Boat Puts Foyt Team in a Strong Position

The first half of A.J. Foyt’s plan to completely dominate the Pep Boys Indy Racing League season reached fruition Saturday when Billy Boat won the pole for today’s season-ending Las Vegas 500K with a record lap of 214.467 mph.

Boat’s trip around the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway in his Aurora-powered Dallara shattered his own year-old record of 207.413 mph. The 20 fastest qualifiers all bettered the old mark.

It was the sixth pole of the season for the former midget racer from Phoenix, his fourth in a row, and it puts him on the front row for the ninth time in nine races. Boat missed two midseason races because of a broken left leg and fractured pelvis suffered during the New England 200 on June 28 at Loudon, N.H.

Kenny Brack, Foyt’s other driver, will try to complete the A.J. sweep today by winning the $1-million bonus as series champion. All the Swedish driver needs is to finish ninth or better, or finish ahead of Davey Hamilton and Tony Stewart, his only two challengers.

“Winning the pole was one for the team,” Boat said. “By picking up three points, I kept Hamilton or Stewart from gaining on Kenny. The race will be the same thing. The higher I can finish, the harder it will be for those two guys to catch Brack.

“I’m planning to play the rabbit’s role, to go out fast right from the start and set a hard pace. That way it can wear down the other guys and let Kenny run his own race.”

Winning the pole was worth $20,000 for Boat. Earlier, he won poles at Indianapolis and Loudon before he was injured, and after returning to action, won poles at Pikes Peak, Atlanta, Fort Worth and Las Vegas.

Brack, who has never been a particularly good qualifier yet has won three races, will start sixth, seven spots ahead of Hamilton, his closest rival, who ran only 209.383.

“The car was terrible, actually,” Hamilton said of his Aurora-Dallara. “We were going for a 213, but I knew by the second lap [in practice] that that wasn’t going to happen. We tried to make a few adjustments for qualifying, but I couldn’t get any RPM out of it. We wanted to get the pole, now we’re just looking for a good race [today].”

Stewart, also in an Aurora-Dallara, posted a lap of 212.934 that put him on the front row alongside Boat, and gave him two additional points.

“The tires were working so well, it was much easier for us to find the right setup,” said Stewart, who is leaving the IRL after today’s race to drive in NASCAR Winston Cup and Busch Grand National races for Joe Gibbs. “The track is good, a few bumps here and there, but overall we’re pleased.”

After qualifying, Brack has 312 points, Hamilton 281 and Stewart 273. The maximum number available is 52, 50 for winning and two for leading the most laps.

“I didn’t expect to go that fast,” Boat said. “I figured there were three or four with the capability of running 212 or 213, which was about what happened. We just hit everything right, and at the right time. We changed a lot of stuff after this morning’s practice and got the car in perfect balance.

“Now we’ll get to work on the race setup. The race speeds should be around 207 and 208. After a few laps, the tires cause the cars to slow down.”

The dramatic increase in speed, Boat said, was caused by the evolution of IRL equipment.

“When we started with new cars and new engines two years ago, everything was completely new, so it’s not surprising that the engines got better, the cars got better and the tires got better, across the board.”

Today’s 312-mile race will not end Boat’s season, however. He plans to drive in the Turkey Night Midget Grand Prix on Nov. 26 at Bakersfield Speedway in Oildale. Boat, who won 11 consecutive U.S. Auto Club Western States midget races in 1995, has won the last three Turkey Night races.

Boat’s streak of 11 was broken when he finished second to Hamilton at Madera Raceway.