Race Recap: Chicagoland
 Last
week was one of my busiest yet since I've been running the
Harrah's Chevrolet in the NASCAR Busch Series.
My week began
with flying into
Indianapolis
Monday night for a press day with Casey Mears at
Indianapolis
Raceway
Park
on Tuesday. In addition to doing the media interviews, Casey
and I gave rides to VIPs from Anheuser-Busch. Some bad weather
delayed some of the rides but we were able to get them in by
the end of the day.
Then I flew
up to
Chicago for some special activities that my sponsor Harrah's had
lined up for me. They began on Wednesday with a Meals On
Wheels press conference in
East Chicago,
Ind. followed by our delivering some meals to seniors.
Usually we stick to the local streets when making deliveries,
but this time our police escort took us on the interstate for
a brief period. I was in fourth gear in the Harrah's show car!
I am sure we popped some eyeballs tooling along the highway in
the bright purple and yellow No. 14 stock car that sounded in
desperate need of a muffler.
The next
morning I headed to
Chicago
to appear on the FOX Morning Show in Chicago. That was
followed by a press conference in downtown Chicago with local
politicians and a Meals on Wheels delivery. Then we drove (in
our rental car) to the Harrah's Casino in Joliet, Ill. that
afternoon.
That evening
we did an autograph session along with eight other NASCAR
drivers in the Fan Fest, a street fair that was held in
downtown Joliet. We went back to the casino where the drivers
were given some betting money by Harrah's which they played in
the casino. I made out pretty good this time around and had a
lot of fun doing it.
I got up
early the next day for Busch Series practice at the 1.5-mile
Chicagoland Speedway which opened last year. It is one of my
favorite tracks on the NASCAR Busch circuit because it is fast
and smooth. The fact that there is a Harrah's Casino in Joliet
makes it that much better because I know that the
accommodations are great and the entertainment factor is
high...I really enjoy playing Blackjack.
Our practice
went pretty well and we made some changes for qualifying that
we figured would get us a top-15 starting berth. Unfortunately
the changes didn't work like we thought they would and we
ended up starting 23rd which was still 10 spots
better than last year.
But I was
disappointed with qualifying.
We finished
up the day with final practice which ran late because of
several accidents. In turn, I was late for the VIP Dinner at
Harrah's with some of their Diamond Player customers. We had a
nice time and I turned in early that night because I wanted to
be ready for the race on Saturday.
Race day was
bright, sunny and hot. I signed autographs at the merchandise
trailer, went to the driver's meeting and went to the Harrah's
suite to say hi to their customers.
Then I got
down to the business of racing.
We started
moving up through the field when the handling characteristics
of my car changed. It got looser and looser and I radioed in
that I was having trouble keeping it straight. My crew chief
Jon Wolfe asked me to hang on until the first round of
pitstops.
I tried to
but finally I told them I was coming in because if I didn't,
I'd be in the wall. I had already saved it a couple of times.
My Harrah's
crew had a good stop and when I got back on track, they
discovered that I had cut a right rear tire, which explained
the car's poor handling. It was a good thing that I pitted
when I did.
At least we
all thought so until the caution came out five laps later.
Because I pitted under green, and the leaders pitted under
yellow, I lost two laps!
The cautions
didn't work out where we could get our lap back so I finished
two laps down. However, there were eight cautions that slowed
the race and by virtue of missing other drivers' wrecks, we
were able to salvage a 22nd place finish.
Although my
race was over, my weekend wasn't. I came to the track the next
day to watch my father's car run in the Winston Cup race.
However, instead of watching from the pits, I went to the
Harrah's suite to visit with the guests. We enjoyed the day
and I flew home that evening.
I had to get
home because our next race is at Gateway International
Speedway this Saturday night. I will be flying out of
Charlotte on Tuesday to do yet another round of p.r. and
promotional activities around the race.
The good
news is that there is another Harrah's Casino on the outskirts
of St. Louis, so it should be a good time!
Notes & Quotes
 "Chicagoland Speedway is really fast and super smooth which is
why it is one of my favorite tracks on the circuit," Foyt
said. "We're taking the car we ran at Texas; that particular
Harrah's Chevrolet works really well on these 1.5 mile
tracks."
On his father's Harrah's team's double victory at Kansas..."That
was really exciting, it really pumped our team up," said Foyt.
"Even though we're down here in Charlotte, we keep close tabs
on how my dad's Harrah's Indy car team is doing, and now we'll
be following A.J. IV in the Infiniti Pro Series too. It was a
great day for the Foyt/Harrah's Racing team."
Fan Fest at Harrah's Thursday Night: Foyt will join his
fellow NASCAR drivers in a public autograph session at
Harrah's Casino in Joliet from 6 to 9 p.m. The drivers include
Stacy Compton, Robby Gordon, Kenny Wallace, Elliott Sadler,
Greg Biffle and Shane Hmiel. The following night it will be
Larry Foyt Night at the Casino where he will be entertaining
special customers of Harrah's.
Daytona Race Recap: Foyt had his best start to date at
Daytona (24th) but a couple of incidents in the race
compromised the aerodynamics of his bright yellow No. 14
Harrah's Chevrolet. However, Foyt missed the "big one" and
salvaged an 11th place finish from what he described as a
"long and frustrating night."
Foyt is 19th in the NASCAR Busch Series standings; he has
earned $322,685 to date.
Joliet 2001: He started 33rd and placed 22nd but had
engine problems (a broken valve spring).
Best 2002 Start: 5th at Nashville (Apr. 13) and
Kentucky (June 15)
Best 2002 Finish: 8th at Talladega (Apr. 20) |
