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Race Recap
Survival...
When you strap in to run the high-banked bullring at Bristol Motor
Speedway, it's the word of the day.
In contrast to the unusually cool temperatures in the eastern
Tennessee mountains, tempers were hot during and after the
Channellock 250 NASCAR Busch Series race. The fisticuffs flew
afterwards between Kevin Harvick and Greg Biffle who had a problem
on the track that they tried to settle on pit road after the race.
Unfortunately for them, they only succeeded in earning a trip to the
Big Blue Truck (NASCAR's on-site hauler) where NASCAR told them to
expect some hefty fines this week for "unsportsmanlike behavior." I
bring this up to illustrate just how tough this little track can be
on both the equipment and the competitors.
On race day, in front of more than 110,000 people (a record crowd
for the Busch Series event), I received the Goody's Headache Extra
Strength Award for my unfortunate accident at Darlington. I
appreciated the award, but I was hoping to steer clear of being a
two-time winner at Bristol.
After a pretty intense day of practice focused on getting the car to
run through the corners, I was able to qualify the Harrah's
Chevrolet 19th – earning our first pit stall on the front stretch in
three attempts. But Bristol is a tricky place to run and it seemed
as though we had an entirely different race car in Happy Hour (final
practice session), which had us scratching our heads as we debated
the right set-up for the car on race day. Like I said before, the
car must run through the corners at Bristol so you can get on the
throttle hard coming off the corner
From the 19th position, my goal when the green flag fell was to get
through traffic as cleanly as possible and avoid the big wrecks that
come with the running at Bristol. For every lap but the last, the
Harrah's Racing Team endured the beating and banging and avoided any
major damage – until my buddy Mark Green spun in front of me just
after the white flag, resulting in a brutal accident that left us
both pretty sore on Sunday morning. Fortunately, the safety devices
in the Harrah's Chevrolet brought me through the collision unhurt
and in 20th position. Mark was bruised as well, but otherwise
unhurt, and came out of the race with a 17th-place finish.
Within eight laps of the start of the race, there was a multi-car
wreck in Turn 1. Our car felt pretty tight (wouldn't turn well in
the corners) in the opening laps of the race, and while trying to
avoid the wreck, I brushed the wall and bumped into Randy Lajoie,
damaging the right side and bashing in the left-front fender. The
impact made the car much tighter forcing me to pit under green for
two right-side tires, which helped the handling a little;
unfortunately, I lost a lap in the process.
The car was good the first few laps under green, but then it felt
like the right-front tire was doing too much of the work -- causing
a push. I had to drive the car deep into the corners, brake hard
then and jump into the throttle to try to keep up. The Harrah's
Chevy was pushing (riding up toward the wall in the corners instead
of turning) really bad and it was very frustrating to just ride
around avoiding all the wrecks. That makes for a long afternoon.
During the seventh caution (out of a record 14!), Crew Chief Jon
Wolfe made a call for two quick pit stops during the same
yellow-flag period to prevent us from losing a lap. First, we
changed the right-side tires, then returned on the next lap for
left-side tires. However, our strategy didn't work because I crossed
the line of our pit box when I came in the second time. So, NASCAR
hit us with a penalty and held me on pit road for one lap – putting
us two laps down. Our long day just got a little longer.
With nine laps to go, Greg Biffle hit Kevin Harvick in the rear,
sending him hard into the Turn 4 wall to bring out the final caution
of the day. NASCAR stopped the race to clean up the debris and end
the race under green. When racing resumed on lap 245 (out of 250),
Mark Green and Kevin Grubb collided in Turn 2, forcing Mark down the
track right in front of me. I tried to jerk the wheel left, but had
no place to go and T-boned Mark square in the driver's side door. It
was a hard impact and luckily we were both okay. After a long day at
Bristol, I finished the day 20th, 13 spots better than both our
finishes last year. We held onto 19th in points and are just one
point out of 18th.
In my last EMAX, I mentioned that my dad, A.J., and I were going to
join Harrah's President Gary Loveman in Washington, D.C. to announce
their sponsorship of Meals on Wheels of America and its "March for
Wheels" campaign. During my trip, we participated in a press
conference in front of a group of media gathered in the Ronald
Reagan Building to announce our involvement and meal donations. The
Harrah's Indy Racing League team and NASCAR Busch Series team have
pledged to donate one meal for each lap run, 10 for every lap lead
and 10,000 meals for every race won for the month of March. Other
programs will be announced throughout the year.
Following the press conference, we had lunch with Senator Harry Reid
(D-NV) and Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) in the U.S. Senate dining
room, which was an experience of a lifetime. In addition, we met
several other U.S. Senators, including Sen. John Breaux (D-LA), Sen.
John Ensign (R-NV) and Sen. Max Cleland (D-GA).
This week I head to Texas with our Winston Cup and Busch teams to
test at Texas Motor Speedway, where we'll race after taking off for
the Easter weekend. I'm really looking forward to returning to my
home state and visiting with family and friends over the break.
Have a great Easter Holiday!
FAST FACTS:
March for Meals... Larry
and his legendary father, A.J. Foyt, visited the nation's capital
Wednesday to lend support to the Meals on Wheels Association of
America as they kick off their first "March for Meals" campaign.
During March, the Harrah's Racing Team has pledged to donate one
meal for every lap Foyt runs, 10 meals for every lap he leads; and
an additional 10,000 meals for a visit to victory lane. In addition,
A.J.'s Indy Racing Team has pledged an identical contribution based
on performance. The Harrah's Racing teams have contributed a total
of 660 laps/meals to date -- 272 (Busch) and 388 (IRL).
Bird's Eye View... Skip Eyler, spotter for Foyt Racing's Busch
and Winston Cup teams has a critical role at Bristol – keep an eye
on his driver, yet stay far enough ahead of the Foyt entry to miss a
wreck in racing conditions that feature heavy braking into each
corner at one of the quickest venues in the sport. Drivers are
constantly in the middle of traffic, so Eyler is continually looking
a corner or straightaway ahead to allow his driver enough time to
take evasive action should a wreck occur in front of him. When it
comes right down to it, it's the driver that makes the final move.
"A spotter's role is to tell the driver what he can see," Eyler
said. "No guessing allowed – they make the final decision because
they're down there behind the wheel and I'm way up top."
Larry Foyt – Secret Square??... The No. 14 Harrah's Chevrolet
Monte Carlo will sport the logo of longtime celebrity game show
HOLLYWOOD SQUARES on its hood for the Channellock 250 this weekend.
Harrah's slot customers are the first in the country to play the new
HOLLYWOOD SQUARES video slot machines manufactured by WMS Gaming
Inc. HOLLYWOOD SQUARES branded slot machines will be premiering
exclusively at Harrah's properties all over the United States for a
limited period of time. The nine-line, nickel-denominated games
offer a top jackpot of 25,000 coins.
Larry Foyt... "Even though the track has given me no reason
to look forward to returning, I am anxious to get back to Bristol
because I've run well on half-mile ovals in my previous experience
in ASA (American Speed Association). Back in 2000, I sat on the pole
(breaking Mark Martin's record) at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway,
another high-banked half-mile oval like Bristol. It is a very tough,
concrete racetrack and we don't race on too many concrete
racetracks, other than Dover and Nashville. Your car reacts
differently on concrete than on asphalt, so you can't be a defensive
driver there. I enjoy the short track beating and banging that goes
on where you have to fight for every position. To be successful at
Bristol, you have to stay up on the wheel and run your hardest every
lap because it's literally nose-to-tail the entire race."
FOYT FILE
First Busch Series Start:
Daytona (2001) Started 36th Finished 19th
Last Race: Darlington (2002)
Started 28th Finished 38th
Best Start: 5th Michigan
International Speedway (2001)
Best Finish: 10th North
Carolina Speedway (2002)
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