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Michigan International Speedway
NAPAOnline.com 250
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Location: Brooklyn,
Mich.
Shape: Oval
Distance: 2.0-miles
Banking, Turns: 18
degrees
Front Straight: 3,600
feet
Banking, Front Straight: 12
degrees
Back Straight: 2,242
feet
Banking, Back Straight: 5
degrees |
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Michigan International Speedway
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Larry Foyt qualifies fifth at Michigan
For NAPAonline.com 250
BROOKLYN, Mich. (August 17) --
Rookie driver-owner Larry Foyt posted a career best qualifying run in his Harrah's No. 14 Monte Carlo at Michigan International Speedway today to start fifth in the NAPAonline.com 250 NASCAR Busch Series race Saturday.
Foyt qualified at 39.220 seconds around the two-mile oval at a speed of 185.580 mph. His previous best start was 10th at Pike's Peak International Raceway in Colorado in July. His best finish in the Busch Series is 12th at Talladega Superspeedway. Starting ahead of Foyt tomorrow is pole winner Jimmy Spencer followed by Ryan Newman, Mike Skinner and Kevin Lepage.
"The car felt good in practice this morning," said Foyt, who was 21st in the first practice. "We changed a few things and were able to pick up a couple tenths while some other guys slowed down. We put a lot of work into this car and the engine department worked hard on the engine. This is good for the whole team."
Foyt, son of four-time Indy 500 winner A.J. Foyt, did not test at MIS but his first impression of the track was a positive one.
"It's different from a lot of the other tracks, but I like it," said the 24-year-old Houston native. "It's smooth and wide. We only ran about 15 to 20 laps before we qualified. I'm anxious to see how it works in traffic during Happy Hour."
The NAPAonline.com 250 will be broadcast on TNT cablevision network at 1:00 pm ET.
Notes & Quotes: NASCAR Busch Series NAPAonline.com 250
On Michigan International Speedway: "I am really excited about running at Michigan," said Foyt. "We are taking one of the newer cars from our fleet, it's the one that David Starr ran at Texas. Our engine department has been working really hard to fix some of the problems we've had, which we think stemmed from a bad batch of valve springs. And they've tried some new things that should give us some extra power. Plus, I'm excited about A.J. IV running at Springfield in the USAC Silver Bullet Series. I have a good feeling about this weekend."
Larry will join Totally NASCAR's Sean Pragano on Sunday as they visit the Carowinds Amusement Park in nearby South Carolina. The segment will air on the Fox Network in the near future.
A.J. Foyt IV, 17, will make his debut in the USAC Silver Bullet Series at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield August 18th. It is the same track that A.J. Foyt competed in 44 years ago in his first Indy car start when he started 16th and finished ninth. Young A.J. will drive the brand new Conseco/Craftsman Beast/Gaerte No. 14 for his first time ever in a short test session at the one-mile dirt oval in DuQuoin, Ill. August 16th.
On Indianapolis Raceway Park: "We just had a tough night at IRP. We were able to stay on the lead lap for the first half of the race, but we did get lapped eventually. Then I tangled with another driver in turns 1 and 2. I went high to give him room but he slid up and tagged me and I spun. I was able to keep going but I flat-spotted the tires and had to pit to change them. We changed all four tires and NASCAR thought only two were real bad so they penalized us two laps. They have a rule that you can only change two tires at a time under yellow. It was a tough night all the way around."
 Points
standing: Foyt is 22nd in the driver's points; he has earned
$284,087.
Best
Busch Series Start: 10th at Pike's Peak International Raceway
July 17th
Best
Busch Series Finish: 12th at Talladega Superspeedway on April 21
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