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Larry Foyt
Finishes 30th in Texas
 Larry
Foyt struggled with an ill handling car but stayed out of trouble
and finished 30th in the Samsung/RadioShack 500 at Texas Motor
Speedway Sunday afternoon.
Elliott Sadler won the race after a close battle with rookie Kasey
Kahne who finished second. Rounding out the top five were Jeff
Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Rusty Wallace.
"It was a tough day," said Foyt afterwards. "The car was real tight
all day so I wasn't able to race too many people. I was out there
running my own race, trying to stay out of trouble and bring it home
in one piece, which we did. I hate to have to race like that."
Foyt had started the weekend off pretty well, ending up 19th in the
first practice. However, the car bottomed out pretty hard during his
qualifying run and he placed 35th on the grid.
Foyt had minimal final practice due to several unrelated problems.
The team was able to make some changes to correct the problems
encountered during final practice. However, they lost valuable track
time and did not get the car's race set-up dialed in.
The next race that the team will enter has not been decided yet.
Notes for Samsung/RadioShack 500 at
Texas Motor Speedway
Foyt on Texas:
"Racing at Texas Motor Speedway is special to me because it's my
home track. I grew up in Houston and lived in Ft. Worth for 5 years
while attending TCU [Texas Christian University], so I still have a
lot of friends and family in the area. I also like the track a great
deal. It's very smooth and fast, which seems to suit my driving
style. I'm excited because we are taking my favorite car as well,
which we raced at Homestead to a 16th place finish."
Several associate sponsors have been signed for this weekend
at TMS. Smith Chrysler-Dodge, located in Waxahachie, TX will
be featured on the hood of the No. 14 Dodge Intrepid. Ft. Worth
Harley-Davidson will be on the car's rear quarter panels while
Texas Harley-Davidson will be on the car's TV panel.
Insurance Auto Auctions will be featured on the rear deck lid.
IAA is a leading provider of automotive and specialty salvage
services in the U.S. providing cost effective turnkey solutions to
process and sell total-loss and recovered theft vehicles.
In his first NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup start at TMS in 2003, Foyt qualified 35th and
survived mechanical problems and a multi-car accident to finish
30th.
Foyt is attempting to compete in his first race since the
Subway 400 Feb. 22 at North Carolina Speedway where he finished
32nd. He returned to the cockpit of the A.J. Foyt Racing Dodge for
the first time when he tested at TMS March 16-17. "I'm not too
concerned about not having raced since the Rock," said Foyt. "I work
out regularly so I'm in pretty good physical shape. I think not
being a rookie anymore is the biggest help because I noticed this
year that I am much more relaxed in the race car. I didn't get tired
at Daytona or Rockingham."
A.J. Foyt will miss the first two days of action at TMS
because he will be working with his Indy car team and grandson A.J.
Foyt IV who is testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this Saturday.
The test is for the engine manufacturer's (in his case, Toyota) new
3.0 liter engine. The Indy Racing League mandated the new engine
size (down from 3.5 liters) to take effect starting with the
Indianapolis 500 as a safety measure in an effort to slow speeds.
Fox-TV: Live coverage of the Samsung/RadioShack 500 begins at
I pm eastern time on FOX. The green flag drops at 1:30 pm ET.
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