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Phoenix
By AJ Foyt
 Phoenix
International Raceway is a one mile oval that used to be surrounded by
mountains on one side and cotton fields or ranches on the other three.
The mountains are still there but now there are houses everywhere.
They still aren't right next to the track but they're getting closer
each year. It's hard to believe how much the area has been developed,
especially in the last five years.
Despite all the development around the track, it is still the same
tricky track it has always been. I've run good there and I've crashed
there. It's one of the toughest tracks on the circuit to get your car
to handle well.
On Friday the track temperatures were about 25 degrees hotter than
when A.J. IV tested the Conseco car in February. We had to make some
adjustments to our baseline set-up throughout the two sessions. We
were 14th at the end of the day. This year the cars have less
downforce, so when the track is hot, they slip around even more than
usual.
On Saturday, we made some more changes to the 14 car including the
gearing. The gearing had been helping him get the car whoaed down for
turn one but too much so, which hurt his overall lap speed. For
qualifying, I raised it so he wouldn't run out of gear before he got
to turn one. I told him that he had to be careful not to overdrive the
car going into one, which believe me, is really easy to do.
How do I know? Because one of the last times that I drove my Indy car
there, I overdrove it going into one and backed it into the outside
wall. I hit so hard I broke the retaining wall and my shoulder, so I
knew what I was talking about.
Well A.J. IV drove about 100 feet deeper into turn one than he had
been, maybe because he was waiting on the rev limiter to slow him or
maybe because he thought the car could handle it. He was wrong about
that, but unlike me, he didn't hit the wall. He just had to get out of
it and wait longer than usual before he could get back on the gas. He
wasn't real happy with his time. He qualified 18th.
But he got over it and the next morning he was ready for the Copper
World Indy 200. In the final practice he was in the top 11 which made
all of us feel better about the race. I figured the track was going to
get hot and greasy so I went conservative on the set-up, too
conservative as it turned out.
It was hot. The temperature was 96 degrees and the track temp was
closer to 125. In the beginning of the race, A.J. IV said the car had
a bad push and he lost ground. The car drifted towards the outside
groove going through the middle of the turns and cars were able to get
underneath and pass him. His car's handling got better eventually but
there was one guy ahead of him that was using up a lot of race track
to keep A.J. IV behind.
A.J. IV was getting very frustrated because he knew he was faster but
the 14 car wasn't handling good enough that he could get a run on the
guy and pass him. If he had gotten by, both would have gone faster. As
it was, they lost a lap to the leaders by lap 25.
We thought the pit stops would sort it out, but we were both playing
fuel strategy game. We pitted on the same lap. Closely matched and
ahead of us on pitlane, he beat us out on both stops. The one time we
might have had a shot because he was speeding in the pits, the
officials didn't call him on it. Eventually he did lose control, spin
and hit the wall, but by then we had lost three laps to the leaders.
As much as A.J. IV wanted to pass that guy, I know he didn't want to
take a chance on wrecking the car. He wanted to finish the race. And
he did, placing 14th. I told him afterwards that he drove a good race
because he used his head and showed a lot of patience.
At a track like Phoenix that is really important because it'll sneak
up and bite you if you're not paying attention. There was at least one
notable driver who spun Sunday afternoon so it doesn't matter how
great a driver you are. PIR usually snatches you when you least expect
it.
Indy cars have been racing at Phoenix International Raceway for 40
years now. It makes me feel old because I won the first race ever held
there and it doesn't seem THAT long ago.
Now my 19-year-old grandson A.J. IV is trying to win his first Indy
car race for Team Conseco. It didn't happen at Phoenix but judging by
his progress from last year to this year, it is going to happen.
Probably when people least expect it. |
