Dare goes full-time with Foyt
Brazilian Airton Dare has been hired by AJ Foyt to race for his team for the rest of 2002 in place of the injured Donnie Beecher
Air, who was the 2000 Indy Racing League Rookie of the Year, substituted for Beechler at the season opener at Homestead, and did well, running in the top three before crashing out with three laps to go.
"I was very impressed with Dare," said Foyt. "He had never driven a Dallara chassis before, and then he qualified at over 196 mph after just a couple of warm-up laps on a tricky track with strong winds. He drove a great race.
"When you figure that he hadn't been in a race car since Texas in October, well, it's hard not to be impressed by him."
Beechler was knocked unconscious in a crash on March 1 and has not yet been cleared to race. Foyt has offered him a ride in a third car at the Indy 500 later in the year.
"I spoke to Donnie and just told him he needed to take some time to heal up," Foyt added. "He took a very hard hit, and it doesn't make sense to take chances. He is one of the nicest guys in the sport, and I'll admit it, I feel bad for him. He took it well and understood that we have his best interests at heart. I am looking forward to working with him at Indy."
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