Michigan
By A.J. Foyt
|
Photo Credit: Steve Swope |
Our race weekend in Michigan started early for me with an
appearance on Thursday in Butler, Indiana at Maxton Motors, the
fifth oldest car dealership in the country. A good friend of mine
named Carl Miskotten took over the dealership earlier this year and
arranged for me to attend the grand opening (under new ownership).
Of course that promise was made in May, way before my knee surgery.
But when I make a promise to somebody, I try to keep it.
It was a good turnout-especially for such a small town in northern
Indiana. I think they estimated about 400 people came on Thursday
afternoon in the rain! I know I signed all kinds of old racing stuff
for two and half hours. Carl had pictures made up but people brought
a lot of their own things. It was interesting to see the old
pictures-sometimes it's hard for me to believe I was ever that
young. I was tired from sitting so long but I enjoyed meeting all of
those race fans.
|
Photo Credit: Cindy Bodkin
|
That evening we flew on my jet to Jackson, Michigan which is where
we stayed. The next day I was at the track overseeing my ABC Supply
crew. They set up the pits and sent the No. 14 Dallara/Honda through
technical inspection. My driver Jeff Bucknum was off doing publicity
appearances.
Jeff's dad Ronnie Bucknum won the first ever Indy car race at
Michigan International Speedway's two-mile high-banked oval. That
was back in October of 1968 and he beat some pretty tough drivers
including Mario Andretti, Johnny Rutherford, Lloyd Ruby, Bobby and
Al Unser and me! My car broke a ring and pinion but Mario finished
second.
Anyway, Jeff was making his debut on the track which was different
from any other track he'd run. That's pretty much been the case with
Jeff this year. Except for Indy, he's never run the same type of
track twice since he began his Indy car career last year. Each time
out it has been a big learning curve for him.
At Michigan he had to learn about drafting with other cars and also
being precise in his line. Missing your marks costs you a lot of
time. Time was the one thing he didn't have much of because there
was just an hour and a half of practice on Saturday before he had to
qualify.
He qualified at a speed over 210 mph, good for 18th on the grid. In
final practice later that day, he didn't go a whole lot faster but
as I told my sponsor ABC Supply, Jeff was new to the ovals. Helping
with his adjustment is our new engineer Len Paskus, who worked with
Jeff last year.
Before the race on Sunday, we made an announcement about a new
associate sponsor joining our team-- Investment Properties of
America, a real estate investment and management company. They
signed on for the final four races of the year. Ed Okun, the CEO and
founder of the company, seemed very excited about the whole deal.
Instead of putting the company name on the car, he put on the names
of four other companies which he is associated with: Montauk
Financial Group, Crossroads Transportation and Logistics, BarterOne
and Security 1031 Services. However, Jeff's uniform carries the
Investment Properties of America logo. I'm looking forward to
working with them.
Jeff was a busy guy on race day. He made a visit to the ABC Supply
hospitality tent before the driver's meeting. Typically ABC brings
in between 250 -300 guests for every race! Following the drivers
meeting, he was at the press conference and then we had a meet and
greet for the ABC Supply Roofer of the Race (my nickname) which is
actually a sweepstakes contest held for their contractors. The
winner has his company name on the race car for that race plus they
spend some private time with me and Jeff and get their photo taken
with us by the car. They also receive racing merchandise from ABC
Supply. It's a fun for me because these guys really seem to
appreciate the whole race weekend experience.
We thought after the photos that we'd get down to racing but a huge,
quick-moving rain storm came and delayed the start for over two and
a half hours. The race started around 6:15 pm which meant fans at
home missed out on the live TV broadcast because ABC-TV had to run
their regular programming.
For us it was a hard fought race. It was my first race sitting on
the pit-stand since Richmond. Our pit-stand is the tallest one there
and it means my climbing a ladder with about five or six rungs. I
was a little nervous about getting up there but I made it without
too much trouble. It's a good thing I have strong arms.
Jeff ran a good race--I could see from his lap times how he was
doing. When he'd slow down, I'd start talking to him and he'd be
back up to speed. Having that feedback helped him figure out what
lines were best and what moves to avoid.
One of the toughest things to learn about oval track racing is the
mental discipline. It's easy to drift off, especially when it's a
long race like the Firestone Indy 400, the second longest race we
run. I know that sounds strange but believe me, it happens even if
you are going over 210 mph.
Jeff is the first to admit that he has a lot to learn about oval
track racing since he came from a road racing background. But he's a
quick learner. This time, he learned about running the high banks
and how to draft on them. It's all about knowing where you have to
position the car to take full advantage of the aerodynamics. By the
end of the race, he was doing a really good job.
Jeff finished 14th. It was the first time he actually saw the
checkered flag on an oval so the race was satisfying to him from
that standpoint. With each race he is becoming more confident and
that is an important part of success in this sport.
We have this weekend off and I'm going to enjoy it. Our next race is
at Kentucky Speedway on Sunday August 13th. It will be televised
live (barring weather problems) on ABC-TV starting at 3:30 p.m.
eastern time. I hope you tune in.
|
