By A.J. Foyt


Our weekend at Gateway International Raceway near St. Louis was a big disappointment for the Foyt/Harrah's Racing team.

We started out with problems on Friday. Our two practice sessions became just one because of rain delays, which hurt us more than most because we hadn't tested. The drivers used the sole practice session to get used to the track and provide what feedback they could. But Gateway is a tricky track to figure out. It's an egg-shaped 1.25-mile track that is unlike those we have run so far. So we were 18th and 20th after that first session.

Weather worked to our advantage the next day because the rain forced the Indy Racing League to cancel qualifying. We started by team owner points, which meant Eliseo Salazar started fourth in my Harrah's No. 14 Dallara/Olds Aurora. Unfortunately, Donnie Beechler had to start 16th in the No.11 car because that car began its season at Indy.

We did get a practice in Saturday afternoon and the changes we'd made worked because both of the drivers felt a lot better about their race cars. We were looking for a good race.

We almost had one.

Eliseo ran in the top three in the beginning, and Donnie made his way into the top-10, which he'd done by lap 50. At the end of 100 laps, both cars were still in the top-10 and things were looking pretty good for the Foyt/Harrah's Racing team. The crews were doing great on their pit stops, in fact Donnie's crew had pit stops in the nine-second range. It looked like everything was coming together.

Then everything started falling apart.

First it was Eliseo whose engine shut off after 127 laps. He ended up 17th. It turned out to be the same problem we had with Donnie's car during qualifying at Kentucky two weeks before-- the cam trigger broke. I was hot when I found out the cause and I had a few words with my engine builders. There are a lot of mistakes being made and I'm getting tired of it. The fact is, we've been having engine problems ever since May. I want answers and I will get them.

So with Eliseo out, I focused entirely on Donnie who was driving a helluva race. He had gotten up to fourth place with less than 15 laps to go. We figured we could make it to the end without having to stop for fuel.

Donnie started asking for tires but I told him he couldn't stop because he'd give up too much track position by pitting under green and we didn't need to stop for fuel. Besides he was driving really fast laps in the 164 mph range. I figured he could hold on.

I was wrong.

He got into turn two on lap188 but he never made it out. He spun and hit the wall. He said the back end came around and he wasn't sure why. Personally, I think he may have entered high and just got caught up in the loose stuff, the marbles. Donnie was okay but he felt awful about the crash.

He probably would have ended up second since he was ahead of Mark Dismore at the time and Dismore finished second to Al Unser, Jr. (who drove a great race by the way). Donnie ended up 14th.

We're going to go over everything we can in the telemetry to make sure that nothing else happened. Even if you think you know what happened, you just can't leave any stone unturned. By looking at the suspension points and the way the car tore apart right after the race, we do know that nothing broke. But we may find some other cause for the spin.

Investigations of accidents are a part of racing. That's one way of making racing safer, but we are not going to make it totally safe.

Speaking of investigations, I was asked to comment on the recent NASCAR investigation on Dale Earnhardt's fatal accident. Honestly, I think they went overboard. Some of the findings that the experts came up with are a little hard to believe. But mostly I feel sorry for the family because this stuff just keeps them upset and makes it harder on them.

Earnhardt was a personal friend of mine and despite what the investigation said, I just feel his time was up. And when it's your time, no amount of protection is going to save you. That's the way I feel about racing, and actually it's the way I've always looked at life.

That's why it's important to enjoy every moment of it. Even when racing doesn't go like I want and frustrating things happen, I'm doing what I love to do. What more can a guy ask for?