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Lowe's Motor Speedway
Coca-Cola 600

Lowe's Motor Speedway

FOYT'S LATE-RACE RALLY SLOWED BY RAIN

Due to rain, a strong weekend for the No. 14 Foyt/Harrah's team ended early, resulting in a 34th-place finish in Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Jimmie Johnson won the rain-shortened race, after taking home a cool million from last weekend's running of The Winston.

"The car was running well towards the end of the race," said Larry Foyt, driver of the No. 14 Harrah's Dodge. "We had a few problems early on, but we were able to overcome that in the pits. I think we had a chance to finish better if the rain hadn't stopped us."

Foyt began the race in 29th position, his best start of the season. For the next 67 laps, however, he fought a loose car, pushing him to the back of the pack.

Then Foyt experienced a tight car for the next 30 laps. Following the next pit stop, he could feel improvements in his Harrah's Dodge but had little time to improve his track position before the race was delayed for a brief rain shower.

Significant improvements were made after a series of pit stops. The brief euphoria was cut short by Ricky Craven, driver of the No. 32 Tide Pontiac. Craven's failed engine dispersed oil on the No. 14 Harrah's Dodge, obscuring Foyt's vision and causing him to hit the wall coming out of Turn 4.

"There wasn't anywhere I could go when Craven's engine blew," said Foyt. "There was oil all over the car and my steering was messed up. We were able to fix the car but never had time to get our laps back."

The minor damages incurred by the accident were quickly remedied in the pit. Only 13 laps later, heavy rains brought the race to a halt. NASCAR officials determined that weather conditions would not improve, thus they ended the race.

Next weekend's race, the MBNA Armed Forces Family 400 at Dover International Speedway will be broadcasted live by FOX and MRN Radio beginning at 12:30 p.m. EST.

Race Length:
- 600 miles (400 laps)

Notes:
- Larry and the Harrah's Racing team competed in The Winston Open last Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway and finished 17th. From practice to qualifying they shaved off six tenths of a second off their lap time, a major improvement at such a fast track.

- On Sunday morning before the Coca-Cola 600, Larry will be at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indianapolis 500. A.J. Foyt IV is competing in his first Indy 500 and Larry will be there for the opening laps, and then he will fly down to Charlotte to compete in the Winston Cup race.

Larry Foyt on Lowe's Motor Speedway:
"The Winston Open served as a mini 'test-session' for us since we didn't get a chance to test there earlier this month. We made a lot of improvements and I'm really excited about competing in the 600.
"I'm really excited for A.J. IV and his first Indy 500. I've never missed the 500, and I didn't see any reason why I had to this year.
The Cup race on Sunday is the longest of the season - 600 miles. The cool thing about it starts at daytime and ends at night. That will affect our setup a bit, so there will be quite a bit of strategy involved. I can't wait!"

- Larry has competed fives times at Lowe's Motor Speedway - four times in the NASCAR Busch Series and last Saturday's Winston Open. His best performance was in the fall Busch race in 2002 when he qualified ninth and finished 17th.