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A.J. Foyt II - A.J Foyt IV - A.J. Foyt III |
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Gateway International Raceway
Emerson Indy 250
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Location: Madison, IL
Shape: Oval
Distance: 1.25-miles
Front Straight: 1,922
Feet
Back Straight: 1,976 feet |
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Gateway International Raceway
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Race Report:
 A.J.
Foyt IV's learning curve got a little steeper Sunday afternoon when the Indy
Racing League IndyCar Series staged the Emerson Indy 250 at Gateway
International Raceway.
Gateway is a 1.25 mile egg-shaped oval located just across the Missouri
River from St. Louis. Turns one and two are much tighter than the broad
sweeper in turns three and four. Therefore, drivers are required to shift
between two and three times a lap to get maximum speed out of their cars.
The shifting, plus the braking and throttle control all combine to make the
track a challenging one for drivers. Those drivers with road course
experience enjoy a distinct advantage because of those factors.
Foyt IV qualified 16th in the Conseco Dallara/Toyota but a problem with the
car's handling in the beginning of the 200-lap race caused him to drop off
the pace. The team made adjustments on the car throughout the race and
improved it but the car was still too "loose."
 Young
Foyt IV's problems worsened when he and Bryan Herta made contact in turn one
but both drivers were able to continue on although Foyt IV pitted twice to
check for suspension damage.
On lap 70, he had to pit for a faulty gearbox which Team Conseco replaced in
less than seven minutes but it cost him 16 laps. He rejoined the race with
the intention of getting experience and perhaps a few extra points.
Despite the valiant effort by the crew, Foyt IV had to drop out on lap 117
when the throttle linkage broke in the engine. He placed 17th.
The race was won by Helio Castroneves. Tony Kanaan and Gil DeFerran finished
second and third.
The next event for the IRL IndyCar Series is the Belterra Casino Indy 300 at
Kentucky Speedway on August 17th. It will be televised live at 2 pm Eastern
time by ABC.
A.J. Foyt IV Tests at Gateway
 A.J.
Foyt IV had a successful test in the No. 14 Conseco Dallara/Toyota this
week at Gateway International Raceway just outside of St. Louis. Foyt
ran nearly 130 laps in the course of the two-day test. His lap times
were in the mid 26-second bracket.
"Gateway is a challenging track so I'm glad we got a chance to test
there," the 19-year-old said. "The corners are pretty different. Turns
1 and 2 are a lot tighter than 3 and 4, so the set-up is a compromise.
But we'll compromise more on 1 & 2 because you can carry a lot more
speed through 3 & 4.
"It's fun because you shift every lap to keep the revs up which makes
it a little different from the other ovals we race on. I'm looking for
a solid finish in the Conseco car. We had a pretty good test there. On
race weekend, I look for us to be competitive, run all day and try to
get a top-10 finish."
 Foyt
IV took his first laps around the 1.25-mile track on Tuesday morning.
He lapped the track in the 27-second bracket but a cut tire on an
Infiniti Pro Series car which was also testing that day caused track
personnel to examine the surface more closely. It was determined that
the sealer installed to fix weepers was softening and the cars'
downforce was causing the track to break up. The team cut the test
short that day while the track personnel began a quick fix to prep the
track for the next two days of Indy car testing.
Foyt IV returned the next day to log most of his laps along with
several other teams including Team Penske, Panther Racing, Team Rahal
and Mo Nunn Racing. Unfortunately frequent cut tires made it difficult
on the teams.
"I was pretty conservative in the set-up for A.J. IV," said his
grandfather. "I basically wanted him to get comfortable with the track
and get a baseline for when we return. There's no sense in
overextending yourself in a test session. We learned what we needed to.
It's just a shame that we had the problems with the track breaking up
in the turns. They'll need to get it fixed before 20-plus Indy cars
show up next week to race."
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