|
|
|
News Releases: |
|
Don Halliday Joins AJ Foyt Racing as Chief Engineer
HOUSTON January 27, 2012—Don Halliday, one of the most respected engineers in open wheel racing, has signed with AJ Foyt Racing as chief engineer of the No. 14 ABC Supply Dallara powered by Honda and driven by Mike Conway.
Halliday’s connection with Foyt can be traced to one of Foyt’s former drivers, Kenny Brack, who won the IndyCar championship in 1998 and followed that up by winning the Indianapolis 500 in 1999.
“Kenny and I were talking about A.J.’s situation,” Halliday explained. “Kenny and A.J. have remained in touch ever since Kenny drove for him, and Kenny is a very good friend of mine, so there was a connection,” said Halliday.
Contact was made with Larry Foyt, team director of AJ Foyt Racing, who has been working the phones since October interviewing several drivers and engineers as he began reshaping the team in preparation for the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series season.
“It’s really exciting to have Don on board with us,” said Foyt. “The chief engineer is obviously a very important piece of the puzzle when you talk about building a race team, so getting to know him and watching him interact with our group as we started to work together makes me very optimistic. I really enjoy his approach to engineering a race car and his methodology, and I think it’s going to fit in really well with our team. So far everyone has jelled very quickly and we’re all really looking forward to getting on the race track and going racing.”
After meeting the team principals, Halliday was encouraged by the friendly atmosphere and spirit of cooperation among the team members. “It should be fun, the people are very friendly here,” he said.
More importantly, Halliday is looking forward to the challenge of sorting out the new Dallara. It was precisely that challenge that motivated him to become involved in the sport he had stepped away from after the 2003 season.
“It’s going to be very interesting to see how everyone handles this new car,” said the New Zealand native who has been a U.S. citizen for a number of years. “It’s what I’ve always been used to from working in Formula 1 and through designing Indy cars as well – that’s part of what you do. It’s going to be a different challenge for everyone but it’s one that I’m quite used to. Plus I enjoy the challenge and it’s one of the reasons for getting back in the series.”
Halliday’s open wheel resume dates back to the late ‘70s, working with the Bruce McLaren Formula One team before moving on to Bernie Ecclestone’s Brabham team in 1983-1984. He moved to Indy car racing in 1985 with Maury Kraines Kraco team, spent a couple years in Formula 3000 before returning to Indy cars for good in 1989. During the 1990s and early 2000s, he enjoyed success with some of the top teams and drivers in the series including Truesports (with driver Scott Pruett), Tasman, Team Kool Green (with drivers Dario Franchitti and Paul Tracy), and Team Rahal (with driver Kenny Brack).
Halliday’s return to the IndyCar Series last year followed a productive entrepreneurial period for his automotive engineering company Halliday Technologies Inc. which he founded in 1994. Halliday Technologies Inc. holds several patented designs in auto safety related areas, including the Grip Evaluation and Management (GEMTM) Device – a breakthrough technology that determines measurable levels of grip between individual tires and the road surface. This technology has been used in auto racing and by Firestone in the development of race tires.
Halliday also designed a military vehicle using DMACS technology which vents the blast through the vehicle providing enhanced protection for the war fighter in the event of an IED blast.
“I’ve become a bit of an inventor,” he acknowledges.
Halliday’s being able to think outside the box is one factor that appeals to team owner A.J. Foyt.
“We spoke about a lot of things and I like the way he thinks,” Foyt said. “I believe he will bring a lot to our team this year. My son Larry has done a great job putting together one of the strongest teams I’ve ever had. I’m really looking forward to the racing season.”
The ABC Supply team is planning to test in Sebring, Florida next Tuesday and Wednesday (Jan 31-Feb 1) with Conway. It will mark the first time that both team and driver experience the new Dallara/Honda package.
|
|
AJ Foyt Racing Hires Mike Conway To Drive the No. 14 ABC Supply Indy Car
HOUSTON December 20, 2011—AJ Foyt Racing has hired Long Beach Grand Prix winner Mike Conway to drive the No. 14 ABC Supply Honda in the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series.
Conway, who won the Long Beach Grand Prix in his 26th IndyCar start, brings strength on the road courses to the team. In 2011, he qualified in the top-10 six times on the road and street circuits, which is also where his four top-10 finishes came.
“With the Series having twice as many road courses as ovals, we looked for a driver who is fast on those tracks and Mike has certainly proved himself in that area,” said A.J. Foyt. “I’m looking forward to working with him,” adding with a chuckle, “I may even be able to give him a little advice when it comes to the ovals.”
“First of all I’d like to thank 2MB Sports Management and AJ Foyt Racing for making this deal come together. I can't wait to start work with the AJ Foyt Racing team and to drive the No. 14 ABC Supply Car. It's going to be an exciting season with the new cars and multiple engine manufacturers. Hopefully we can hit the ground running with off season developments and be quick out the box. I’m counting the days until the first test and the start of the season,” commented Mike Conway.
Conway made his first start in the IZOD IndyCar Series in 2009 driving for Dreyer-Reinbold. Towards mid-season he began capitalizing on his brilliant potential with several top-10 finishes before scoring his first podium –a third place finish at California’s challenging Infineon Raceway.
In 2010, he was in position to post his fourth top-10 finish in six starts but on the final lap of the Indianapolis 500, he collided with a suddenly slowing Ryan Hunter-Reay, launching Conway into the catchfence resulting in season-ending injuries to his leg and back.
Signing with Andretti Autosport in 2011, Conway dispelled all doubts about his return to the cockpit with a strong fourth place qualifying run in the season opener in St. Petersburg and an incredible drive in the Long Beach Grand Prix. In that race, he qualified third but dropped to 21st after a problem on the first pit stop. Conway fought his way back to lead the final 14 laps after executing a couple of textbook passes on frontrunners Ryan Briscoe and Dario Franchitti, who finished second and third.
The British Racing Drivers Club recently awarded the Innes Ireland Award to Conway in recognition of his inspiring comeback from his 2010 Indy 500 accident. The award is given to the driver who best displayed the qualities of courage and sportsmanship epitomized by the late Innes Ireland, a British Formula 1 driver who was badly injured in the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix. He recovered to win three Grands Prix the same season including the U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen.
En route to Conway’s burgeoning IndyCar career, the 28-year-old Briton won several championships, triumphing in British Karting, the 2004 Formula Renault UK Series as well as the British F3 International Series in 2006. Conway captured the Macau Grand Prix in 2006 becoming the first British driver to do so since Darren Manning won it in 1999. Manning drove for the Foyt team from 2006-2008.
In 2007 and 2008, Conway raced in the very competitive GP2 Series (previously named Formula 3000), the feeder series to Formula 1. Conway, who won a sprint race in the streets of Monaco in 2008, also served as a test driver for the Honda Formula 1 team during that time.
"We all have big expectations for the upcoming season, and Mike shares our passion for getting the team back in victory lane,” Larry Foyt said. “There is no doubt he has a ton of talent and, when combined with A.J.'s experience, I think we can accomplish great things together."
Foyt’s ABC Supply team will take delivery of its 2012 Dallara this week and expects to start testing in early February. |
|
A.J Foyt Remembers Jim Rathmann
HOUSTON Nov. 26, 2011—A.J. Foyt remembers Jim Rathmann as "a super guy and a helluva racer who never gave up and raced his ass off to beat Ward. He was damn good in those roadsters and there’s not many of us left.”
The race Foyt referred to was the 1960 Indianapolis 500 in which Rathmann battled Rodger Ward in a classic duel with 14 lead changes between them in the second half of the race. Rathmann prevailed when Ward had to slow down to nurse his worn tires to the finish, relinquishing the lead for the final time on lap 197 of the 200-lap race.
Rathmann,83, passed away on Wednesday, Nov. 23 in a hospice in Melbourne, Fla. after a suffering a seizure a week and half earlier. He is survived by his wife Kay, sons Jimmy and Jay, stepsons Zack and Tosh Pence, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
The 1960 Indy 500 winner had been in declining health the past several years and was not able to make it back to Indianapolis for the 100th anniversary celebration much to the dismay of his fellow competitors including A.J. Foyt. In fact his last visit to Indy was in February 2009 for the Centennial Gala which kicked off the Speedway’s three year celebration. He is pictured to the right with his wife Kay at that event.
“I hate to see good people like Jim pass on but I’m glad he didn’t suffer any more than he did,” said Foyt. “I was disappointed that he couldn’t make it back for Indy this year. We had a lot of good times together.”
Foyt reminisced about some of those times with one of racing’s more colorful personalities whose penchant for pranks was legendary.
- “He helped me get my Chevrolet dealership from Ed Cole [President of General Motors].” Rathmann, was the owner of a very large Cadillac and Chevrolet dealership in Melbourne, Fla. which he obtained in the mid-60’s. Foyt landed his Chevy dealership in the early 70’s and he eventually sold it in the early 90’s.
- “We were flying back from Monza, Italy in 1958 [the “Race of Two Worlds” which Rathmann won] and we stopped for fuel in Paris. They told us we would have 45 minutes before we took off so everyone got off the plane. When we got back on the plane, they did a roll call and I answered ‘Here’ for Rathmann even though he wasn’t on the plane. But all of his identification was—his passport, driver’s license and his money. We took off without him. He said it took him two days to get everything straightened out. He told me, ‘I will get even Li’l Texan.’ That’s what he used to call me, Li’l Texan.”
- “There were several of us playing cards in Jim’s room one night at the old Speedway Motel. He asked me to get a Kleenex for him out of the bathroom. When I opened the door, an alligator splashed in the bathtub! I scared him but he scared the hell out of me! I tore my pants getting outta there as fast as I could. Everyone got a big kick out of that, especially Jim.”
- “Jim had a heart operation here in Houston years ago—I think Denton Cooley operated on him. I was visiting with him the night before he was scheduled for surgery. Finally the nurses asked me to leave because it was getting late. I told them I wanted to be the last one talking to him in case he died during surgery. They didn’t think that was very funny but Jim did.”
Long after Rathmann retired from driving race cars in 1964, he continued to be a regular at the Speedway during May, always staying at the Speedway Motel/Brickyard Crossing Inn where he would have his door open-- welcoming old friends and making new ones.
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
