Detroit
By A.J. Foyt

The IndyCar Series visited Detroit for the first time with the running of the Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle last weekend. The CART champ cars had run there for ten years from 1992 – 2002. I had been there for the first four races so I wasn’t looking forward to this return because I remembered the paddock which was grass and when it rained, it turned to mud. The straw and plywood boards didn’t help much in that situation.

It was very different this time around because everywhere was paved with new concrete; for a street course it was really very well done. Roger Penske, who headed the project to get the Indy cars into Detroit, oversaw the massive facelift. His group did a great job. It wouldn’t surprise me if the circuit, which is extremely bumpy even for a street course, is smoothed out by the time we return next year.

Darren Manning scored our season-best finish in the ABC Supply Dallara/Honda in Sunday’s race. He qualified eighth and was never out of the top ten, running as high as sixth. That is the first time this year that I can say that.

However, as the track surface got more rubber on it, the looser the car became and more difficult to handle. No driver likes a loose-handling race car and every driver has different tolerances for how loose a car can get before he gets into trouble. With the track being as bumpy and narrow as it was, it was a challenge just to stay on the track without hitting the concrete barriers.

Our pit stops, which had been pretty consistent and fast, were not as quick this weekend. The ABC Supply crew –well all of the crews--had to do everything opposite because the cars are going in the opposite direction: left to right instead of the normal right to left we have on ovals (and some road courses like Infineon). We didn’t blow any stops but they weren’t our finest performances of the season either.

There is something to be said about keeping your cool when others around you aren’t, so I thought Darren drove a decent race. Darren’s patience and other drivers’ impatience played a big part in our top-five finish. The car wasn’t as good as it could have been but I think a lot of teams were caught out with loose-handling race cars. We made some adjustments during the race but it wasn’t enough for the way the track rubbered up (of course we’ll know better when next year rolls around).

It’s clear to all of us that we have a lot of work to do over the winter which we have already started planning out.

I want to congratulate my grandson Anthony on running a good race—he ran out of fuel with two laps to go because his team gambled on an alternate fuel strategy but it almost worked. If it had, he would have finished third! He ended up ninth which is his best ever finish on a road course, and it is only his fifth road course race. He is working well with Tony George’s Vision Racing team and I’m really happy for them.

Right now though, our focus is on the last race of the season at Chicagoland Speedway. We haven’t been as strong on the superspeedways but it would be nice to notch another top-five finish to close out the year. The PEAK Antifreeze Indy 300 will be televised live on ABC-TV Sunday, Sept. 9th starting at 4 pm eastern time. I hope you will tune in.