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Race Recap
A 5th-place qualifying run was a pretty good start to a rainy
weekend in Nashville. We qualified well here last year, so I
expected to be a little bit better – but when I came on the radio to
apologize for the lap I ran and they told me we were 5th, I thought
they were pulling my leg. The car was so good, it didn't feel like I
had run that fast.
We trying to stay with the trend we've established this year of
being better every time we go back to a track; unfortunately we
couldn't make it stand up during the race. A little trouble in the
on pit road and a caution just when we didn't need it, locked us two
laps down to the leaders late in the race and we came home a
disappointing 25th. The one thing we're certain of is that we can
run well at Nashville – and we'll be ready to do just that when we
return in June.
We ran well at the start of the race. I was able to hold my line
through the corners and pass race winner Scott Riggs inside of 10
laps to move into fourth place. Scott and I raced each other hard,
and just when I felt like I was into a good rhythm and had found my
line around the track, the rains came. It rained for a while, and
the field made laps in an effort to keep the track dry. After
spending 24 laps watching the leader just ahead of me ride around
under caution, I was anxious to resume racing and take the Harrah's
Chevrolet to the front. Jon Wolfe kept telling me that our advantage
was in our ability to run out of the corners -- gaining two car
lengths on the teams ahead of us in every turn.
When we finally returned to green-flag racing, I didn't waste any
time -- passing Jack Sprague on the first lap and racing hard with
the contenders early in a race for the first time this season.
Sprague fought back and got past us a few laps later and Jon made
the call for a four-tire stop when Greg Biffle spun to bring out the
caution. Unfortunately, we had trouble with our stop and the extra
time cost us 21 positions on the track – punting us back to 26th on
the restart. At a track like Nashville, where the field gets spread
out, track position is really important because you want to run up
front with the fast cars, not work through traffic to get to them
while they run away from you in clean air.
The rest of the race was pretty disappointing – losing 10 spots in
the next 10 because of a bad set of tires. The car ran so poorly it
almost felt like I had a tire going down, and we fell off the pace –
running two tenths slower than the lead cars. One thing we don't do
is quit. When you know you have the car to get the job done, all you
need is an opportunity and a little luck. We made the opportunity;
unfortunately, the luck didn't come with it.
Jon gambled and we came to pit road under green. We had a much
better stop and came out 31st, hoping to use new tires and a tank
full of fuel to get back in the hunt while the leaders ran on older
tires. When they pitted under green, we'd make up more time and then
get back on sequence during the next caution period. We needed a
long, green-flag run; however, two laps after our stop Hank Parker
Jr. and Ashton Lewis got together and Parker wrecked, locking us two
laps down and giving the rest of the field the chance to pit under
caution without losing track position. We ran hard for the rest of
the day, gaining a spot in the points race (to 17th), but we left
Nashville thinking about what could have been.
We'll put the weekend in Nashville out of our minds as we get set
for the high-banks of Talladega this weekend. We ran Talladega the
right way last season -- qualifying 17th, running consistently in
the draft, avoiding all the wrecks, and making good decisions in the
closing laps to finish 12th (our season best). We tested Talladega
in January and ran the Daytona 300 with this car to open the season
and finished 15th. Like I said before, our goal is to take what we
learned last season and apply those lessons to this year's races.
We've done a pretty good job so far and Talladega is a place where
anything can happen if you put yourself in the right position.
FAST FACTS:
Cement Shoes ... Nashville, Dover and Bristol Motor Speedway
have two things in common: Cement on the racing surface & Headaches
for the Harrah's Racing Team. In his five career starts on cement
tracks, Foyt has been taken out of the action by accidents in his
path four times, including a wreck last year in Nashville that
ruined a 14th-place qualifying effort just 53 laps from the finish.
Race for Life ... Foyt will lend his support to Race for Life,
participating in their race week charity event and autograph session
at the Wilson Central High School in Gladeville, TN. Race for Life
is an educational program that informs race fans about organ and
tissue donation and provides car seats for newborns at the local
Metro General Hospital.
FINS To The Left ... Following the Pepsi 300, Foyt will join
his fellow Parrotheads at Nashville's makeshift "Margaritaville" (AmSouth
Amphitheatre), for the festivities surrounding Jimmy Buffett's
annual visit. Foyt had a tough time ranking his top-5 Buffett tunes
("It's so difficult because it depends on where you are, what you're
doing and what mood you're in."), but decided on:
1) Banana Republics
2) Tin Cup Chalice
3) A Pirate Looks at Forty
4) The Weather is Here (Wish You Were Beautiful)
5) Manana
Larry Foyt... "I really like Nashville and enjoyed racing here
when we ran out at the Fairgrounds in an ASA car. Our test at the
Superspeedway put me on a more level playing field last season, and
it showed with our 14th–place qualifying. Unfortunately, with about
50 laps left we were running mid-pack, when I spun to miss a wreck
and got T-boned in the side by some traffic behind me. This team has
been really good at applying last year's lessons to this season's
races, and Nashville should be no different. We come back here in
about eight weeks, and a good run the first time around will
certainly make us anxious to return."
Jon Wolfe... "Even though we didn't get to run the full race,
the entire team is pumped up after the good run we had in Texas. Our
car was much better than where we finished, and we were looking at
another top-10 when the rains came. We tested in Nashville last
year, and as a rookie Larry ran well here last season. We're taking
the same car we ran in Las Vegas, so we're pretty excited about our
chances this weekend."
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