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Phoenix International Raceway
Outback Steakhouse 200
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Location: Avondale,
AZ
Shape: Oval
Distance: 1
mile
Banking, Turns:
11 degrees in Turns 1 and 2
9 degrees in Turns 3 and 4
Front Straight: 1,179
feet
Banking, Front Straight: None
Back Straight: 1,551
feet
Banking, Back Straight: None |
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Phoenix International Raceway
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Foyt's hope for top-10 finish dashed
PHOENIX (Oct. 27) -- Larry Foyt appeared to be headed for his first top-10 finish of the year in the Harrah's Chevy until he got collected by Ken Schrader in the Outback 200 NASCAR Busch Series race Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway.
Foyt, who qualified 30th, had worked his way into ninth when Schrader blew a right front tire. The NASCAR Winston Cup driver hit the wall in front of Foyt who could not avoid hitting Schrader's car as it slid down the track.
"We were playing the fuel strategy and it was working, but we were just getting ready to pit when Schrader's tire went," said Foyt. "My tires had 95 laps on them so I was slipping and sliding myself. As Kenny slid down, I slid up the track and we met. It's a shame because I really do think we would have had our first top-10 finish."
As it turned out, Foyt went to the garage to have his car repaired and returned to race 36 laps down. He placed 34th in the race and remains 23rd in the standings. Greg Biffle won the race. Rounding out the top five were: Jeff Green, Kevin Harvick, Ron Hornaday and Todd
Bodine.
Notes & Quotes
On Phoenix: "I've run at Phoenix in my Formula 2000 car
several times. The last time I was there, I finished fourth. My
first time at Phoenix I was third fastest in practice and we tried
one more change that we thought would get us the pole.
Unfortunately, it was a little too slick and I lost it and backed it
into the fence. I spent that night in the hospital.... In the 2000 car
you run flat out pretty much all around the track. I think the
average speed will be about the same as the Harrah's Chevy but the
stock car will feel a lot different. I've heard it's a pretty
challenging track in a stock car, but I'm looking forward to running
there."
On Testing at Homestead: "I am really excited after our test
session at Homestead last week. We took a car that we built in our
shop, in fact, it's the first car that we've ever built there. We
were in the hunt right off the truck. Homestead is tough because
it's easy to either under-drive or over-drive the track. It has such
long corners that you have to sustain the car under turning load for
a long time while also getting back on the throttle as quickly as
possible. It's a flat track which means there's no banking to hold
you, so there's no room for error."
On the past race at Memphis: Larry Foyt finished 17th in the
Sam's Town 250 NASCAR Busch Series race at Memphis Motorsports Park
Oct. 14. Rain on Saturday forced the postponement of the race to
Sunday. The grid was set according to owner's points when qualifying
was washed out on Friday. Foyt had worked his way from 25th to 16th
about midway through the race when he spun after entering the corner
too hard by his own admission. He dropped back to 24th but was able
to get the car going without bringing out a caution flag. He battled
back to the 17th position when the checkered fell.
Team MVP Award: Larry Foyt was voted MVP by his team for his
performance at Memphis. Each Monday the team votes for the member
who has proven to be the most valuable during the past race weekend.
Foyt's World Series Pick: "I'm going with the New York
Yankees. I think they need it after September 11th."
Foyt Appearances: Larry will be signing autographs as part of
the "NASCAR Zoomfest" at the Arizona Center Thursday night from 6:30
to 8:30 p.m. On Friday night he will be entertaining VIPs at the
Harrah's Ak-Chin Casino in Maricopa, southwest of Phoenix.
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 Points
standing: Foyt is 23rd in the points; he has earned $387,967 to
date.
Best
Busch Series Start: 5th at Michigan International Speedway on August
18.
Best
Busch Series Finish: 12th at Talladega Superspeedway on April 21. |
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