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Indy 500
By A.J. Foyt
 Disappointed.
That's how I felt coming out of the Indy 500. Realistically, I knew
we didn't have a chance to compete against the Honda-powered cars
and so our game plan was to survive.
One of my ABC Supply-sponsored cars did just that...Felipe Giaffone,
in the No. 48 Toyota-powered Panoz, survived a wild race. He had the
least amount of time in the car, having bumped his way into the
field on the last day of qualifying. He started last and finished
15th. His experience allowed him to adjust to the track conditions
and traffic. Heck in the beginning, he was part of the traffic and
in danger of being black-flagged for going too slow.
The problem is that in moving over for the leaders, he'd lose so
much momentum with the engine that it took him as much as two laps
to get back up to speed. If you're out of the groove, you get rubber
build-up on the tires, which makes the car handle worse. So Giaffone
impressed me because he was able to deal with it all, and as cars
eliminated themselves throughout the race, he moved up a position at
a time.
My Foyt Boys didn't fare as well. They were part of the attrition
which saw 18 cars out of the race before the checkered waved.
In my son Larry's case I think his lack of experience played a role
in his accident. This was his second Indy 500 and his second Indy
car race, but saying that he has adapted well to the Indy cars.
Initially his No. 41 ABC Supply Dallara/Toyota was working fine, but
then he complained that it became very loose very quickly. For it to
change that much, he thought he had a tire going down so he pitted.
The team gave him new tires and took out two turns of front wing to
help with the loose condition.
However, when he returned to the track, he was in traffic and the
car still didn't feel any different. In retrospect, that was
probably cold tires. Unlike the start of the race when you have
three warm-up laps to heat up your tires, Larry was getting back up
to speed following a green flag pitstop. And he was in traffic which
meant the air was turbulent too so it was tough situation to face
just 15 laps into the race.
The on-board data showed that he made an adjustment in the cockpit
with his sway bars. Unfortunately he went the wrong way for his
loose condition which made the car even looser. Entering turn one,
the car did a quarter turn spin and he was in the wall backwards. He
hit solidly with the rear, taking most of the impact to his back. He
was lucky he hit the SAFER barrier which is a wall designed to give
way under impact.
A trip to Methodist Hospital showed Larry suffered a compressed
vertebra and chipped disk in his lower spine. They kept him
overnight, fitted him with a back brace and released him the next
day. He is at home resting in North Carolina. I'm thankful that he
wasn't injured any worse.
And then there was my grandson A.J. Foyt IV. I know he was
disappointed because of the way he went out so early in last year's
race. He too had a problem with the car's handling going away but he
pitted during the caution for Larry's accident. We made adjustments
to make the car more stable. On the restart, some faster cars passed
him, forcing him out of the groove and he got rubber buildup on his
tires. By the time he got his tires cleaned and his lap times down,
the leaders were upon him and the same cycle started all over again.
He was running laps varying by as much as 15 mph depending on the
traffic situation.
That's tough too because once you get clear track it takes two laps
to get back up to speed but by that time the first lead pack is back
and you're out of the groove trying to make way for them.
Now I have to defend him on the Bruno Junquiera accident. And if the
on-air analysts were a little more perceptive, they might not have
been so critical. Junquiera was attempting to pass Anthony in the
short chute. But as they said in the drivers' meeting, when you do
that, you have to turn in early to give the guy on the outside some
room to make the corner too. Junquiera didn't do that. He misjudged
the timing and went bonsai underneath Anthony who either had to turn
in when he did or go into the marbles and hit the wall himself.
If there's any doubt, you can look at Junquiera's teammate Sebastian
Bourdais who pulled the same thing on Sam Hornish. Hornish gave
Bourdais room but Bourdais didn't return the courtesy and he didn't
turn in early. Result? Hornish was pushed up into the marbles and
into the wall. He was done and Bourdais never missed a beat. He
eventually crashed out with two laps to go.
Bourdais walked away but Junquiera wasn't that lucky. He broke his
back and had to have surgery to repair it. I understand that he will
be out for several months which is too bad.
Despite our problems, the Indy 500 turned out to be a great race for
the fans. Dan Wheldon finally gave Michael Andretti the victory that
had eluded him so many times as a driver. That team is looking
unbeatable these days.
Danica Patrick proved she can race with the best of them and earned
even more respect by staying in the hunt at the end of 500 miles.
Any questions about her stamina were soundly answered. She had some
mistakes in the race, but she showed that she could recover from
them. That ability to stay cool and stay focused is what impressed
me as much as anything.
I will say that it helps to have Honda power underneath her, seven
of the top eight cars were Hondas. The lone surviving Chevy-powered
car with 1996 Indy 500 winner Buddy Lazier finished fifth. The first
Toyota to finish was Helio Castroneves in the Penske Dallara; he was
the only Toyota to finish on the lead lap. To be fair, his Penske
teammate Sam Hornish gave the Hondas a run for their money. He led
most of his 77 laps in the first half of the race. Personally, I
think the Hondas got serious in the second half.
Good news is that the ABC TV ratings were up and we can all thank
Danica for that. People tuned in out of curiosity but they stay
tuned because the racing was close and competitive. For that we can
thank the IRL IndyCar Series.
Now it's on to my home state of Texas and the mighty Texas Motor
Speedway where the Indy cars deliver the closest, most competitive
racing on earth. Tune into ESPN at 8:30pm eastern time Saturday
night, June 11th. You'll be glad you did.
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Qualifying at Indy
By A.J. Foyt
 This
year at Indy things were pretty exciting for the A.J. Foyt Racing
team. We announced our new primary sponsor ABC Supply Co. which has
signed on for a multi-year agreement.
I really like the new company which is a wholesale distributor of
supplies to professional roofers. The management is down to earth,
much like the company founder Ken Hendricks. Like me, he didn't
stick around to get his high school diploma because he wanted to
start on his career. I got into racing because of my dad and Ken got
into roofing because of his dad, who was also a roofer. Ken built
his company into a $2 billion enterprise, and like me, he pretty
much employs his whole family. We have a lot in common and I think
we're going to have a lot of fun together
This month at Indy hasn't been the best for me because we are
underpowered. The good news is that my drivers, my grandson A.J. IV
and my son Larry have had a clean month so the crew hasn't had to
put in any long nights fixing race cars.
Larry had a solid run, posting all four laps in the mid-219 mph
range. He will start 30th or outside of the tenth row.
A.J. IV had a close call in qualifying when his engine blew going
into turn three as he was coming round to take the green. I was
waiting for him to come round when I heard the crowd gasp and I
looked up at the big stadium screen to see the car engulfed in
smoke. Luckily, he didn't spin in the oil that spewed out and he
managed to bring it into the pits.
 At
first I thought he crashed but then I saw it was the engine. I was
relieved and angry at the same time--relieved he didn't crash and
angry at how easily he could have. There are a couple drivers
sitting out this year's race (including last year's winner Buddy
Rice) because they hit the wall. I've been all over the TRD
management this month because of the engine problems we've had and
this just capped it. And it's not just us, all of the Toyota teams
are struggling and that will become apparent in the race unless the
Hondas and Chevrolets break.
We had to borrow a used engine from the Ganassi team to put in A.J.
IV's car. My crew installed it in less than two hours and he went
out towards the end of the day and ran four of the most consistent
laps he's ever run at the Speedway. They varied by less than
two-tenths of a mile an hour for a four lap average speed of 220.6
mph. He'll start 28th on the inside of the tenth row.
Qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 has always been about the
fastest 33 cars. That has never changed although the last two years
there was no bumping and therefore not much excitement on Bump Day.
Last year we created some drama when Tony Stewart stopped in to
visit me in the garage on Bump Day. We joked about his qualifying
one of my cars and then he tried one on for size. Before we knew it,
we had a full-fledged media storm going on complete with lawyers for
sponsors and teams burning up the cell phones.
That was fun for a while but ultimately Tony never turned a lap and
the media was left to write about what might have been.
 This
year we got the media stirred up with the possibility of bumping out
young Arie Luyendyk Jr. who had qualified at over 215 mph on Bump
Day to fill the field. Arie did a heckuva job to get that car
qualified with as little time as he had in the car.
But there are two things about the Indy 500 that have always been
true, they take the fastest 33 cars and there are no ‘give-me's at
the Brickyard. You earn the right to be there.
I learned on Sunday afternoon that Felipe Giaffone had been working
a deal for a ride but it fell through. The field was filled but the
possibility of getting him in the No. 48 car (he finished third here
several years ago) became very interesting to me. I knew if the
situation were reversed there wouldn't have been any hesitation on
Arie, Sr.'s part. He understands and respects the traditions of
Indy, the same as me.
Well it turns out Giaffone was shopping with his wife at Babies R Us
for their new baby. He thought there was no chance to race and he
was heading home to Brazil on Monday. So they called him on his cell
phone and told him to hightail it over to the Speedway which he did
(and the store was about 30 minutes away). It meant sneaking past
the gate guards because he didn't even have a credential to get in
but most racers are resourceful that way.
He came to the garage, got the paperwork done, took his physical at
the Med Center and was in the race car in less than two hours from
when he got the phone call.
I told him to take it easy, feel it out. Larry had run the car the
first week and had it over 216 mph so I knew it was fast enough to
put in the show. Around 5:30 we rolled in line to qualify.
Like my other two drivers, Giaffone ran four solid laps; they were
all over 217 mph to easily qualify for the final spot. There was
enough time left for Arie Jr. to try to bump his way back into the
field which he did attempt. The gun went off at 6 p.m. signaling the
end of qualifying. But if you're on the track when the gun goes off,
you're allowed to complete your run.
His first two laps were in the 214 mph range and I knew then we were
in the race with Giaffone in the 48 car. I also knew that Arie Jr.
would be back at Indianapolis to race in the 500, perhaps as soon as
next year. He proved he has the heart, now all he needs is the
speed.
After all, the Indy 500 is still about the fastest 33 cars and there
are no ‘give-me's at the Brickyard. |
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