|
|
 |
 |
By A.J. Foyt
Once in a while, a racer drives a great race but doesn't win. Eliseo Salazar drove a good and hard race Saturday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Harrah's No. 14 but he didn't win the Z-max 500. He finished fifth.
We just weren't in the right spot at the right time. It was one of those nights where everything was good for us but, at the same time, it wasn't that good. We were a lot better than a fifth place car.
I don't know if we could have challenged winner Greg Ray because he dominated all night but I think we had a second place car at least.
Salazar started seventh and had moved into fourth by lap 35 just behind IRL champion Buddy Lazier.
Salazar and Lazier put on quite a show running side-by-side for nearly 20 laps at over 200 mph. It was thrilling for the fans and I know it was thrilling for the drivers because the wrong move by either one could have spelled disaster.
I tried to get Salazar to drop in behind Lazier because I knew if they drafted, they could close in on Sam Hornish who was running second to Greg Ray at the time.
Neither driver wanted to budge despite the advice from their pits. Salazar did pass Lazier for third place around lap 127 (in fact he passed Lazier twice that night). When Lazier started drafting Salazar, they closed in on the leaders. They were the fastest train on the track.
Drafting at high-speed banked tracks like Atlanta works like that. Two cars running in single file are faster than two cars running side-by-side and faster than either of them running by themselves. It has to do with the amount of turbulence and drag created. There is frontal area and less drag with cars in a single file so they move through the air faster.
The way the race played out, we had to make a pit stop for fuel late in the race. So did Lazier and Hornish and when that happened, the guys playing the fuel economy strategy - Scott Sharp and Buzz Calkins -- got ahead of us.
As I said, we ended up fifth but it could have been much worse.
"Hotlanta" took on new meaning for me and everyone else who came to the track that night. The action got hot all right but luckily no one was seriously hurt.
There was a spectacular accident involving 11 cars on lap 53 of the 200-lap race. One car slowed in turn three causing others to slow down. However, another car didn't slow down fast enough triggering the chain reaction accident coming out of turn four. It looked terrible. One car sailed through the air and a couple that hit the wall caught on fire. There were cars all over the place. Jack Miller was the only driver who went to the hospital and he was released the next day.
All of which goes to prove two things about Indy car racing today, it has gotten much safer but it will never be foolproof.
When cars run tightly together which happens more at the banked tracks like Atlanta and Texas, there is always the possibility of chain reaction accidents. Today's Indy cars, which are designed to break apart on impact and dissipate energy, are much safer than the roadsters I used to drive years ago. Back then, the Indy cars were so strong they didn't break easily and it was the driver taking most of the impact with unfortunate results.
That's the situation we have now in NASCAR. I think NASCAR is looking into ways to make the stock cars more crushable so it takes some of the shock from the driver's body. No organization can ever make racing totally safe, but all organizations work towards making racing safer.
Looking ahead, we go to Indianapolis second in the point standings and confident about our chances for success at my favorite track. Salazar is going to have a new teammate with Robby Gordon driving my second car so it should be exciting for everyone. I can't wait.
|
|
|
|
|
|
