He hasn't driven a race car in years, but time has not cooled A.J. Foyt's competitive fire a bit.
Last Saturday at Homestead, Fla., hours before the start of the season-opening IndyCar Series race and the beginning of Foyt's 50th season in racing, ``Super Tex'' sat in his team's transporter watching a sports car race on TV.
``Knock him off the track,'' Foyt bellowed at the set as the second-place car made a move to take the lead.
``Hell, he backed off,'' Foyt, said, grinning and shaking his head in mock despair. ``I'd have never done that.''
No, he probably would not have. Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. rarely back off on the racetrack or off, and that's probably why he had an inordinate amount of success, both in racing and in business.
His list of on-track feats is extraordinary.
Among them, Foyt was the first driver to win the Indianapolis 500 four times. He also won the 1972 Daytona 500 and co-drove with fellow legend Dan Gurney to victory in the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans.
He and longtime rival Mario Andretti were named The Associated Press' co-Drivers of the Century by an elite panel of judges in 2000. As great as Andretti was, probably the only reason Foyt didn't rate the honour by himself was because he chose to avoid Formula One, where Andretti won a championship.
``I had offers to drive over there,'' Foyt said, referring to F1. ``I ran over there a few times (in sports cars), places like Silverstone and Le Mans, and I just never liked racing outside the United States.
``I always felt it was the people of the United States who made A.J. Foyt and that's who I wanted to run in front of. And I didn't care for the food was the biggest thing. I still don't.''
Andretti said of Foyt, ``He could have won in anything he drove in those days. We didn't always get along. But if you beat him, you knew you had beaten the best.''
The 72-year-old Foyt, who sits on several boards of directors, owns car dealerships and other businesses in his native Texas and is a wealthy man, has fallen on hard times at the racetrack in recent years.
``We've been kind of asleep for a while,'' he said, shrugging.
There have been only two wins in open-wheel racing since 1999, and a venture into NASCAR's premier stock car series with son Larry and several other drivers, from 2000 through 2003, ended with one top five and six top 10s.
But he's not ready to retire to his ranch.
``I still enjoy it,'' said Foyt, who has a plan for keeping A.J. Foyt Enterprises on track even after he's gone.
``My other sons, one of them runs our Lexus dealership and one enjoys the ranch and hunting and all that,'' Foyt said. ``But I want someone to continue racing, so I have put Larry in the position to really help and manage the deal.
``Everything is looking pretty good and he's doing a great job. I didn't say that he had to quit racing. He's kind of backed off a little bit, but he is going to run a few (NASCAR Craftsman Truck) races and then step into the team 100 per cent.
``I'm still there every day, too, but Larry is doing a lot of footwork for me, which makes it a lot easier.''
Foyt, who acknowledges that after 14 years out of the cockpit, he still misses racing _ ``I'd be a damn liar if I said I didn't'' _ said he can't understand what all the fuss is about 50 years in the sport he loves.
``What's so damn big about 50 years?'' he said. ``It just means you're old.''
But he does take some pride in that longevity.
``Hell, people said I wasn't supposed to live to be over 22 because it was so dangerous when I started. But a lot of them are gone and I'm still here,'' Foyt chortled.
And Foyt has absolutely no doubt about where his success came from.
``The Indianapolis 500,'' he said. ``I know the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 are big today, but I still think Indianapolis is the biggest race in the world.
``It's like the Kentucky Derby. You've got some great, great horse races, but you've only got one Kentucky Derby. And you've only got one Indianapolis 500. That race is what made A.J. Foyt. Whatever I've got, I owe to Indianapolis.''
Tony George, founder of the IndyCar Series and scion of the family that owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, said the track also owes a lot to Foyt.
``We're coming up on the 100th anniversary of the speedway and we're going to celebrate the 100th running of the 500 in another 10 years,'' George said. ``In all of its history, A.J. Foyt is probably in the top five, if not the top three, if not the top two of the people who have defined what that event is all about.
``But there's a lot more to A.J. than just Indianapolis. I think it's his drive, his tenacity, his desire to win that has made him who he is and what he is today,'' George added. ``And it's his longevity, too. He started 35 consecutive Indy 500s, coming back from career-threatening, life-threatening injuries to be back every May 1. I just think that's amazing.''
So, too, does Englishman Darren Manning, who is driving this year for Foyt in the IndyCar Series.
``Thinking about all that he has accomplished in this sport is truly incredible,'' Manning said. ``He's giving me a chance that other people wouldn't give me and I'd love to be part of putting A.J. and his team back out front.
``That's where A.J. Foyt should be.''
