As the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil has approached, the history of the race has been celebrated by countless numbers of fans and media.
That history cannot be told without a salute to A.J. Foyt.
On Race Day, the first four-time winner of "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" will offer a salute of his own to the 33 drivers who will compete in the 100th Running. Foyt will be stationed at the front of the grid and instruct the Pace Car and Row 1 to pull away for the Parade Laps, and as those drivers pull away followed by 30 more, Foyt will salute each one.
"A.J. Foyt has always been my favorite driver and I know so many of our fans hold him in the same regard," Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles said. "The 100th Running is all about honoring our history and A.J. is such a significant part of that, we couldn't have this race without him being part of it for our fans and for each of our drivers! We're excited to have him salute the men and woman who will write our next chapter."
Foyt, born in 1935 in Houston, Texas, started his professional racing career in USAC midget car competition before racing in the Indianapolis 500 for the first time in 1958. In 1961, he won his first Indy 500 in the No. 1 Bowes Seal Fast/Bignotti Trevis/Offy. Three years later, in 1964, he was a champion again.
Three years after that, in 1967, Foyt won again and this time in a rear-engined car, becoming the first and only man to win at Indy in both front- and rear-engine race cars. A decade later, in 1977, he became the first four-time winner, in the iconic No. 14 Coyote that he owned.
During his driving career, "Super Tex" also won the Daytona 500, the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a resume claimed by no other driver. He was named co-driver of the 20th century by the Associated Press, one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers and he has been inducted into every major motorsports Hall of Fame.
Foyt also won the Indy 500 as a car owner in 1999 with Kenny Brack. This year, AJ Foyt Enterprises has three entries in the race, driven by Takuma Sato, Jack Hawksworth and Alex Tagliani.
The legend has always said that the Indianapolis 500 made A.J. Foyt, not the other way around. On Sunday, he'll salute the person who will become the next legend of the Indianapolis 500 - the winner of the 100th Running.
