TONY KANAAN on Gateway: “It’s exciting to go back to Gateway. Last year we had such a big crowd coming and this team did pretty well there. We are looking forward to it and big props to the guys at the track. I guess they repaved even more, now that they’ve repaved pit lane. Hopefully, we can get our best result of the season [so far] there. It’s a track with two completely different corners, one is banked and the other is flat so you don’t have the car that you want on both ends of the track. You have to pick and choose where you want your car to be good and then you have to hang on in the other corner. For me, it’s turn one. I raced there from ’98 until we [CART] stopped going there [2000 was the last CART event]. It’s a short oval [1.25-mile] so traffic will be challenging, especially with the aero package we have now.”
MATHEUS LEIST on Gateway: “Last year was a good race in the Indy Lights [presented by Cooper Tires Series]. I qualified in the back of the grid and made my way forward to third place when I had a puncture. It was a good race until then. Gateway’s a nice track, a pretty smooth track and I’m looking forward to racing IndyCar there now. I think it’s going to be a good one. Hopefully, we made some improvements from our short oval package because we struggled a lot in Iowa. [Differences?] Iowa is pretty bumpy and Gateway is pretty smooth and of course, there are different corners, so probably Turns 3 and 4 are going to be flat out, and Turns 1 and 2, small lift and downshift. It’s a different track and it’s a track that I personally like. Hopefully, we’re gonna have a great time and do a great job as a team.”
Game Time: Casey (née Irsay) and A.J. Foyt IV hosted some members of AJ Foyt Racing at the Indianapolis Colts pre-season football game at Lucas Oil Stadium Monday night. Eight team members were able to take advantage of the invitation, some of them being from the Houston-based team which traveled from Pocono to Indy to prep the No. 4 ABC Supply Chevrolet for Gateway. They will return to Indy to prep the car for the final two events of the season in Portland, Ore. and Sonoma, Calif.
Last Race: At Pocono, Kanaan started 14th and finished 17th, having to drop out after 15 laps with a throttle sensor failure. Matheus Leist qualified 20th and finished 11th for his career-best finish in the Verizon IndyCar Series to date.
Past Performance at Gateway Motorsports Park: Tony Kanaan’s best start is 3rd (1998 and 2003). His best finish of 2nd also came in 2003 with Andretti-Green Racing. Matheus Leist is making his first start here in IndyCar. In the Indy Lights Series he started 12th, climbed to 3rd but a tire puncture with just two laps to go dropped him to 10th. The Foyt team’s best start is 8th (2017 w Carlos Munoz) and its best finish is 5th (2017 w Conor Daly).
ABC Supply is in its 14th season as primary sponsor of A.J. Foyt’s IndyCar team, making it the longest running team sponsor in the Verizon IndyCar Series. The company was founded in 1982 by Ken and Diane Hendricks with just three stores. The company now has over 700 stores and topped $9 billion in sales in 2017. ABC Supply began sponsoring the AJ Foyt Racing team with the 2005 Indianapolis 500. The company has leveraged its involvement by entertaining over 92,000 associates and customers over the past 13 racing seasons. This weekend the company will entertain over 400 guests.
ABC Supply national account Toubl Contracting, Inc., based in Piedmont, Okla., will be featured on the engine cover of the No. 14 ABC Supply Chevrolet. Guests will receive the VIP treatment this weekend along with a Meet and Greet with Tony Kanaan.
ABC Supply customer, Peoria Home Alliance, based in Washington, Ill., won the ‘Your Name Here’ contest. The company name will be on the engine cover of the No. 4 ABC Supply Chevrolet. Guests will receive the VIP treatment plus a Meet and Greet with Matheus “Matt” Leist.
The Bommarito Automotive Group 500 will be televised live on NBC Sports Network on Saturday, Aug. 25, starting at 8:00 p.m.
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
