Edmonton


By A.J. Foyt


It’s been a long time since I was in Canada—about 13 years. But I always remember the Canadians as being very friendly and after our weekend in Edmonton for the Rexall Edmonton Indy, I can say that is still true today.


I can’t say the same for the race track which was a nice layout—I like being able to see more than just a straightaway on a street course—but it was really, really bumpy. A lot of cars ended up in tire barriers or run-off areas over the three days.


Darren Manning kept the No. 14 ABC Supply car on the track though. We never got him really comfortable in the car because he had the same complaint pretty much the whole weekend which was loose. We just didn’t have the right package to handle all those bumps.


We made the No.14 better but it wasn’t perfect, so for our team to come away with another top-10 finish, well I’m pretty satisfied. Not happy, but satisfied with the result.


Darren qualified 19th but started 18th because Tony Kanaan had to start last. He had spun during our qualifying session (he qualified 12th) and messed up his engine. According to the rules, if you have an engine change after qualifying, you have to start last.


Darren was starting right next to my grandson A.J. Foyt IV who was happy with his car after the morning warm-up. Anthony ran a good race—he led three laps when his team put him on a different fuel strategy. He ended up 12th but his overall performance on a track that was pretty tricky impressed me.


Darren was looking for more rear grip and we had improved it after qualifying and tried to find even more after the morning warm-up. We made some more changes but it didn’t make that much of a difference. In the race, he said the car was pretty good but he was still having problems coming off the fast corners. When I saw him getting passed going into one, I knew it was going to be a long race for him and me.


We used fuel strategy to gain track position on the third caution because he was stuck in 16th for most of the race. We pitted on lap 51 and ducked back in on lap 54 which bought us another few lap at the end of the race. Darren had to save fuel during that final stint but once the race was ruled a timed event at 85 laps (meaning the race would end at one hour 50 minutes instead of 95 laps) we knew he’d make it to the end.


He finished 10th which was the fourth straight top-10 finish for my ABC Supply team. He also moved up to 12th in the standings and is just two points out of 11th spot.


Scott Dixon won the race, his fifth time this season. Helio Castroneves was second and he was followed by three ex-Champ Car veterans: Justin Wilson, Paul Tracy and Oriol Servia. I’m sure the Canadians were happy to see Tracy back in a race car.


We all have next weekend off which, after six races in six weeks, we are all looking forward to. I will be running my bulldozer somewhere--either at my ranch near Houston or the one out in West Texas. I think my team has something a little more relaxing in mind. Each to his own.


Our next race will be at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday evening, August 9th. It will be televised by ESPN2 starting at 6:30pm. I hope you tune in.