of it instead of being
burned by it.
Our next race is at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Colorado Springs this
coming Sunday afternoon. It will be broadcast live on ABC at 3:30 pm Eastern
time.
We've won at PPIR before but it is a difficult track to figure out. Fuel mileage
will be important again and so will handling. Last year we struggled there but
it was only A.J. IV's fifth Indy car race. He's a lot more experienced now, and
that makes it easier for me to come up with a good chassis set-up for the
Conseco Dallara.
I know it is just a matter of time before A.J. IV starts getting the results he
is capable of. The pieces are starting to fall into place and once we get Lady
Luck on our side, there will be no stopping him. |
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