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Race Recap
Rain at Texas Motor Speedway made it a long Saturday for the
Harrah's Racing Team as the clouds kept rolling in, and the start of
the race kept getting pushed back. For a while there, I thought I
was going to run the first Busch Series night race ever at TMS. The
storms certainly didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the race fans,
because when we finally took the track later in the afternoon, they
were still there, ready to get loud. Unfortunately for those diehard
Texas souls we were only able to run 116 laps, and their native son
in the No. 14 ended the day where he began – in 16th.
There was a lot of talk all week about Texas being a one-groove
racetrack until enough laps were run on the new surface. My Dad, A.J.,
made the right call just before the race went green, telling me that
he believed there was enough of a second groove to race on and that
I might catch an early advantage by using it. When we got the green
flag I didn't waste any time running the high side and flashed past
a surprised Jeff Burton (Busch Series points leader) in the opening
laps. It was a good start, but don't get me wrong -- this definitely
wasn't three-wide racing at Talladega. The fastest place on the
track was still the bottom and each driver did his best to stay in
line and run the white line through the corners.
With the constant threat of rain, pit strategy ended up being the
key factor in the race and we came out on the short end. When the
final caution flew, we brought the Harrah's Chevrolet in for four
tires, and almost made the gamble pay off. We were making laps under
the yellow flag and got half a lap from a restart when the skies
opened up and NASCAR called the final rain delay -- negating our run
past the teams that took two tires, or none at all, in the green
flag racing we hoped would follow. It's was a little disappointing
because we had a much better car than we were able to show and I
really wanted to earn our first top-5 finish in Texas. We'll have
plenty of chances to gamble again; maybe next time Mother Nature
will be a little more kind.
While the rains kept us off the track, it let me spend time with a
large group of family and friends who came down to the garage during
the weekend – 75 in all, including high school classmates and some
of my fraternity brothers from Sigma Chi at Texas Christian
University. TCU's Athletic Department even sent along some "Horned
Frog" decals for the car.
Next weekend the Harrah's Racing Team heads to Nashville
Superspeedway for the Pepsi 300. It's the first of two visits in
just eight weeks to Nashville, where the folks that created the
racetrack in Dover, DE have constructed a speedway that's smooth and
quick – and naturally, cement.
We qualified 14th there last season and were running strong until we
got caught up in a late accident. This team is has been really good
at applying last year's lessons to this season's races, so I'm
anxious to return to a track like Nashville where I know we could
have finished better if our day hadn't ended early.
Thanks for all your support.
Test Session has Foyt Pumped for Texas
It was all work and no play for the Harrah's Racing Team during
our pre-Easter visit to Texas Motor Speedway last week. The practice
session went really well, and I'm anxious to get back to racing
after a week on the couch. The car handled well the entire time we
were in Texas and Jon Wolfe's initial set up was pretty close to the
mark right when we unloaded, so we only had to do a little tweaking.
The car we're bringing to Texas this weekend has been good to us in
the past - qualifying 5th (career-best) at Michigan last year and
we're shooting for a repeat performance, or better, at TMS. With
such a solid test session under our belts, I believe we're going
into the race more prepared than at any other track we've run this
season.
I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. I was pretty anxious to
get back to North Carolina and claim my Easter present -- a 2002,
silver (anodized aluminum) Harley-Davidson VRSCA V-Rod motorcycle.
It's my first toy and I really like it. It's the first water-cooled
Harley that they've made this year and it's an innovative design
aimed at attracting the Generation X riders. Over the holiday
weekend, I rode my new bike around town (Mooresville, NC) and
relaxed at home. Although it was great to get off the road for the
weekend, I felt really out of place being at home instead of at the
shop getting ready for the next race.
RPM2Night paid a visit to the Foyt Racing shop early in the week.
Mike Massaro and his ESPN cameras shadowed me for a day while I
tended to all my off-track duties. Everyone gets to see what I do on
the track -- the ESPN feature is more about my role as team owner of
the No. 14 Harrah's Busch Team and as team manager of the Team
Conseco Pontiac on the Winston Cup side. The segment is scheduled to
air some time next week after we come back from Texas.
It's always good to return to Texas and I'm excited about racing in
front of all the people that support the team from the Foyt family's
home state. I even have some friends coming to the race from my alma
mater, Texas Christian University (yes, I'm proud to be a Horned
Frog).
After following our top-15 in the season opener with my first top-10
at Rockingham, we've struggled a bit and endured some hard luck in
Darlington and Bristol. The week off for Easter and the great test
at TMS has the Harrah's Team recharged and ready for a run of 11
straight races - starting this weekend in Texas and ending in
mid-June in Kentucky.
I'll tell you all about our run in the O'Reilly 300 and let you know
when to watch for us on ESPN next week when I return from Texas.
Thanks for your support.
FAST FACTS
Home Sweet Home... Prior to the Easter holiday, the Harrah's
Racing Team tested at Texas Motor Speedway, their first non-superspeedway
test of the 2002 season. The newly-surfaced track made for a fast
ride, allowing the Harrah's Chevrolet to pick up the pace each time
out. Foyt currently sits 19th in the chase for the Busch Series
Championship, just 42 points out of the top-15, and is looking to
crack the top-five for the first time in his NASCAR career after
posting the first top-10 of his career in Rockingham.
Horned Frog Racing... Foyt feels comfortable running around the
Lone Star State in Harrah's purple, as he spent four years
surrounded by purple-clad comrades at Texas Christian University.
Graduation from the Fort Worth, Texas university was a racing
pre-requisite imposed by A.J. Foyt on his son, who earned his degree
in Communications (B.A.) in May of 2000.
RPM2Night Behind the Scenes... Last week, ESPN's Mike Massaro
paid a visit to the Foyt Racing shop in Mooresville, N.C. so the
RPM2Night cameras could capture Larry Foyt in the midst of his
off-track duties, as owner of the No. 14 Harrah's Busch Team and as
team manager of the Team Conseco Pontiac on the Winston Cup side.
The "all-access" segment will wrap up this weekend at Texas Motor
Speedway (TMS) with an interview with A.J. Foyt and is scheduled to
air next week.
Larry Foyt... "I think we have a pretty good package for the
race. Jon Wolfe's initial set up was pretty close for our test last
week, so we only had to tweak it a little. This is a car that we
typically run well in -- it's actually the same car we qualified
fifth (career-best) with at Michigan last year. It was the first
time that we've tested since Daytona, so I feel like we're going
into the race more prepared than at any other track we've run this
season."
Jon Wolfe... "They (TMS) have done a great job making the track
smoother, especially in Turn 1; however, there's definitely only one
groove out there and if you get out of it, you're going to be in
trouble. As we run more laps in practice on Thursday and Friday,
that second line should come in and the track won't be as
treacherous. The biggest thing that we found during our test was
that we can get more aggressive with our set up. That wasn't
possible before due to all the bumps on the track. Eight or nine
cars were testing last week and only one car was quicker than we
were, so I was pleased with how we stacked up against that group of
cars."
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