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Japan
By A.J. Foyt
 Japan
is a long ways from my ranch in Houston. It takes 13 and a half
hours by plane traveling over 600 mph to get there. Sitting in a
plane that long aggravates my old racing injuries, and the 14 hour
difference in time zones confuses my body clock. Tack on a three
hour ride north to Twin Ring Motegi (or TRM, the 1.5 mile egg-shaped
oval built by Honda), and I'm not in the best frame of mind when I
arrive.
Bu then something happens in this land of the rising sun and things
don't seem so tough after all. Maybe it's the race fans who are very
polite and very appreciative of every little thing. Or it could be
the track management's (i.e. Honda) attention to detail because they
run the program with the timing of a Swiss watch. I don't know what
it is about Japan, but I keep coming back.
I was happy to see our young Japanese buddy Tetsuo Kuramochi, of
Utsonomiya again. He's studying to be a lawyer but he's got the
racing bug-he came to our races at Infineon Raceway and Chicagoland
last year and now he's planning to come to Indy in May.
Getting back to TRM, we haven't really done well in the previous
Indy Japan 300s there. Some of the problems have been self-inflicted
and some were beyond our control. This year with the Honda engine
package, we seemed to be in our best position ever to turn our luck
around.
Unfortunately, when all was said and done, we didn't, but at least
there were some bright spots.
One thing that wasn't too bright the first two days was the weather.
It was cold and rainy. A partial practice session on Thursday and no
practice before qualifying on Friday meant that the field was set
according to points. That was good news because Felipe Giaffone
would start ninth in the ABC Supply Dallara/Honda; it was our best
start ever at Twin Ring Motegi.
Things began looking even better after final practice because
although Giaffone hadn't raced at TRM since 2003, he was 10th quick
in final practice and confident of a good run on race day.
Then the weather changed, and with it our run of what seemed to be
good fortune.
Race day was warmer and sunnier than it had been all week. I didn't
compensate enough in the set-up and when the green flag dropped,
Giaffone began dropping back. He was 14th when the first yellow came
out for an accident involving Tomas Enge and Ed Carpenter (they
weren't hurt).
Giaffone asked for more downforce in the car. We made about four pit
stops under yellow trying a couple different things. In hindsight I
wish I hadn't because I felt like I gave him too much downforce. The
car was more comfortable to drive but too slow down the straights.
He got through the turns a little faster but not enough to overcome
the speed he lost on the straightaways.
I knew when the race really got going that we were in for a long day
in the No. 14 ABC Supply car.
However, it wasn't quite as long as I would have liked. We were out
after 155 laps. Giaffone was running 13th, a lap down. Bryan Herta
passed him cleanly going into three but as Giaffone tried to follow
in the only groove there, Hornish shoved his car in there. Giaffone
moved up so he wouldn't hit Hornish but then he was left scrambling
for traction that wasn't there.
Drifting up into the marbles, Giaffone brushed the wall in turn
four. The hit knocked out the front suspension, he slid down across
the track and then the car hooked and he angled back into the
outside wall on the straightaway. The second impact caused a lot of
damage to the car but at least Giaffone wasn't hurt. He placed 15th.
It was his first finish out of the top 10 this year and he went from
being tied at eighth to standing alone in tenth. We were both
disappointed.
Results like that make the long trip home seem even longer. The only
thing we can do is to look forward to my favorite race, the
Indianapolis 500. Giaffone will have a teammate there because my son
Larry Foyt is going to drive a second car for me. He hasn't had too
much luck at the Speedway in his first two tries but with the Honda
engine package we have now, Larry has his best shot ever to do well.
The Indianapolis 500 will be televised live by ABC on Sunday, May
28th starting at 1 p.m. eastern time but I'll be letting you know
how qualifying goes in the meantime. Till then?
Sayonara Motegi, hello Indy.
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