NASCAR BGN: Foyt ready for new experience at New Hampshire

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

May 11, 2001

On New Hampshire International Speedway: "I have been to New Hampshire once when the Indy cars ran there in 1998, but I was just a spectator then, so it'll be a brand new track to me. It's certainly the flattest track I will have been on in the Busch car. Greg Biffle told me it was similar to the Milwaukee Mile, which I ran last year in the ASA. [Foyt had his second-best ASA finish - sixth - at Milwaukee last year]. We'll concentrate on qualifying in the top 25 and finishing in the top 20."

Foyt tested at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte on Monday and Tuesday. "It went pretty well. It was good to go to a track that I've been to before. We were able to focus on the changes to the car instead of focusing on me having to learn the track." Foyt made his ARCA debut at Lowe's Motor Speedway last October. He was fastest in second-round qualifying and had advanced from 26th to 11th before getting involved in a multi-car accident. It was that weekend that he announced his plans to compete in the 2001 Busch Series.

At Richmond, Va. last week, Foyt had to take a provisional starting position [38th]. He finished 27th. "We struggled at Richmond. Our testing session earlier in the year had been cancelled by the track [due to water seepage problems] so we knew it was going to be a little bit of a struggle. It got compounded when we lost about 30 minutes of practice right in the beginning because of a problem with the steering box. Then we were running drop snout cars for the first time, so we were trying to figure out the cars and the track at the same time. We weren't that great in the race so we just tried to stay out of trouble and finish."

• Foyt is 25th in the NASCAR Busch Series standings.
• Foyt's Bests in the Harrah's No. 14 Monte Carlo this season:
• Best Start: 14th on April 14th at Nashville Superspeedway
• Best Finish: 12th on April 21st at Talladega Superspeedway

Text provided by Anne Fornoro

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