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Pikes Peak
By A.J. Foyt
 This
past weekend at Pikes Peak was definitely not a Rocky Mountain High for A.J.
Foyt IV or my ABC Supply race team.
Finding a good set-up at Pikes Peak International Raceway is always a challenge
because the air is thin which affects the engines and the downforce. We've won
there (pole and race) and had top-10 finishes there but I've never had a driver
who's been real comfortable with the car.
We never found a set-up for the ABC Supply Dallara/Chevrolet that A.J. IV liked
in the hour and a half of practice we had before qualifying. He qualified 19th
out of 21 cars. We made some significant changes for the final practice but
those didn't work either so we weren't real optimistic going into the race.
 It
was either going to be a really long day or a short day. When A.J. IV was passed
by the leader inside of 20 laps, I opted for the short day; he parked the car
after 38 laps. There was no sense just riding around trying to stay out of
people's way. Sometimes you just have to cut your losses and call it a day and
that's what we did.
Those leaders set a hot pace though because only three cars were on the lead
lap. At the checkered it was Dan Wheldon followed by Sam Hornish and Tony Kanaan,
Wheldon's teammate.
By that time A.J. IV and I were already flying home to Texas and talking about
what we were going to do for the coming week's race at Infineon Raceway in
Sonoma, California. I'd been contacted by Jeff Bucknum last week about running a
second car there which I wasn't prepared to do budget-wise or crew-wise. Jeff,
who's currently racing in the American Le Mans Series, used to teach at Infineon
and really knows the track. He thought he could help with getting the car set up
for A.J. IV.
It was interesting idea, especially since we hadn't gone to the Open Test at
Infineon in April. At the time, we didn't have a sponsor and I wasn't sure if my
team would race there. Well, now we have ABC Supply as our sponsor so that
changes everything.
Although I couldn't run Jeff in a second car, I thought hard about running him
in the Number 14. I hesitated because it'd be the first time A.J. IV wasn't in
the 14 car since he started driving Indy cars. I asked A.J. IV about it on the
way home from Colorado. He was all for it. In fact, he seemed relieved.
For A.J. IV, racing at Infineon would have been his most difficult challenge yet
because he hadn't even seen the track, much less driven on it. That job is all
the harder when everyone else has spent two days testing there. However, Jeff
did test there. He'd worked a deal to run a second car for Dreyer & Reinbold at
Japan and Indy, and so he helped the team get a basic set-up at Infineon during
the IRL Open Test for their regular driver Roger Yasukawa.
I called Jeff about driving for me but I had to leave a message because he was
traveling home from the ALMS event at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
Where, I found out later, he'd won his class. He called back and was real happy
for the chance to drive for me this weekend.
I knew his dad Ronnie Bucknum when I raced against him in the ‘60s. In fact we
were supposed to drive together in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966. That's the
year I crashed my Indy car in practice at Milwaukee the week before Le Mans and
was burned pretty bad on my hands and face. Ronnie went on and finished third
driving with my good friend Dick Hutcherson who flew in as a last minute
replacement for me. Ronnie also drove Indy cars for three or four years and won
the first ever Indy car race at Michigan. I learned he passed away in 1992 from
complications from diabetes.
I think he'd be pleased to know his son Jeff was driving for me at Infineon. The
funny thing is, my grandson A.J. IV is real pleased. He'll be back in the car
for the Indy car race at Chicagoland Speedway next month but this weekend, he'll
watch, listen and learn, and probably give advice on dealing with his
grandfather to Jeff. It should be an interesting weekend for all of us.
I hope you tune in and watch. The race will be televised live this Sunday on
ESPN starting at 3:30 p.m. |
