Phoenix International Raceway
XM SATELLITE RADIO INDY 200

Phoenix International Raceway

Race Report: XM Satellite Radio 200

A.J. Foyt IV finished 14th for the second straight year at Phoenix International Raceway on a cool, overcast Saturday afternoon.

Foyt IV started 17th in the 22-car field after a problem with the gearing on his qualifying run.

"We had a good set-up on the car but we missed completely on the gearing," Foyt IV explained. "I was hitting the rev limiter before the start finish line."

The team made the proper changes for the final practice, and Foyt IV finished that session tenth quickest.

In the beginning of the race Foyt IV dropped from 17th to 19th as Tony Kanaan and Patrick Carpentier made their moves through the field after starting in the back due to an engine change for Kanaan and going to the back-up car for Carpentier who crashed in practice.

Buddy Rice brought out the first caution when he spun in turn one 16 laps into the race. Foyt IV pitted during the caution period but a miscommunication with the crew caused him to come out at the tail end of the field. He passed a few cars, working his way into 15th by lap 32 but the car developed a loose condition and he struggled to hold on until the next pitstop, losing a lap in the process.

With the leaders setting a torrid pace, Foyt IV continued to lose laps to the leaders but he did manage to avoid the trouble that plagued four other drivers who brought out the caution flag four times for single car accidents.

"We had a good car in final practice so I really thought our race would have gone better," said Foyt IV afterwards. "There was a stint where the car was pretty loose and I lost a lot of time. Once you get behind at a short oval like PIR, it's hard to make that up. When you move over for the leaders, you pick up the loose rubber which makes the car wormy and slows you down until you get back in the groove and clean off your tires. That situation just makes for a long day. I'm glad we survived it in one piece."

Sam Hornish won the event followed by Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti and Scott Sharp.

Foyt IV's next race will be his first ever on a street course in an Indy Car with the St. Petersburg Grand Prix slated for Sunday, April 3. It will be televised live on ESPN starting at 3:30 pm eastern time.
 

NOTES & QUOTES: IRL XM Satellite Radio Indy 200
A.J. Foyt IV: No. 14 Dallara/Toyota/Firestone

A.J. Foyt IV on Phoenix: "It's important to qualify well at Phoenix because the guys who start up front begin lapping cars 10 laps into the race. It's one of the tougher tracks to pass on because the straightaways are short, the corners are pretty tight and the second groove isn't that secure...We had a pretty good test here in February, we found a good balance on the car...I think the key to this race is staying on the lead lap, if you can do that you'll have a good finish."

Foyt IV finished ninth in the season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway March 6th. It was his best finish to date. He came through a fire in his pits unscathed and was able to wend his way through the debris of an eight car pile-up. "We didn't really have a top-10 car that day but we were lucky to get through that big accident. We had our own problems with a pit fire but it wasn't enough to keep us out of the race and then other teams had even bigger problems than we did. I haven't had much luck in this league so maybe our luck is changing for the better. It's certainly the best start to the season we've had since I joined the IndyCar team."

At Phoenix last year, Foyt finished 14th saying afterwards, "Our car was much better than the results showed today. Towards the end of the race we were running laps as fast as the leaders. Unfortunately, I got hung up behind a slow car early in the race and I just couldn't get by him. He blocked me pretty good. It was frustrating. He eventually crashed himself out of the race but by then I lost a lot of time. Still, I'm glad we were able to bring the car home in one piece."

Foyt Firsts: Foyt IV's first time ever in an Indy car happened at PIR in 2002 when he tested the Indy car driven by Eliseo Salazar at the time. His grandfather A.J. Foyt won the first ever Indy car race at PIR March 22, 1964, to start his outstanding season when he won 10 of 13 races.

The XM Satellite Radio Indy 200 Presented by Argent Mortgage will be broadcast live by ABC this Saturday, March 19th at 3 pm EST.

In 2004, Foyt IV's best start was 6th (at Chicagoland Speedway) and his best finish was 10that Texas Motor Speedway. He finished 18th in the IndyCar Series standings. Foyt IV won the Infiniti Pro Series championship in its inaugural season in 2002.