| Date/Time: | 2006-08-29 16:31:00 |
| Race: | Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma |
Opportunity Missed at Infineon, Early Contact Ends DayJeff Bucknum returned to his home tract at Infineon Raceway today for the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma. Indeed there was a lot of optimism in the AJ Foyt garage prior to the start and much hope for a result to exceed the top ten finish Jeff achieved last year in his debut with the Foyt #14 entry. Jeff and the crew had not been able to get the car sorted out in practice and qualifying but final pre-race practice was very good and fueled good thoughts for the race. The good thoughts seemed very justified after the green flag fell as Jeff moved up a position on the opening lap and settled into a race pace that was close to his qualifying times. Then on lap 9, as Bucknum entered the final hairpin on the twisty track he was contacted by Jeff Simmons causing a spin and a stall. When Bucknum restarted it was clear to Jeff that the car was injured and he limped back to the pits for repair. An initial review by the ABC Supply/Investment Properties of America crew surmised the car could be repaired and the Foyt crew scrambled to get Jeff back into the race. But on further review the damage was determined to be terminal and Jeff’s day was ended. “This was an up and down weekend for sure,” said Bucknum. “We rolled out a pretty good race car for the first practice session, even leading the early stages of session one. But in spite of a ton of changes to the car our times didn’t improve. AJ and engineer Len Paskus kept working to improve the car but we never had a good clean session, so I qualified 15th, not where I wanted to be. In the final practice session Saturday afternoon we tried a couple of major changes and moved up the charts a few positions. I felt a top ten was very possible.” “The car felt better than ever for the race. I know this track pretty well and know that patience pays dividends so I settled in and sized up my competition. I had gotten Simmons on the first lap and was looking at Koske (Matsura) and Scheckter as my first passing opportunities. Then entering turn 11 I felt a hit as Simmons saw an opening that didn’t exist and hit my right rear wheel, spinning me. The Delphi safety team got me started quickly but AJ radioed me to pit as he saw damage. The Foyt guys tried to make repairs but it was not to be. Our Day was over. Very disappointing for everyone.” This was the next to last round of the 2006 Championship with another oval in two weeks at Chicagoland Speedway for the season finale. “This will be completing my 2006 education in preparation for a full schedule in 2007,” stated an enthusiastic Bucknum. “We viewed each of our races this year as a test for next year, but that doesn’t diminish the disappointment I felt today. We could very well have been deep in the top ten absent a racing incident. Next year we have to qualify further up front to lessen the chances of such contact. IndyCar racing continues with the season ending Peak Antifreeze Indy 300, September 10 and televised live on ABC at 1:30 pm EDT |
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