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Phoenix
By A.J. Foyt
 When
we landed at the Goodyear Airport just outside of Phoenix
International Raceway last Thursday afternoon, I was surprised at
how cool it was. I actually needed a jacket and I wore it all
weekend.
This year's cool, damp weather was very different from last year's
which was hot, 96 degrees on race day. The race day temperatures on
Saturday were in the low 70's and the skies were overcast and
threatening rain (it spritzed a little in the morning).
 That
wasn't the only difference. Last year it was a three-day show
because it was part of the Copper World Classic (three more
divisions of race cars). With only the Infiniti Pro Series running
as a companion event, the weekend was cut to two days: practice and
qualifying on Friday, race on Saturday. Yep, the race was on
Saturday afternoon. I think the last time we did that (outside of
Japan maybe) was when we ran at Disneyworld in the early years of
the IRL.
I don't think running on Saturday was a good move because people
expect us to race on Sunday afternoon or on Saturday night. I think
the schedule switch may have hurt the attendance numbers a little,
the crowd at the track seemed down. Of course the weather had to
hurt the walk-up crowd too. Until about 150 laps into the race, it
looked like it would rain any minute.
I bet next year we'll be racing on Sunday.
Anyway, the weather didn't really affect the actual racing that
much. The cars still fly around that one mile oval turning laps in
the 20-second bracket. With race laps at over 170 mph, things happen
very quickly. Traffic becomes an issue for the leaders and the
leaders become an issue for the traffic. You have to show courtesy
in tight quarters or you'll be in the wall. I think for the most
part people did that because the accidents seemed to be limited to
driver error.
The race wasn't one of our best but it wasn't the worst either.
There was miscommunication on the first pitstop but fortunately it
was during the yellow flag (brought out for Buddy Rice's spin on lap
12). A.J. IV thought we wanted him to pit but we weren't expecting
him. It was partly my fault. He came out last which might not have
been so bad except the car got really loose on him during that next
stint. The leaders lapped him by lap 50 and he was holding on until
the next stop when we could adjust the car.
We got the No. 14 car working better but once you get in that cycle
of having to move over for the leaders, you lose your rhythm and you
lose more time. Sometimes when you move over, you get in the loose
stuff and your tires pick up the rubber causing the car to feel
different. If it's real bad, the driver feels a vibration which
makes him nervous. Then he's hoping for a caution so he can get to
the pits and get new tires. And he's praying he doesn't become the
reason for the caution.
Fortunately, we stayed out of trouble in that sense. A.J. IV
finished 14th after starting 17th.
I'm just glad he finished, or as he put it, survived. Four cars hit
the wall over the course of the race and they were all single car
accidents. A.J. IV did a good job to bring the No.14 car home in one
piece for the second race in a row. He's tied for 12th in the
points.
It looks like the newest Toyota engine is working pretty good. TRD
found some horsepower which will come in handy when we go to Japan
next month which is when we'll have the new engine. I'm sure Toyota
Racing Development (TRD) wants to look good in Japan. With the
Penske team sweeping Phoenix, Toyota was looking very good in
Phoenix.
We have off on Easter weekend and we'll spend it with family. Then
we're off to St. Petersburg for the Honda Grand Prix. That will be a
new experience for A.J. IV who has never driven an Indy car on a
street course. He tested on the road course at Texas World Speedway
last month and seemed to enjoy it. But this will be totally
different because street courses are very hard on the equipment and
with these drivers having so many different levels of experience,
the opportunity for crashes is pretty ripe. If he survives this
upcoming race to the finish, I'll be very happy because it will
probably be another top 10 finish.
The race will be broadcast on Sunday afternoon, April 3rd at 3:30
pm. I hope you'll tune in--it should be very interesting to watch. |
