Tag: A J Foyt

1964: The Improbable Season

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Alex Palou is having an amazing season, one that could tie a record of a 10-win season shared by two of the greats, A. J. Foyt and Al Unser, Sr. He has already tied Al Unser, Jr, who won eight races in 1994, and Sebastien Bourdais who reached the checkered first in 2007, with eight victories.

Foyt won 10 times in 1964 in a dominating rout of the competition. He won the first seven races of the season, and then he won three of the last six races. Only two other drivers, Parnelli Jones and Lloyd Ruby, also won that season.

The season opener at Phoenix was also the debut of the track, and Foyt became its first winner. The winning streak continued as the series entered May. The Lotus of Jim Clark was favored to win. The race was marred by tragedy as Eddie Sachs and Dave McDonald were killed in an early accident. Clark’s suspension failed, setting up a battle between Foyt and Parnelli Jones. The anticipated fight was short-lived, however. On Jones next pit stop, the fuel cap blew off, setting the car on fire. Foyt breezed to the win.

There was no 500 hangover for Foyt, as he won the next weekend’s race in Milwaukee. Another fiery crash involving Jim Hurtubise put a damper on the second race in a row. Hurtubise survived, but his hands and fingers were badly burned. He had doctors rebuild his fingers so that they could grip a steering wheel.

Foyt’s first loss of the season occurred on August 23rd in the second Milwaukee race. Parnelli Jones won the race from the pole. Jones’s win would start another pattern for1964.

It would be another month before Foyt would lose again, this time at Trenton on September 27th. Like Milwaukee, Jones earned pole position and won the race.

On November 22nd, the season finale at Phoenix, Jones again was the fastest qualifier, but Lloyd Ruby became just the third driver to win a race that year.

One oddity of Foyt’s year-in the three races he did not win, Foyt suffered DNFs. He ended his day at Milwaukee in 26th, finished 20th at Trenton, and 19th at Phoenix.

Alex Palou has three chances to win two races. A win at Portland next weekend will tie Mario Andretti’s victory total from 1969. After that he will need to win his first race on a medium sized oval. I think it would be a full circle moment if Palou were to tie the record at the site of Foyt’s first loss of1964.,

Pole Tales: 1975- Foyt’s Second Try Ties Record

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Rules had slowed the cars, but they did not slow the drama. Johnny Rutherford’s pole speed of 198 mph just two years ago was a distant memory. Tom Sneva held the top spot in the first hour of qualifying at just over 190 mph. Bobby Unser topped his speed with an average of 191.073 mph. The next car on track, Gordon Johncock, went faster, 91. 652 mph to move to the provisional pole.

A. J. Foyt had yet to qualify. Foyt had taken the green flag but pulled into the pits after just one lap. The car went back to the garage. Foyt later said there was an engine issue.

After repairs, Foyt went out for his second attempt. His first lap was195.313, and his average of 193.976 easily beat Johncock’s time. Foyt went out with the idea of taking any speed above 190 mph. Only four drivers qualified above that mark. Foyt may also have been concerned about the high number of qualifiers that day. Under the rules of that era, he would have started 21st at best if he would have had to qualify the following day.

The pole was Foyt’s second in a row and fourth of his storied Indianapolis 500 career. He had also won poles in 1965 and 1969. At the time Rex Mays was the only other driver to win four poles at the Speedway (1935, 1936, 1940, 1948.)

The 1975 starting front row marked the first time that three former winners started at the front of the field.

Bobby Unser won his second Indianapolis 500 in an event stopped after 435 miles because of rain. Rutherford was second and Foyt finished third. It was the third race shortened by rain in a four year period, with only the 1974 race running the full distance in that time.

A Busy Week for IndyCar

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IndyCar started the year with a very busy week. Content Days were followed by A.J. Foyt’s 90th birthday (I’m not that old- how can he be that old?), and a presence at the Detroit Auto Show, which has moved back to its traditional January date.

The main highlight from Content Days was the universal praise for FOX and the preseason prep they have been doing. The drivers involved in shooting the promos were impressed by the level of professionalism and attention. Other drivers also feel very good about the switch to the new network.

A. J. at 90

Considering the era in which Foyt raced, it is remarkable that he survived it. The 50s and 60s were two of the deadliest decades in the sport.

His accomplishments have been well documented, and I won’t rehash them here. Ibn y humble opinion, there has never been a better all-around driver then A. J. Foyt.

I think Foyt’s competitiveness is keeping him going. Paul Goldsmith dies last year at age 98. I’m pretty sure Foyt wants to beat that.

Baby Borgs

Yesterday at the Detroit Auto Show Josef Newgarden and Roger Penske received their baby Borg trophies for winning the 2024 Indianapolis 500.

David Malukas also appeared at the show.

Notes

Single day tickets are now on sale for the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The opening race of the season is the weekend of February 28-March 2.

Testing

Full field Indycar tests:

February 17-18 Sebring

April 23-24 IMS

Individual teams may also have private tests scheduled.

Next week is the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Several IndyCar drivers and teams will participate.

A. J. Foyt: Survivor, Champion, Legend- Book Review

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It’s not easy being A. J. Foyt, nor is keeping up with him. Art Graner presents a comprehensive portrait of arguably the greatest racing driver ever in a biography released earlier this fall. A. J. Foyt: Survivor, Champion, Legend, Volume1 covers the mercurial Texan from his birth in 1935 through the 1977 season. The second volume, due out in 2026, will continue his story.

The book is arranged chronologically by years, which makes it easy to follow and to return to a chapter for reference. Many of his races are mentioned, some in detail, but many just a brief synopsis of Foyt’s performance and the race winner.

The length of the book I think is reasonable, considering the amount of time it covers. Below are some highlights, followed by some of my thoughts.

Foyt has a desire to race virtually since he was born. At age five he challenges the best midget driver at Houston’s Buff Stadium, Don Cossey, to a match race. Details of the race are sketchy, but it sounds like it was a fun couple of laps. Foyt has wanted to do nothing but race his entire life. He drops out of high school to work at his father’s garage.

Several times Foyt says that he loves racing and plans to race until he decides to quit. It is a decision that never comes in this volume, even after his triumphant fourth win in the Indianapolis 500.

Foyt spends several seasons racing as often as he can in any type of car in any part of the country. He and wife Lucy, whom he married while she was still in high school, eventually decide that A. J. will race, and Lucy will stay home with their infant son.

Foyt enters Indycar racing in 1957 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield. He asks Rodger Ward for advice on which team to drive for. Ward suggested Chapman Root. Foyt thinks Ward is trying to steer him to an inferior car and goes to another choice. Foyt gloats when he makes the race and the Root car doesn’t. but the rest of the season Foyt struggles and th Root team does well. A rivalry between Ward and Foyt begins and last several years as the battle for championships.

Foyt’s first Indianapolis 500 in 1958 comes when Jimmy Bryan leaves the Dean Van Lines team and Foyt gets the ride. The relationship lasted a couple years. Foyt becomes frustrated and goes to another team midseason so he can win races but eventually returns to the Dean team when the other ride does not pan out. A pattern of ride hopping to find the car that can win begins.

His first seven years in Indycar are extremely successful, with Indianapolis 500 wins and four national championships. He is fortunate not be involved in any of the horrific crashes in those years. That situation changes in 1965 during a stock car race at Riverside, when he loses his brakes going into one of the fastest curves on the circuit. The rolls down an embankment. The first people to reach his car believe he is dead. His recovery takes several months,

Foyt also races stock cars, both USAC stocks and NASCAR. I was surprised by how much stock car racing he does. Foyt wins the Daytona 500 in 1972 after nearly winning the year before.

In addition, to his racing, Foyt takes on business ventures, including a hOuston Chevrolet dealership. He develops relationships with Goodyear and Ford, and eventually becomes the sole builder and supplier of Ford engines.

Thoughts

There is a lot of detail in this biography, but if you are as huge an A. J. Foyt fan as I am, it is not a bothersome amount.

My favorite chapter is 1967, when Foyt follows his third Indianapolis 500 win with a dramatic victory in the 24 hours of Le Mans with Dan Gurney. May be because I had been to le Mans this summer, but reading details of the 1967 race, which I did not know a lot about, and learning how different then track was sixty years ago I found fascinating.

Several things surprised me about the story-

His heavy involvement in stock car racing . He was virtually running two full time series in one season.

I was not aware that USAC held Indycar/stock car doubleheaders on a regular basis through the 70s.

I found the biography refreshing in that it presented Foyt warts and all. Many biographies tend to focus on the positive, but Garner presents all sides of Foyt.

A. J. Foyt: Survivor, Champion, Legend, Volume1 is available through Octane Press for $29.99.

Yellow Fever? Some Indycar Notes

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Please keep the family of A. J. Foyt in your thoughts. Condolences to A. J., Larry, and the rest of the Foyt family on the passing of Lucy Foyt.

The yellow flag has flown 10 times in the first two races of the Indycar season. 78 laps, 22.2% of the races have been behind the pace car. While htis is a higher percentage than at this point in 2022, it is really not that bad. I’m fine with a race having no more than 25% under caution.

IMSA has experienced the same issue. The 12 Hours of Sebring had what seemed to be many nore cautions than normal. The race had no flow to it. There were three cautions in the last hour.

I expect the percentage of yellow laps to go down in the next two races. I don’t think long beach will be the wreck fest that St. Pete was, and Barber typically doesn’t have many full course yellows.

Things will reach an equilibrium as the season goes along. I would hate to see a race where the pace car gets the three bonus points.

INDY NXT at IMS

The Indy NXT series will test at the IMS road course today from 10-4. I assume fans can view from the turn 2 mounds.

Teams testing today:

Abel Motorsports: Jacob Abel, Colin Kaminsky

Andretti Autosport: Jamie Chadwick, Louis Foster, Hunter McElrea, James Roe

Cape Motorsports: Enaam Ahmed, Jagger Jones

HMD Motorsports: Christian Bogle, Ernie Francis Jr., Danial Frost, Josh Green, Josh Pierson, Christian Rasmussen, Nolan Siegel, Kyffin Simpson

Juncos Hollinger Racing: Matteo Nannini, Reece Gold

Some MoreStats from Texas

Indycar released some more numbers from last Sunday’s PPG 375

These niumbers confirm that it was an action packed race.

The Pit Window on the Move

The Pit Window will move to summer headquarters at the end of next week. I still plan to cover Long Beach, but Friday coverage may be delayed.

PENSKE ENTERTAINMENT, NBC SPORTS ANNOUNCE ‘PENNZOIL PRESENTS THE CLUB’

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Image from Penske Entertainment

From IMS and Penske Entertainment:

March 17, 2022 | By Indianapolis Motor Speedway

A Conversation 110 Years in the Making: Foyt, Unser, Mears Welcome Castroneves to Most Exclusive Club in Motorsports

Television coverage of the Month of May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will shift into high gear Saturday, May 14 when NBC debuts “Pennzoil presents The Club,” a documentary featuring an exclusive conversation among one of the most elite groups in global motorsports — the four drivers to win the Indianapolis 500 four times.

Airing at 2 p.m. (ET), “Pennzoil presents The Club” will lead into live coverage at 3 p.m. that afternoon of the GMR Grand Prix NTT INDYCAR SERIES race on the IMS road course.

A trailer, released just this morning, is at this link:

youtube.com/watch?v=m2MVwrkX8LU

Helio Castroneves became the fourth member of the most exclusive club in motorsports last May 30. Castroneves will aim for his record-breaking fifth “500” victory in the 106th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 29, also live starting at 11 a.m. (ET) on NBC.

“This is a truly once-in-a-lifetime chance to watch and discuss sports history,” IMS President J. Douglas Boles said. “For fans around the globe, it’s an epic way to start the Month of May on NBC before tuning in to the GMR Grand Prix and Helio’s historic ‘drive for five’ on Indy 500 Race Day.”

Shortly after Castroneves’ emotional victory for Meyer Shank Racing in the 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, Boles called for a secret meeting of Castroneves and his fellow four-time winners, A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears.

On July 21, 2021, the four legendary INDYCAR SERIES drivers gathered to commemorate one of the most significant accomplishments in motorsports history. Penske Entertainment was on hand to capture and document the moment, recording a conversation 110 years in the making.

“Pennzoil presents The Club” is a documentary celebrating that conversation and what it means to win “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” four times. The show features a sit-down conversation in downtown Indianapolis, historic race footage and a four-time winner’s meeting at the world-famous Yard of Bricks with the Borg-Warner Trophy.

Featuring additional interviews with Mario Andretti, Tony Stewart, Scott Dixon, Roger Penske and veteran motorsports writer Curt Cavin, “Pennzoil presents The Club” is the only recorded conversation among Foyt, Unser, Mears and Castroneves. Unser passed away Dec. 9, making this conversation even more poignant. The documentary includes a dedication to his memory.

“It’s still hard for me to believe that I am a part of this group of drivers – these are drivers that I have looked up to and watched all my life and to now be standing on the same level as them is incredible. My best memories have come from winning the Indianapolis 500, there is no other race in history that has that same feeling; the feeling of a month’s long hard work all coming to an end in the best way possible,” said Castroneves. “I will forever be grateful for the people who have helped me achieve such a monumental accomplishment because it was not just me, it was a team effort each of those four years.”

A Yard of Bricks with Two Feet of Bronze

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Photo: The four 4 time winners. Chris Owens, Indycar

  • Marti Uprate. She is at Vanderbilt Hospital and saw numerous doctors today. I had to come home to take care of a problem and will be heading back tomorrow. Her length of stay is unknown, but I might still be there for the race next weekend.

Just Catching Up

It’s the little things Roger Penske thinks of that make him a success. The photo above is an example of one of those little things- getting the four four time Indianapolis 500 winners together for a group photo. There might not be many more opportunities to get this group together. A. J. Foyt, the first four time winner, had a commemorative bronze brick installed in the yard of bricks at the start/finish line. The other three will have their own bricks installed this fall.

It is a fitting tribute to these four drivers who have collectively won 15% of the 105 Indianapolis 500s. Will more of these bricks appear in the future? It will be a long time before that happens, if ever. Only two other drivers in this year’s race, Juan Pablo Montoya and Takuma Sato, have won twice. Whether either of them runs another 500 is uncertain right now.

I will be on the road during tomorrow’s Jimmie Johnson media conference tomorrow, but I will get up to date on it tomorrow night and share what I find out.

A. J. at 85

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A. J. Foyt turns 85 today. That must mean I’m old. Reaching that age is an accomplishment for anyone, but quite amazing for someone who began racing in the ’50s and ’60s. I’m not going to list all his accomplishments. I like to keep these essays short. There are a few that standout, however.

Foyt is the only driver to win the Indianapolis 500 in both a front engine car and a rear engine car. In 1964 he won 10 of the 13 USAC Championship races, including the first seven races of the season. I saw him win a stock car race at the Indiana State Fairgrounds after starting last. He qualified higher, but was unhappy with his time and withdrew it. He won in almost every type of car he raced.

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I have had racing heroes since I was six or seven years old, but I never got the chance to see any of them race. Bill Vukovich was my first hero, and after his death at the 500, I followed Bob Sweikert, but alas, he too died the following year. A. J. was the first of my racing heroes that I actually saw drive. It didn’t hurt any that he had the number 14 on his car, Vukovich’s number.

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I loved the way he drove. Sure there were other outstanding drivers in that era- Andretti, Jones, the Unsers-and I appreciated all of them. Yet, there was something special about Foyt. I liked his unapologetic style and the way he seemed to always be in a position to win. He didn’t always get to Victory Lane, but more often than not, he had a chance.

It is my belief that the modern era of racing began with Foyt’s 1961 Indianapolis 500 victory. He beat the drivers of the 50s, some of whom had raced in the early post World War II years. His future rivals were yet to make an appearance at the Speedway. I think all fans owe him thanks for that.

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As I have written on several occasions, the stars of that era who miraculously survived a very dangerous period in the sport are all now in their 80s. I believe Paul Goldsmith is 90. As you watch the NTT Indycar Series races this season, take a moment or two to reflect on the sport’s heritage. No matter who your favorite driver of that era is, we all owe a debt of gratitude to A. J. If you see one of the legends at a track, please say hello and thank you to them.

 

 

Some Thoughts on Mari Hulman George- We’ve Lost a Lot

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One of the first things I do after I wake up in the morning is check social media. Saturday morning the first thing on my Twitter timeline was the notice of the death of Mari Hulman George. It was hard to believe. I knew she was ill, but that didn’t make the news less of a shock.

Although she had not been an active member of the board for a couple of years, I’m sure her influence was still being felt. Many drivers have praised her selflessness and kindness. She let Parnelli Jones drive her car at Trenton when his car had a problem during practice. Jones finished second. A. J. Foyt spent many Christmases with Mari and her family.

I was most familiar with her through her work with greyhound rescue.  I fostered and adopted greyhounds from a different group, but her group, USA Dog, also had a presence at shows where we had information booths our hounds. I remember ads for greyhound rescue in the Indianapolis 500 programs in the ’90’s. She was instrumental in bringing the Mutt Strut to the track as well.

How will things change at the Speedway? There probably won’t be many changes noticeable on a day to day basis. There are things that will change, one has already happened. First, all drivers, past and present, have lost a great friend and advocate. Second, we will likely not hear the name Hulman mentioned in connection with anybody again. While it is Tony’ middle name, no one refers to him with his middle name. Third, the thing that makes me most sad, is that we may never hear the race started with “Gentlemen, Start your Engines” again. The 100th running of the 500 was the last time the race began with those words. Mari, accompanied by her family gave the command in unison. Tony Hulman the last two years has given the pedestrian “Drivers, start your engines,” a weak command to begin the Indianapolis 500.

The Hulman family has owned the Speedway for seventy three years as of next Friday. The third generation is now completely in charge. My hope is that they follow the examples and high bars set by their grandfather and mother.