A. J. FOYT

Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American retired auto racing driver who has raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes United States Automobile Club Champ cars, sprint cars, and midget cars. He raced stock cars in NASCAR and USAC. He won several major sports car racing events. He holds the USAC career wins record with 159 victories,and the American championship racing career wins record with 67.

He is the only driver to win the Indianapolis 500 (which he won four times—1961, 1964, 1967 and 1977), the Daytona 500, the 24 Hours of Daytona, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Foyt won the International Race of Champions all-star racing series in 1976 and 1977. In the NASCAR stock car circuit, he won the 1964 Firecracker 400 and the 1972 Daytona 500. Foyt survived three major crashes that caused serious injuries, and narrowly escaped a fourth. Foyt's success has led to induction in numerous motorsports halls of fame.

In 1958, he made his debut at Indy, but he spun out of the race on lap 148. In 1961, he became the first driver to successfully defend his points championship and win the Indianapolis 500 race. Late in the 500, Foyt made a pit stop for fuel, but a refueling malfunction meant that he returned to the race without enough fuel to finish. Eddie Sachs, unaware that Foyt's now-quicker car was light on fuel, pushed hard to keep up—and Sachs had to pit from the lead with just three laps remaining to replace a shredded right rear tire. Foyt pitted again also but only for enough fuel to finish. He took over the lead and beat Sachs by just 8.28 seconds—the second-closest finish in history at the time. He raced in each season from 1957 to 1992, starting in 374 races and finishing in the top ten 201 times, with 67 victories. In 1958, Foyt raced in Italy in the Trophy of the Two Worlds on the banking at Monza.

Foyt has numerous career records at the Indianapolis 500: the first of to date four drivers to have won a record four times, the most consecutive and career starts (35), most races led (13), most times led during the career (39), and most competitive laps and miles during a career (4,909 laps, 12,272.5 miles). In the 1961 Indianapolis 500 Foyt won over Eddie Sachs with a lead of 8.28 seconds, the second closest finish in Indianapolis history at the time.

USAC/CART
Activity: 1957 - 1993
Grand Prix: 369
Drivers Championships: 7 (1960 - 1961 - 1963 - 1964 - 1967 - 1975 - 1979)
Victories: 67
Pole Positions: 53