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IRL: Tough Breaks at Texas for Luyendyk and Treadway Racing

22 September 1998

Arie Luyendyk
Fort Worth, TX: It was a weekend of toil and trouble for the Treadway Racing team. At the onset of the Lone Star 500 weekend, it became apparent that the "engine gods" were not looking favorably upon Arie Luyendyk and the #5T Sprint PCS/RadioShack/QUALCOMM entry. After performing five motor changes over the course of the weekend and having to switch to the back-up car, the team was faced with a last place starting position on the grid and a questionable engine.

Just as things looked bleak for the Treadway Team, an angel intervened in the form of John Barnes. At 11:30 a.m. this morning, the Panther Pennzoil Team Owner kindly loaned Treadway Racing one of their engines. Under the gun and with the help of the Panther crew, the team was able to perform one last record motor change in just over one hour and managed to grid the car for the race on time.

As the race started, things were looking up for Luyendyk as he was able to maneuver the #5T car from 28th to 22nd in just under four laps. Just as the silver lining was beginning to show however, tragedy struck on lap five as the fuel pump failed, putting "old reliable" (G-Force 001, The 1997 Indianapolis 500 winner) out of contention.

"I am really proud of the crew and I am more disappointed for them than I am for me," Luyendyk said. "They did all of that work this weekend for nothing. I also want to thank John Barnes and the Panther Pennzoil team for loaning that engine to us. Up until the car broke, we were heading in the right direction-FORWARD!"

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