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| | Saturday, October 9 | |||||
| CONCORD, N.C. -- A.J. Foyt's new Winston Cup team will field
Pontiacs. He just doesn't know yet who will be driving them.
"We're evaluating a lot of people right now," Foyt said
Saturday during a visit to Lowe's Motor Speedway, where he
announced the deal with the Pontiac Division of General Motors.
"When it came down to making the hard decision, I stuck with what I knew," said Foyt, whose Indy Racing League team runs with Oldsmobile Aurora engines. "All of my other race cars are GM products.
"We won the Indy 500 this year with the GM Oldsmobile (engine). GM and I have won big in the past and, now I'm looking to win big in the future with the Pontiac Grand Prix."
Except for the driver, everything seems to be falling into place for Foyt's new Winston Cup entry.
The team will be sponsored by financial services provider Conseco Inc., Foyt has acquired a race shop in Mooresville, N.C., and he has hired some key personnel, including team manager Waddell Wilson, crew chief Terry Wooten, engine builder Gregg Wilson and fabricator Bobby Watson -- all NASCAR veterans.
"We're building a team that can pull off the near miracle we need to get Team Conseco ready to qualify and run strong in the Daytona 500 (next February)," Foyt said.
But, with all the big-name drivers already signed for next season, the pool open to Foyt appears shallow.
"We'll find somebody who knows how to drive a race car and who wants to win," Foyt said. "That's all I've ever asked for in a driver. And I know there are still guys out there like that."
Foyt knows what it takes to be a topnotch driver. He remains the leading career Indy-car winner with 67 victories, including a record-tying four Indianapolis 500s. He also won seven Winston Cup races, including the 1972 Daytona 500, as well as 24-hour sports car events in Le Mans, France, and Daytona.
Looking ahead to next season and his role as owner of teams in both the IRL and NASCAR, Foyt said, "I'm going to playing both roles and I'm going to be jumping around like a rabbit."
Fans asked to help hurricane victims Fans attending the races Saturday and Sunday at Lowe's Motor Speedway are being asked to contribute at least $1 to help in the relief effort for victims of Hurricane Floyd in eastern North Carolina. "We expect more than 250,000 people to attend the races this weekend, which means we could collect more than a quarter of a million dollars," said H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, general manager of the track in suburban Charlotte. Besides collection barrels scattered around the speedway grounds, track officials said buckets will be passed for volunteer donations prior to both Saturday's All Pro Auto Parts 300 and Sunday's UAW-GM Quality 500. All monies collected will be administered by Speedway Children's Charities to help children victimized by the storm last month that caused extensive flooding. Steele to run Busch for Team Sabco Team Sabco announced Saturday it has signed a three-year contract with driver David Steele and sponsor Channellock to run NASCAR's Busch Series. Steele comes to the stock car series from the U.S. Auto Club's Silver Crown and sprint car divisions, as well as a brief foray into the Indy Racing League. Asked why he would choose a driver with no stock car experience, team owner Felix Sabates, who also runs a two-car team in the Winston Cup series, said, "I'm tired of recycled talent. David wants to be here and he wants to win. I think he will be a force to be reckoned with. "He wants to go to Winston Cup and, hopefully, we can take Channellock into Winston Cup also." | ALSO SEE Jarrett won't coast toward first Winston Cup title
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