A.J. Foyt column: A crash-filled race

Sunday, Sept. 26, 1999 | 3:11 a.m.

What started as a great day for the Harrah's team ended in mixed fashion today at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. A little more than half way through the race, on lap 110, Billy Boat's car, the No. 11 Harrah's-sponsored vehicle, was struck by another car. At the time of the collision, which occurred on turn one, Billy was trying to avoid a third racer's disabled car. As Billy swerved to avoid the disabled car, he was struck. Unfortunately, the Harrah's car suffered serious damage. More importantly, however, Billy walked away from the wreck without serious injury.

Up until the wreck, Billy had been driving very well. He qualified ninth yesterday and was competitive right up until the crash. The Harrah's car was running just the way we wanted it to, but there was nothing we could do to control what happened. Had the disabled car not experienced mechanical problems at the time it did, there's no telling how well Billy would have done. Billy did everything right, but there was simply no way for him to avoid the collision. I'm just glad he's all right, as wrecks at such high speeds are extremely dangerous.

And for those of you who saw the race, you know the collision involving the Harrah's car wasn't the only multi-car wreck on Sunday. I mentioned yesterday that the Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a tricky place to race and Sunday proved the point. A number of top Indy Racing League drivers were knocked out of the race early due to crashes.

Obviously, this isn't the way Billy and I wanted things to turn out in Harrah's hometown. We wanted more than anything to take the checkered flag in the Harrah's car, but we did manage to represent our sponsor well. In addition to Billy's strong showing, Kenny Brack had a great day. Many of you know that Harrah's is an associate sponsor on Kenny's No. 14 car, which led the race for a good part of the day. Kenny, who is among the point leaders in the chase for the Indy Racing League championship, put on a great show. In fact, he came within two laps of winning the race. Kenny finished second, after Sam Schmidt pulled an amazing finish out of his hat. The strong finish puts Kenny second in championship points, just 13 points out of the lead. With a strong race at the Texas Motor Speedway next month, he could easily repeat as the Indy Racing League points cha mpion.

I'm proud of both of my drivers. They both ran smart, aggressive races, and that's the only way to win. Of course, you need a little bit of luck, too, and Sam had it at the end. I can't take anything away from him - he ran a great race. But I know it won't be long before the Harrah's team is sitting in the winner's circle.

Thanks for keeping up with us online. I can't wait to come back to Las Vegas. In the meantime, I'll see you next month in Texas.