FOYT FACTOR:
Bristol Bummer
 Let
me start by saying that I love racing at Bristol even though the
track has never given me any reason to. By that I mean I haven't had
much luck at the high-banked, half-mile bullring but I love racing
there nevertheless.
Last Friday night I had the best-handling Harrah's Chevy that I have
ever had at that track. We qualified 29th (due more to going out
second to qualify than the car's performance) but we were up to 19th
very fast.
Then I got caught up in someone else's problems which is typical of
Bristol. But when you have a really good car, it can be really
frustrating.
It was a two-car wreck, but when all was said and done, there were
10 of us in it. I slowed down and had the wreck missed but the
rookie behind me didn't react quite as quickly and he hit me in the
rear. That sent me into the wall backwards and it tore the bumper
down.
We no sooner got running again and there was another accident but
this time when I slowed, no one hit me and I got away pretty
cleanly.
Surprisingly, the car still drove pretty decent after all of that.
In fact, I was looking at a 16th place finish with 30 laps to go!
Unfortunately for me, NASCAR was looking at my rear bumper and
decided it wasn't safe. The fact that it took them 170 laps to come
to that conclusion makes me wonder about their timing but they
black-flagged me which meant I had to pit under green.
My Harrah's crew ripped off the bumper and the rear spoiler was no
longer effective. My car went from one of the best-handling cars I
ever had to one of the worst in the space of 10 seconds! It was
loose, very, very loose which means that the rear end wants to come
around--that's a bad feeling. I felt like I was turning right (to
save it) more than I was turning left. I didn't know if I could make
it to the end but we did and we finished 21st.
My crew couldn't believe I could drive the car without the rear
spoiler and I'm not sure how I did it--just one of those cases where
you do what you have to do.
We head to Darlington next – another track I like even though it
doesn't really give me any reason to. I'm hoping to change that this
weekend.
Larry Foyt
Notes & Quotes:
 Larry Foyt on Bristol: "The key to Bristol is to finish.
Things happen so fast there that it is very easy to become involved
in someone else's problems. You are flying around that bullring.
There is a lot of beating and banging going on and you will be
beaten and banged up. You just have to try to keep it off the wall
and be there at the end. It's a wild and crazy night of racing. The
crowds love it, the drivers love it, but I'm not so sure the owners
love it. It will cost them money."
Foyt in the "2002 Sprint Bristol Breakaway"...Foyt will join
fellow NASCAR Busch and Winston Cup participants Sunday morning in
the Sprint-sponsored motorcycle ride from Bristol, Tenn. back to
Charlotte, N.C. Spear-headed by Kyle Petty, the charity ride's
proceeds will go to the Victory Junction Gang, a camp for children
with chronic or life-threatening illness. Taking the route through
the Blue Ridge Mountains, the riders will visit the Children's
Hospital in Greenville, S.C. along the way. "I love any excuse to
get on my Harley, but being able to visit the kids in Greenville and
also help out the Victory Junction Camp makes it a really special
day," Foyt said.
Michigan Race Recap: Gambling on bringing a car with more
downforce than the one last year in hopes of having a better car in
the race, Foyt had to take a provisional for the second time this
year and started 38th. The gamble didn't pay off because the car did
not work as they planned in traffic. However, good pitstops and a
never-give-up attitude helped Foyt battle the aero-problems on his
car and bring the Harrah's Chevy home on the lead lap in 26th. He
gained a spot in the points and broke the $400,000 mark in earnings
this year.
Foyt is 18th in the NASCAR Busch Series standings; he has earned
$413,870 to date.
Bristol 2001: "Although our qualifying and finish wasn't very
good (started 29th and finished 33rd), we came out of there with a
good taste in our mouths. We were a lot better than we were in our
first race at Bristol when we had to take a provisional. In fact
this time we were pretty darn sporty in the Harrah's Chevy. That was
part of my problem. I was anxious to get to the front and I got into
the back of a car and I had to lift which let the guy behind me get
a run. But he tried to make it three abreast and there was no room
so we all tangled. But after Jon Wolfe and the guys fixed my car, we
were running lap times comparable to the leaders. This Harrah's team
has worked really hard to improve the program and it's starting to
show."
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