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Foyts to sit out race at Martinsville
by By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
9 April 2003
MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- Citing lack of preparation and driver experience, Winston Cup team owner A.J. Foyt withdrew Tuesday his team's entry of its No. 14 Harrah's Dodge for this weekend's Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Since a change of manufacturer in the off-season, Foyt Racing has struggled to build up its fleet of rolling stock and has been unable to test, a critical deficit given Rookie of the Year candidate Larry Foyt's lack of Winston Cup experience.
Foyt made his Winston Cup debut at Speedweeks 2003 at Daytona. In the first eight races he has a best finish of 30th, has failed to qualify three times, taken three provisional starting spots and is 42nd in the standings.
"It was a very tough decision to not go to Martinsville this weekend, but we think it's the best choice for us right now," the younger Foyt said. "We got such a slow start at the beginning of the year and this will give us a chance to catch up, build up our resources and actually test, something we haven't been able to do since the season started."
The team plans on doing a two-day test next week at Richmond International Raceway, the site of the Pontiac Excitement 400 on May 3.
A team spokesman said Foyt planned to return to the series at California Speedway in two weeks for the April 27 Auto Club 500.
In addition to the Richmond test the team will also be at Lowe's Motor Speedway April 29-30 to prepare for the Winston Open/Coca-Cola 600 weekends in May.
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