PROMISING WEEKEND ENDS IN FLAMES FOR HARRAH'S TEAM
 Joliet,
Illinois - What looked to be a promising weekend for Larry
Foyt and the No. 14 Harrah's team ended up in flames Sunday
afternoon in the Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.
The team qualified 31st, making the race on speed for the
second straight weekend, and was strong during Saturday's two
practice sessions. However, the team found a problem with the
engine late Saturday and was forced to replace it. By rule,
the team had to give up their starting position and begin from
the race from the rear of the field.
"That's a win-lose situation," said Foyt, driver of the No. 14
Harrah's Dodge. "It's a shame we had to start at the rear of
the field, but we probably would have blown the engine a few
laps into the race."
Foyt battled a tight condition in the turns to start out the
race. On lap 57 the team pitted and made adjustments to combat
the tight condition and it paid off. Foyt was a half second
faster than his previous lap times and started making moves
through the field before disaster struck on lap 88.
Foyt's Dodge spun in turns three and four and backed hard into
the wall, which crushed in the fuel cell and caught fire. Foyt
came out of the accident uninjured, but disappointed.
"It's frustrating because we wanted to put on a good show for
all the Harrah's fans who came to the race," said Foyt. "I
guess I just got a little high in the turns and picked up some
debris on the tires.
"I'm especially disappointed because this is one of the best
handling race cars that I've had all year. But this team never
gives up and we'll be ready for them next weekend."
The Winston Cup Series' next stop is at New Hampshire
International Speedway, but the Harrah's team is making a
detour through Indianapolis for a two-day test session at
Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This will mark the young Foyt's
first laps around the historic track in a race car.
"I think A.J. took me around it in a station wagon when I was
five," said Foyt. "I'm really excited and I'm sure I'll get
chills when I rocket down the front stretch for the first
time. But I can't dwell on it too much because we're there to
gather as much information about the car that we can."
Broadcast
Information:
- Qualifying: July 11, 4:00 p.m. EDT on the Speed Channel
- Race: July 13, 2:30 p.m. EDT on NBC
Race Length:
- 400 miles (267 laps)
Track Records:
Qualifying:
- 183.717 mph (29.393 seconds ) set by Todd Bodine on July 13,
2001
Race
- 136.832 mph set by Kevin Harvick on July 14, 2002
Notes
- Larry has a pair of 22nd -place finishes at Chicagoland
Speedway in the NASCAR Busch Series.
- Chicagoland Speedway sits on 930 acres of land, which is
large enough to accommodate 42 United Centers (Home of the
Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks).
- The height of the grandstands is 15 stories tall, which is
the same height as the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel in downtown
Chicago. They are also 2,480 ft. long, which is slightly
longer than two John Hancock buildings laid end-to-end.
Larry Foyt on Chicagoland
"I enjoy racing at places like Chicago and Texas because they
are really smooth racetracks. A second groove should develop
as the race progresses, which will allow for more side-by-side
racing.
"We're going to test at Indy on Monday and Tuesday and I'm
really excited to turning some laps there. Hopefully, we'll
gain some valuable information for the upcoming Brickyard 400
in August."12:02 PM 7/10/03
|
