Its a special year for racing legend A J Foyt. It’s not that he's already celebrated his 72nd birthday, but 2007 will mark his 50th year in auto racing.
Is he amazed by such longevity? “Yeah, really, I wasn't supposed to live this long,” says Foyt laughing. “Everybody said I'd never live to be twenty-two, and lot of them said that are gone, and I'm still here.”
Foyt will forever be remembered as the King of the Indy 500, winning the race on four different occasions and remains the only driver to win the Daytona 500 and the 24-hours of lemans. But his contributions as an owner have been equally as impressive.
“Oh i love him to death,” says Nascar Driver Tony Stewart. “He's my hero. He gave me my first opportunity to sit in an Indy car and drive an Indy car, so I've had a lot of fun with him we've got a great relationship with each other. I'm really proud for him this year, to not only have been a great race car drive, but just to be involved in racing as a driver slash car owner, for 50-years as of this year, is a pretty remarkable feet.”
Foyt's legend grew when he slugged Arie Lynendyk following the first ever IRL race at the Texas Motor Speedway. A scoring error showed Foyt's driver Billy Boat had won, but Lynendyk was the real winner. Foyt never gave up the trophy.
“The tropy is sitting in my office,” says Foyt sitting next to Eddie Gossage, President of Texas Motor Speedway. “But I tell you what. I'll make you a deal. I was fortunate to win the second race here. Why don't i give you that damn trophy, because I like to be number one.”
Foyt's racing operation will not involve NASCAR any more, but Indy Car Racing alone.
“Indy car has always been my favorite,” says Foyt, “So we're really counting on the Indy program real strong this year, to try and get it back up running.”
Foyt's impact on auto racing on so many different levels is impossible to measure. Fifty years in the business is a long, long time, and not even thinking about retirement yet
