Iowa


By A.J. Foyt


When we flew into Newton for the Iowa Corn Indy 250 last Thursday, I couldn’t believe how much the rivers had overflowed, covering roadways, homes, and businesses in the outlying areas. Even though you see it on the news, seeing it from the air was a whole different experience.


I don’t know what the people who have lost everything are going through, but I know it’s a very tough deal from the couple of experiences I’ve had with my lake house being flooded twice in the last 17 years.


When my lake house in Austin flooded the first time, it was a sickening experience. It’s tough when it’s happening and it’s even tougher when you’re stuck with the clean-up. Back in 1991, our lake-side home flooded up to four feet on the second floor. I rowed a boat through my great room and kitchen. The second time wasn’t as bad (it only flooded the bottom floor), but it still was tough.


For people to lose everything like they did in this flood, I can’t really begin to know how that feels.


Seeing the devastation in Iowa, I was surprised at the strong turnout for the race on Sunday. The Iowa Speedway was packed. The crowds saw a good race too. Some of the dicing back and forth between Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves looked like they were running midgets on a quarter mile bullring. It was close, wheel-to-wheel racing.


They didn’t end up in the top five, but my grandson A.J. IV did. He ran a really good race to finish fifth. He made a helluva start (from 18th!) and he never really looked back. I was very proud of him.


We were never in the dogfight though. We made steady progress through the practice sessions and by the final one on Saturday, Darren Manning was very happy with the ABC Supply car. We were eighth on the speed charts and looking forward to qualifying.


Then the rain came and qualifying was rained out, so we had to start according to our points position which was 19th. We’d lost three positions in points from our DNF at the last race in Texas when the fuel pump driveshaft failed early in the race.


Starting that far back on a short track (7/8 mile) like Iowa Speedway was going to be challenging but we figured Darren had the car to get to the front.


The initial start didn’t go well as he lost two positions but then gained them back and then some in the next couple laps. However by lap 15 he’d lost them again. I asked him what was wrong and he radioed in that he was ‘knackered already’ from the steering being too heavy.


Say what?


He hung on until the first pitstop around lap 39 and we made an adjustment with the front wing but there wasn’t any way to really correct the problem without taking it back to the garage. After 95 laps he parked it. I was not happy. I said some things in anger about his fitness but looking back, something else was going on.


We’ve talked since then and I think both of us have a better appreciation of the situation. Darren thinks the new seat he had made may have been the biggest factor as it put him too far away from the steering wheel. Try holding your arms out straight and turning, then put some weight in your hands. It’s tough for anyone.


But, if we’d known earlier that it was an issue, we could have fixed it. If we don’t know it’s a problem, how can we fix it? He’s asked for some other adjustments that he wants that we’ll put into place as well. And he is going to make some adjustments on his part too.


There will be no more excuses on his part or ours. I expect that the race at Richmond International Raceway this weekend will be a better showing for the entire ABC Supply team.


It has to be.


To find out, be sure to tune into ESPN Saturday night at 8 p.m. eastern time.