Michigan International Speedway
Firestone Indy 400

Date: August 1, 2004
Start: 16
Finish: 15

A.J. Foyt IV drove a steady race in the Conseco Dallara/Toyota to finish 15th Sunday afternoon in the Michigan Indy 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Foyt IV ran well but the gearing hampered him on the initial start and subsequent restarts.

"We had problems with the motor on Saturday and never got a good run so I had to guess on the gearing," said team owner A.J. Foyt. "I ran three top gears to cover our bases and it really hurt A.J. IV on the restarts because the car would bog down going from third to fourth."

Foyt IV dropped from his 16th starting spot to nearly last on the initial start but he then began passing cars on the outside once he built up his momentum. He was running 15th when he went a lap down at the halfway point of the 200-lap race. Restarts on subsequent yellows saw him drop to the back twice. He battled his way back both times but had to conserve fuel in the final stint which cost him a 14th-place finish.

"The Conseco car handled really well all day but we were a little off on our gearing," said Foyt IV. "Then at the end we had to conserve fuel so we lost a position. But Team Conseco had great stops so that was a positive. We ran flat out all day long and did the best we could with what we had."

"We had great stops all day, I was really proud of my crew," said Foyt. Pit stops were a problem for many of the other teams with at least six teams being involved in three different pit road accidents. A member of the Panther crew sustained a broken tibia; no other were crew members were injured. Ironically, there were no accidents on the track. The four caution periods were for debris and a tow-in of car that ran out of fuel.

Indy 500 winner Buddy Rice edged out Tony Kanaan by seven-hundredths of a second to win the 99th race of the IRL IndyCar Series. It was the fourth fastest IRL race on record with an average speed of 182.123 mph. Twenty-one of the 22 starters finished the race.

The next race is the Belterra Casino Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway Sunday, August 15th. It will be televised live at 3:30 pm eastern on ABC