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Colorful Foyt remains an Indy fixture
Posted: Saturday May 29, 1999 08:58 PM
INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Although the Indy Racing League has continued to show steady progress as it slowly develops into a major racing series, the biggest name at the Indianapolis 500 is a team owner -- A.J. Foyt. He is the link to the sport's glorious past. He started his Indianapolis 500 career as a driver in 1958 and qualified every year until 1992. Foyt raced in 35 Indianapolis 500s and in 1977 became the first four-time winner. After making a tearful retirement announcement at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Pole Day in 1993, Foyt has returned as a team owner. He'll have three cars in Sunday's 83rd Indianapolis 500 with Billy Boat starting on the outside of the front row, Kenny Brack starting in the middle of the third row and Robbie Buhl starting in the middle of the last row. Buhl's entry was a last-minute deal after the driver lost an engine in his backup car at Sinden Racing Services. That team will serve as Buhl's crew, although the car remains an A.J. Foyt entry. Foyt continues to represent the heritage of the Indianapolis 500. The world's biggest race is truly an American event, and there is no better caricature of America than the rough and tumble man from Houston. Foyt is to auto racing what John Wayne was to the movies or Babe Ruth was to baseball. At 64 years old, he continues to strike fear into the hearts of those against whom he competes, or with whome he disagrees. Just ask Arie Luyendyk. Foyt put new meaning in the term "Sultan of Swat" when he backhanded the driver in the famous victory lane tangle at Texas Motor Speedway in 1997. "Every time I see him, I hit him over the head," Luyendyk joked. "It's good, I just have a real hard time understanding what he says to me all the time. It's funny, he still doesn't know how to pronounce my first name properly. He has such a heavy accent, I have a really hard time communicating with him. I almost need a translator, and I'm the foreigner here. "A.J. is such a competitor in and out of the cockpit. When he isn't in a good mood, it's best to just stay out of the way." Foyt also has turned into a teacher. He has two students in Boat and Brack. Boat won six of 11 IRL poles in 1998 and Brack won three races in a row on his way to the IRL title. "I've got two young drivers who are very competitive and sometimes you will have your ups and downs," Foyt said. "But for the most part, they are two great kids and they both listen well. "Kenny and I get along pretty good. He started explaining to me what happened in his crash at Phoenix. I told him, 'You don't have to explain anything to me because I saw the whole thing. If a frog had wings, it wouldn't bump its [butt].' " There is nothing in racing Foyt loves more than running in the Indianapolis 500. That is why he was the first CART team owner to announce he was joining the IRL in 1995. "Indianapolis, let's face it, is the biggest race in the world," Foyt said. "Everyone knows it. That is what made me, that's what made Roger Penske. That is what made Mario and Michael Andretti. That is what has made every top name in open wheel racing -- the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "I've got a lot of my own money involved in this race team, but I wouldn't put it in it unless I thought it was a good series. Face it, I love this type of racing and I love the Indianapolis 500. To me, this is my entertainment. I'm not a big party-er or drinker. I love racing and that is what made A.J. Foyt what he is today. I'm not going to turn my back on it or turn my back on Indianapolis. If you forget where you came from, you have a big problem with yourself.' Foyt is a wealthy man who lives in Houston and has a lot of business interests. But at 64, he shows as much energy as men who are 44. "Racing is what keeps me young," he said. "It keeps me on the go. We'll have our new race shop completed in about a month and it's going to be really nice. It will be a nice showroom and I'll be able to put a lot of my cars on display." Foyt always has been known as a tough customer. He could literally carry a race car to victory with his driving ability, and he's not afraid to get tough with people who cross him. "I don't believe I'm tough, I'm just an average guy, to be honest with you," Foyt said. "I work hard and I work from dawn to dusk and everybody gets on me asking, 'Why do you do it when you can get some other people to do it?' First of all, I probably couldn't have all this stuff unless I did a lot of the work myself and run my bulldozers and repair a lot of the stuff. "My wife keeps saying that I drive myself too hard. But that way I know a lot of the stuff is done right. If I fell dead driving myself, at least I'm not sitting on my [butt]." Part of Foyt's toughness was honed while growing up in the heat and humidity of Houston without a fan or air conditioner because his family could not afford it. Maybe that is why he has a quick temper. "I'm not what I used to be in the fighting department, but I'm not going to take a bunch of [crap], either," Foyt said. "I might get my ass whipped, but they won't get no cherries, the way I look at it. I'm always in a little bit of trouble." Foyt also is extremely loyal to his friends, even if they no longer race for him. In 1994, after Robby Gordon left Foyt's team to drive for Derrick Walker, Gordon crashed at Michigan Speedway. Gordon's dad tried to go to the crash scene but was stopped by CART officials. Foyt ran to Gordon's defense, grabbed a CART official by the collar of his safety uniform and lifted him off the ground. "That was his daddy going on there and I said to hell with them," Foyt explained. "Who is going to keep anybody if their son is hurt from going out there? I didn't think they had the right to do it. When it comes to backing people, they know I will do things for them." Foyt is a tough individual, but he also has a side few ever see. Last summer, Lucy, his wife since 1954, suffered a heart attack. Quick action by Foyt helped get her to the hospital. "I choked up pretty bad," he admitted. "You think you are tough, you think you are bad, but when you get thrown against the wall like that, it's difficult. It tore me up when I lost my mother and daddy, but when you see something like this happen -- they had the 'code blue' and she more or less passed away twice -- then when the priest came in and said we better pray for her, I can't tell you how I felt. "The doctors lost her twice, but they were able to bring her back. I couldn't talk and I had tears running down my face. Like I say, you think you are tough and bad, then something like that happens and you aren't as tough as you think." Lucy Foyt has recovered and taken an interest in the racing career of her son, Larry, and her grandson, Anthony. "I tell her she has taken more interest in their careers than she did mine," A.J. Foyt said with a laugh. "I guess that is where the soft, soft side of A.J. Foyt is."
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