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California Speedway
Toyota Indy 400
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Location: Fontana,
Calif.
Shape: D-Shaped Oval
Distance: 2 miles
Banking, Turns: 14
degrees
Front Straight: 3,100
feet
Banking, Front Straight: 11
degrees
Back Straight: 2,500
feet
Banking, Back Straight: 3
degrees |
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California Speedway
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Conseco Race Report
Toyota Indy 400
October 3, 2004
California Speedway
Start: 7
Finish: 19
 A.J.
Foyt IV posted his second best start of the season in the Conseco Dallara/Toyota
at California Speedway when he qualified eighth quickest for the Toyota Indy
400. It was the second straight race that he qualified in the top 10 in the IRL
IndyCar Series.
Foyt IV started seventh because Darren Manning was not cleared to drive after he
crashed on the second lap of his qualification run after posting fourth quick
time.
In the race, Foyt IV got off to a poor start. He dropped back to 14th on the
first lap and was 19th by the end of the second lap.
"The car has no grip," Foyt IV called in on the radio.
"Just hold on until the first pitstop," the senior Foyt told him. "We'll make
some adjustments."
On the first stop Team Conseco adjusted the front wings and A.J. IV picked up
five spots before the next round of pit stops. The team adjusted on the car
throughout the race and A.J. IV had worked his way into 11th which would have
tied his best career finish.
There was a yellow flag for debris with less than 30 laps to go. On the restart,
Foyt IV gave Sam Hornish, who was sixth and a lap ahead, the inside line.
Unfortunately for Foyt IV, Hornish ran high on the inside forcing young Foyt
even higher into the third groove. Mark Taylor, who was 12th, had room to sail
underneath both Hornish and Foyt entering turn one. A.J. IV pushed up into the
marbles and scraped the wall in turn two, ending his day. He placed 19th.
"I told (Sam) Hornish to go to the inside, and he ran me high down the
frontstretch," said Foyt IV afterwards. "Then a car got underneath him, and I
pushed up into the marbles."
The race which had had only one yellow up to Foyt IV's incident, saw two more
yellows, the first for Alex Barron who lost control, spun and hit the wall on
lap 186. The race was yellow-flagged again on lap 194 when Tomas Enge spun in
front of Tomas Scheckter who collected him. None of the drivers were injured. In
the one lap dash to the checkered, Adrian Fernandez edged out Tony Kanaan who
clinched the IRL IndyCar Series championship with his runner-up finish.
The final race of the season is the Chevy 500 at Texas Motor Speedway October
17th. It will be televised on ABC starting at 12:30 pm eastern time.
NOTES & QUOTES: Toyota Indy 400 at California Speedway
A.J. Foyt IV: Conseco No. 14 Dallara/Toyota/Firestone
 A.J.
Foyt IV on California: "I'm looking forward to running at California
Speedway which is very similar to Michigan--there's lots of room to race. With
the Toyota engine running better, we've picked up the performance of the Conseco
car on the superspeedways so we should be strong like we were at Chicagoland.
The big thing is to try to finish the race this time. We found out the reason
for the crash at Chicagoland was a broken halfshaft, most likely due to
defective material because of the way it broke. I'm hoping for some better luck
in the final two races of the season."
A.J. IV competed in his first supermodified race at Madera Speedway Sept.
18th. Driving for IndyCar driver Davey Hamilton, Foyt IV tied for fast time with
two-time Supermodified Racing League (SRL) champion Troy Regier. Inverting the
top eight qualifiers, Foyt IV started eighth and finished fourth in the SRL
portion of the Harvest Classic which was won by Jim Birges.
At the Delphi Indy 300: A.J. IV posted his career best qualifying run to
date, earning sixth position on the grid at Chicagoland Speedway. He ran strong
throughout the race only to have the right rear halfshaft break as he was
exiting turn four on lap 156 of the 200-lapper. His car shot to the wall
collecting rookie Mark Taylor who was outside Foyt IV. Apart from minor bruises,
neither driver was injured. Foyt IV was credited with 16th.
A.J. IV's past performance at California: Last year A.J. IV struggled
with the car's handling until adjustments could be made on the first stop. A
troubled second pit stop cost him some positions which he regained. However in
the latter part of the race, the sway bars weren't working properly and he fell
back to 17th.
Foyt Racing's past performance at California Speedway: In 2002, Airton
Dare started 20th and finished 13th while Eliseo Salazar started and finished
15th.
The Toyota Indy 400 will be televised live Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. Eastern
time on ESPN.. |
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