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Kentucky Speedway
Belterra Indy 300
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Location: Sparta,
KY
Shape: Tri-Oval
Distance: 1.5-miles
Banking, Turns: 14
degrees
Front Straight: 1,662
feet
Banking, Front Straight: 8
degrees
Back Straight: 1,600
feet
Banking, Back Straight: 4
degrees |
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Kentucky Speedway
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 The Belterra Casino Indy 300 at Kentucky
Speedway was a fast-paced race that saw winner Sam Hornish lap the field up to
third place. The average speed of the Indy car race was 197.8 mph around the
1.5-mile oval.
A.J. Foyt IV qualified 19th in the Conseco Dallara/Toyota and finished 17th
after former Indy Racing League champion Buddy Lazier nipped him in the waning
laps.
 Although no one could keep pace with pole sitter and leader Hornish, Foyt IV was
running a steady race when he pitted for fuel, tires and a front wing adjustment
on lap 54 of 200. Team Conseco performed the task in 9.5 seconds but the car
stalled on exit. The car was pushed back into the pit box and the engine was
re-fired, but the pitstop proved costly since it was made under green flag
conditions. Young Foyt lost a lap.
When he rejoined the field, he was running amidst the cars in the top-five and
he was holding his own despite being two laps down to Hornish.
Foyt IV's next two pit stops were clicked off in just over nine seconds but the
last set of tires were not to his liking as the No. 14 car's handling worsened.
"Towards the end the car got real loose so I was just trying to bring it home
for a finish," Foyt IV said afterwards.
"I think he did a good job," team owner A.J. Foyt said. "We talked about some of
the areas that he needs to work on but he's making progress every time he goes
out."
Hornish was followed across the line by Scott Dixon and Bryan Herta. Al Unser
Jr. and Helio Castroneves rounded out the top five.
Team Conseco is competing at Nazareth Speedway on August 24th. The Firestone
Indy 225 will be broadcast live at 3 pm eastern on ESPN.
NOTES & QUOTES:
Belterra Casino Indy 300 at Kentucky
A.J. Foyt IV: Conseco No. 14 Panoz G-Force/Toyota/Firestone
Kentucky 100
Ed Carpenter: No. 14 Futaba/Delphi Dallara
 A.J.
Foyt IV on Kentucky: "I'm looking forward to Kentucky because we had a real
good test there so I think we have a good baseline set-up for the Conseco
G-Force/Toyota. The track is one of the more challenging mile-and-a-half tracks
because it is flatter, there's not as much banking and it's a little rougher. I
want to get everything going well and come out of there with a top-10 finish. I
also look forward to seeing some of our old family friends from when we used to
live there when my dad was training horses."
At Gateway, A.J. IV had a long day and a short race. Starting 16th, he placed
17th in the final tally. The race was fraught with problems for the 19-year-old.
Initially there were handling problems, then the gearbox had to be replaced on
lap 70. Subsequently, engine problems proved terminal and he dropped out after
117 laps.
Ed Carpenter on Kentucky: "I tested an Indy car at Kentucky last month,
so I'm familiar with some of the recent changes they made at the track, like
grinding down some of bumps. Hopefully that will help me in the Futaba/Delphi 14
car. Last year at Kentucky I finished second to A.J. IV. We worked together in
the race, running nose to tail until the final laps when we got to racing. He
ended up winning but I think it was one of the closest finishes in the Infiniti
Pro Series last year."
Carpenter finished fourth at Gateway last Saturday and moved to third in the
Infiniti Pro Series standings.
Past performance for Foyt Racing at Kentucky Speedway: Last year, A.J.
Foyt IV qualified on the pole and won the Infiniti Pro Series race. Ed Carpenter
finished second in one of the closest finishes in Infiniti Pro Series history.
In the Indy cars, the Foyt team didn't fare too well. Airton Dare was running
well but was caught up in Tomas Scheckter's crash due to a blown tire, Eliseo
Salazar finished 14th and Greg Ray's mount blew a motor. Foyt Racing has one
top-five finish with Donnie Beechler (5th in 2001) and two top-five starts (2nd
with Salazar and 5th with Jeff Ward in 2000).
The Belterra Casino Indy 300 will be televised live Sunday at 2:00 pm Eastern on
ABC
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