Darlington is called "The track too tough to tame" and with good reason. It is one of those tricky tracks that really favors the veterans and is pretty tough on the rookies. The track is narrow and rough and you have to approach both ends of the track differently. Turns one and two you run right next to the wall but through three and four, you dive in low, the car slides up the track and you try to bring it back down off of four. It took me a while to adjust to the track but I was feeling pretty comfortable by raceday. Unfortunately, my race didn't last very long. At the end of the first lap, coming off turn four, I got hit in the rear by Gus Wasson. It shot me into the inside wall, which I hit so hard that it moved the rear end. I pitted and my Harrah's crew was able to repair the car somewhat. It was still screwed up, but we figured if I could just stay out and ride around, I could pick up some positions. We knew that there would be more accidents, and there were. We ended up 32nd out of the 43 cars that started so I guess the plan worked.

Notes & Quotes:

Hanging Tough: "At Atlanta, we had a bit more excitement than we bargained for in the first lap. I braked hard going into turn one and lost control. Luckily, I saved it from hitting the wall... The car wasn't performing the way we hoped but we ran all day and finished 22^nd. I certainly wasn't thrilled but we did finish which is a big goal for our Harrah's team this year."

On Darlington: "We had a good test at Darlington. I adapted to it pretty quickly. It's a tough place but I really like the track."  

Bristol Testing: "We only got half a day in because it rained. Right off the truck we were pretty good but the few changes we made didn't really help. We had a lot of other things planned to try, but unfortunately we just didn't get the time we needed."

First Starts: Larry is making his first start at Darlington nearly 16 years after A.J. Foyt made his only start at the historic oval. Unlike Larry, who tested at Darlington without incident earlier this month, A.J. earned his 'Darlington stripe' in turns 1 and 2 (now  turns 3 and 4) during his test session. 

50-year-old rookie A.J. took part in the 1985 Southern 500's rookie orientation program which was conducted by Ricky Rudd and the late Neil Bonnett. In his 96^th Winston Cup start, he started 26^th and finished 25^th, earning $2,675.