Start your engines!
Play RPM.ESPN Stock Car Challenge!
Win a Honda S2000!
Play The CART Challenge powered by Honda!
|
|
Wednesday, May 16
Boat driving for his own team
Associated Press
PHOENIX -- Billy Boat says that when he opted to drive for himself rather than for A.J. Foyt months ago, he knew he'd be struggling at the Indy 500.
"But I didn't think we'd struggle this much," he told The Arizona Republic on Tuesday in a telephone interview, having yet to qualify with only one slot still open for the 33-car field.
|  | | IRL veteran Billy Boat had a chance to run one of A.J. Foyt's cars in the Indianapolis 500, but opted for his own ride instead. |
Foyt and offered Boat a car, but then Boat learned that additional sponsorship was available for the Indy Racing League team he co-owns with Greg Beck, contingent upon his driving at Indy for his own team. So he had to tell Foyt no.
"I can't say I haven't thought about what could have been," Boat said. "But you can't second-guess the decision.
"The reasons I made this decision are still valid," he added. "We have the possibility of attracting more sponsorship and running the whole year."
That is, if he can make the grade now. The driver from suburban Glendale had a problem with the skid plate beneath the car in Sunday's qualifying, and the day was over before he could figure it out and fix it.
Now there's only one qualifying day left -- this coming Sunday -- before the May 27 race.
Boat said the team's main car has run over 222 mph, the level he figures probably is necessary to qualify, but now he needs it to
run at that speed for four consistent laps.
"It's nerve-racking," he said. "I'm sweating it out."
Meanwhile, he added, he can't afford to run wild in the effort to straighten out the car "because we're somewhat in short supply
of engines. We can't afford to put a lot of miles on.
"We're going to run," he said, "but we're going to run wisely.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
|
|
|
|
