Indy qualifying testing A.J. Foyt’s patience
Racing legend’s son, grandson in field, but stuck in back
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INDIANAPOLIS - Some teams are satisfied with starting the Indianapolis 500. A.J. Foyt prefers winning it.
After enduring one of the toughest months he’s ever had on the 2½-mile oval, Foyt was in no mood to celebrate Saturday, even after two of his cars finally qualified for the May 29 race.
“I didn’t come here to start in the back of the field,” he grumbled, shortly after A.J. Foyt IV finished his qualifying attempt.
Son, Larry, and grandson, A.J. Foyt IV, both qualified Saturday, capping a month that tested not only his patience but also every bit of expertise the elder Foyt has accumulated on this track since his rookie year of 1958.
He has not missed this race, as either a driver or owner, since then, but this month’s struggles nearly put Foyt’s streak in jeopardy.
Only one more nonqualified driver, Arie Luyendyk Jr., remains, so it appears both Foyts are safely in the field. Foyt IV was 28th after posting a four-lap average of 220.442 mph. Larry Foyt was 30th with an average of 219.396. The fourth and final day of time trials is Sunday.
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The plan to spend Saturday afternoon working on race setup was scrapped when Foyt IV blew an engine on his second warmup lap. If practice is rained out Sunday — there’s a 40 percent chance of showers — the Foyts will have only Friday’s brief practice session to work out the kinks.
It’s typical of what the Foyts have endured this May. The problems began when rookie driver Scott Mayer failed his rookie test. Then Foyt’s cars consistently ranked among the slowest on the track — something that caused great frustration for the four-time race winner.
“Our hands are tied,” Foyt said. “The Toyotas are all different motors, and I think the Hondas are all better than the Toyotas. You can see the difference in the straightaways.”
Foyt IV tried to keep things in perspective.
Still the youngest driver on the IRL circuit at age 20, Foyt IV is now a veteran of Indy struggles.
As a rookie, he crashed three times in a month and spun another time before coasting to a stop going backward. During the race, he was criticized for driving too slow.
In 2004, Foyt IV pushed his car too hard when granddad instructed him to back off the accelerator and wound up crashing. All three Foyts were finished after just 56 laps.
“I’ve had worse months here, for sure,” Foyt IV said, joking. “The last two years here haven’t been too good. In fact, this is probably the best month I’ve had here.”
The elder Foyt would hardly agree.
After blowing the engine, Foyt’s team retreated to the garage where it first had to find a new engine. The Target Chip Ganassi team helped, but when the car rolled back onto the track in mid-afternoon, there was more trouble.
“We shook it down and that’s when we knew it wasn’t right,” Foyt IV said.
Again, the team rolled the car back to the garage, and this time the frustration was evident.
“We came back and chewed some people out,” Foyt IV said. “We regrouped, got calmed down and then went back out and qualified the car. It’s a great feeling to put the car in the race.”
But that was little solace to the elder Foyt.
“We’re not here just to make the race,” he said. “We’re here to win.”
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