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Conseco Race Report
Chicagoland Speedway
Start: 6
Finish: 16
 A.J.
Foyt IV drove one of the best races of his young career Sunday afternoon at
Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. The 20-year-old Texan qualified sixth in
the Conseco Dallara powered by Toyota to post his best career start.
Unfortunately, a mechanical failure brought an early end to his day. On lap 156
of the 200-lapper, the right rear halfshaft broke shooting Foyt into the wall
off turn four. He collected rookie Mark Taylor who was between the No. 14 car
and the wall. Both drivers emerged uninjured but the accident cut short terrific
races for both of them.
 "We
got into a bang-up a few laps before that in Turn 1, right front (to) left rear,
so you never know, something might have happened there," said Foyt IV. "All of a
sudden, the car wanted to go up the track. Unfortunately, the 13 car was there.
We had a good day going, but it ended a little short." (About strong run): "It
felt good. We were running up there all day and had a good car where we could
stay up there. It's unfortunate, but we've got to go to California and do the
same thing."
"It was a great day all day long until that happened," said A.J. Foyt
immediately after the accident. "We had that little shunt earlier when they
checked up in front of him. The 51 car got into him and then the 13 (car) got
into his left rear. Everything looked good. We changed the tire, got him back
out. He was still running 212's (mph laps), 213's, and everything was good. I
think maybe something broke. These cars are so fragile, they can't stand a
little bump at all. I think something broke on the suspension because all of a
sudden, the car just went straight. The poor boy in the 13 car (Mark Taylor), he
just had nowhere to go. I'm just glad both of them are alright."
His grandfather had suspected something broke to cause the accident and an
inspection of the car afterwards pointed to the halfshaft. A post-race review of
the race tapes caused the IRL officials to reach the same conclusion.
It
was a sad end for the youngster who appeared to be headed for his first top-10
finish. He had run as high as fourth at times and was a solid top-10 contender.
Several times he dropped back in the field following a pitstop but each time he
was able to battle his way back to the front half of the pack.
Adrian Fernandez won the race which was slowed for six cautions, four of which
were for accidents. The most spectacular accident occurred on lap 186 when Buddy
Rice clipped Darren Manning's right front wheel. Rice rode over Manning's wheel
which launched Rice's car into the air and he flipped over Manning's car. Rice
then slid upside down along the backstretch. Neither driver was injured.
The next race is the Toyota Indy 400 at California Speedway on Sunday, Oct.3. It
will be televised live by ESPN at 3 pm eastern time.
A.J. Foyt IV Posts Career-Best Qualifying Run
 JOLIET,
Ill (Sept.11, 2004)--A.J. Foyt IV qualified sixth in the No. 14 Conseco car
for the Delphi Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. under sunny
skies. The 213.023 mph run in the Toyota-powered Dallara is the best qualifying
run to date for the 20-year-old who is in his second year of IRL IndyCar Series
competition.
Helio Castroneves won the pole in the Team Penske Toyota-powered Dallara with a
speed of 214.759 mph.
"The Conseco car's been good since we got here," said Foyt IV afterwards. "We
worked hard to set it up to run as free as possible and it paid off. Toyota has
been working real hard to get us up front and I think with the No. 3 car on the
pole, Toyota's hard work is showing also. It feels good."
Second through fifth were Honda-powered teams: IRL IndyCar Series point leader
Tony Kanaan followed by Indy 500 winner Buddy Rice, and Kanaan's teammates Dario
Franchitti and Dan Wheldon.
"He did a good job," said Team Conseco owner A.J. Foyt of his grandson. "He
tightened up his line on that second lap and that helped him gain some speed
too. Since we unloaded, we've been fast. We haven't had to change the car that
much. Toyota's been working hard to catch up and they gave us some more power
this weekend and all the Toyota teams gained. It's all a combination, our crew
gave A.J. IV a good car and everything fell into place for us. We just need to
stay fast tomorrow."
Foyt IV's previous best start has been 14th (at Texas, June 2003 and Kansas,
July 2004). His best finish is 11th (at Nazareth, Pa in 2003 and Richmond, Va.
in 2004).
The Delphi Indy 300 will be televised live Sunday afternoon on ABC starting at
1:30 Eastern time.
NOTES & QUOTES: Delphi Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway
A.J. Foyt IV: Conseco No. 14 Dallara/Toyota/Firestone
A.J.
Foyt IV on Chicagoland: "I'm glad to get back on the superspeedways because
we have a better race set-up for those type tracks and we've been more
competitive in the last few races. We've had some bad luck with the timing of
the yellows though and that has affected our results. Hopefully everything will
fall into place this weekend and we'll have a good race and a good finish for
Team Conseco."
Firsts for Foyt IV: A.J. IV will make his supermodified debut September
18th at Madera (Calif.) Speedway driving for Davey Hamilton. It will mark Foyt
IV's first race in a suoermodified car, his first time driving for someone other
than his grandfather since he turned professional in 2002, and his first time
racing on a one-third mile paved oval. Foyt IV tested at the track August 23rd
and plans to participate in the open test session there the day before the race.
At the Firestone Indy 225: A.J. IV started 17th and finished 15th. He
lost two laps early in the race due to a problem with tire stagger that affected
the car's handling. However, after adjustments were made on the first pit stop,
he was able to run with the lead pack. He gained more speed when he lost fifth
gear in the last third of the race and ran just sixth gear. "I wish we had lost
it earlier," said his grandfather afterwards. "He picked up half a second.
Overall, he drove a good race."
A.J. IV's past performance at Chicagoland: Foyt IV started 21st and
placed 17th in his first Indy car race there. Handling in the beginning of the
race was a problem but the team adjusted on the car throughout the race and Foyt
IV began turning lap times comparable to the leaders. In the Pro Series in 2002,
Foyt IV won the pole and finished sixth in the race.
Foyt Racing's past performance at Chicagoland: In 2002, Airton Dare
started 15th and was as high as 5th before a crash with a slower car took him
out; he was credited with 16th. Eliseo Salazar started 14th, had a problem on a
pitstop, then his rear wing collapsed, causing him to spin. The team replaced
the wing but engine problems ended his day. In 2001, Salazar started 7th and was
up to third when he crashed passing a backmarker. Teammate Donnie Beechler
started 17th and finished fifth.
The Delphi Indy 300 will be televised live Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. Eastern
time on ABC.
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