INTERVIEW: A.J. Foyt at his 65th Indy 500

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emailBy Robin Miller | August 22, 2020 7:28 AM

Sunday will be A.J. Foyt’s 65th consecutive Indianapolis 500 – three as a spectator, 35 in a row as a driver and the last 27 as a car owner. It will be the only IndyCar race he attends during 2020 and, as most of us already know, it’s the only race he cares about.

At 85, he looks damn good considering he’s been through a triple bypass, a staph infection that brought on sepsis, rotator cuff surgery, back surgery and had his right knee and left hip replaced. That doesn’t count two bouts with killer bees, evading a poisonous snake and dumping a bulldozer into a lake.

The good news is that he’s as feisty and outspoken as ever and walking a little wobbly (he will not use a cane or walker) but getting around OK nonetheless. He likes Tony Kanaan, he might know Charlie Kimball’s name but likely has no clue that Dalton Kellett is from Canada or driving one of his cars.

He would never admit it but he misses the fans at IMS, because he still gets a louder cheer than anyone when he’s spotted.

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A.J. agreed to sit down for an interview at the Foyt Wine Vault on Main Street in Speedway and reflect on his amazing life and love for 16th & Georgetown.

ROBIN MILLER: You came to the Speedway in 1955 when you were 20 years old and sat in the Turn 2 grandstands. What do you remember about that race?

AJ: I grew up listening to the race on the radio with my father on Memorial Day and that first year there weren’t nearly as many grandstands as there are today, no crash-proof walls and the front straightaway was still bricks.

RM: Did you ever imagine being in the starting line-up three years later?

AJ: I never dreamed I’d be good enough to ever qualify at Indianapolis and that first year was a dream come true. You never expect it.

RM: Back in the 1950s, car owners didn’t trust anyone under 30 to drive their cars so how did a 23-year-old land one of the best rides with Dean Van Lines?

AJ: I think I got that ride because I won an IMCA race at Salem and they figure if you’re crazy enough to run the high banks you’d be pretty good at Indy. Al Dean was a great owner and gave me my chance.

RM: Were you humbled or cocky?

AJ: I guess I got a little cocky.
A “cocky” rookie in 1958, Foyt learned some hard lessons in the race. IMS archive

RM: And your debut starting 12th and finishing 16th after a water hose blew and you spun out. Intimidating?

AJ: Not really but Pat O’Connor’s accident really bothered me. He’d helped me at a USAC race with my steering gear and then gave me advice before Indianapolis what to do and not to do, he was so helpful and such a good guy. Going around under yellow after that first-lap wreck and seeing him still in his car was hard to take and I thought maybe this is a little too tough for ‘ol A.J.

RM: Considering you broke your back, shattered your feet, damn near lost an arm and got badly burned a couple times, it’s hard to imagine how you made it to 55 let alone 85.

AJ: We’re all just passing through so you never know when your time is going to be up and I know mine should have three of four times but they weren’t ready for an SOB like me. I knew the odds when I hooked that seat belt and I was just hoping I’d be the one to unhook it at the end of the day. The only thing that really bothered me was fire, because back then when you crashed you usually caught fire and there were no fuel cells for a long time in the ’60s.

RM: And of course you insisted on wearing golf gloves instead of the fireproof ones that came along in the ’70s.

AJ: I had to because I couldn’t feel the car with those thick gloves. You gotta feel the race car with your rear end and your hands – that’s the way you learn to drive.

RM: Langhorne was one of the most challenging and dangerous tracks in the world — badasses like Rodger Ward wouldn’t run there so why were you so good there?

AJ: It was very fast and a tiring, treacherous track with no power steering and you were always sideways but I liked it.

RM: When USAC took the dirt races off the championship schedule it was the beginning of the end for that organization and cut the lifeline for midget and sprint drivers from that day forward. Agree?

AJ: I think so, because back then you had to run dirt, pavement, road courses, short ovals and superspeedways, so it shows the true champion. I’d still like to see dirt racing return as part of the championship but it will never happen.
The front row of the 1991 Indianapolis 500 was arguably the greatest in the race’s long history. From left: Mario Andretti, third; A.J. Foyt, second; Rick Mears, pole. IMS archive

RM: You began your Indy career in a front-engine roadster with eight-inch tires at 143mph and ended it going 223mph in a rear-engine rocket with wings and super sticky, ultra-wide tires. Which was tougher?

AJ: It was a helluva lot harder those first years because the tires were as hard as concrete — if you let the back end out you took a ride. You had to be more careful with roadsters, whereas the rear-engine cars you could feel more and they were easier to drive. Roadsters wouldn’t let you make a mistake.

RM: So what was your favorite car?

AJ: A sprinter on a tacky half-mile dirt track, because you had a lot of horsepower and you had to control it with your right foot.

RM: You were a good mechanic who could also build engines, so what was your greatest attribute? The fact you were brave, talented, mechanically savvy or smart?

AJ: I think all four, because you had to know a little bit about everything on the cars. I use to run my right-rear tires backwards to get more sidebite but you’re not allowed to have any ideas today and I think there are too many rules. I think my mechanical knowledge was a big asset and helped my driving. Today, a computer tells these kids what the car is doing and if not a lot of them are lost.

RM: You became the face of the Indy 500 with your four victories, great comebacks and ornery disposition. You always say Indy made A.J. Foyt and I always counter and say, no you and Mario, Parnelli, Herk and Gurney made Indy, at least for me.

AJ: The Speedway made me because when I won the race the whole world knew it. It’s the greatest race there is and I don’t think it’s any better today than it was in the ’60s and ’70s, it’s just different. And I also made big news at Indy by being an ass every now and then.

RM: Why is Indianapolis still so important to you?

AJ: I don’t care how many years you’ve been here but come race day you tighten up a little bit because it’s the race every driver wants to win. It’s like the Kentucky Derby. I’m gonna come back as long as I can because I still enjoy it. I’ve lived my whole life to come to this race.

A.J. Foyt, Indy 500, IndyCar

 

Blair Julian wins Clint Brawner Award at Indy 500

Image by IMS Photo
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emailBy Marshall Pruett | August 22, 2020 8:13 AM

Scott Dixon’s countryman and crew chief, Blair Julian, has been selected as the newest recipient of the Clint Brawner Mechanical Excellence Award. Given each year at the Indianapolis 500, the award is named in honor of the legendary crew chief whose cars and drivers earned countless wins, including Mario Andretti at Indy in 1969.

For the New Zealander who oversees Dixon’s No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda and the renowned pit crew known as the ‘Wolf Pack,’ the Clint Brawner award was thoroughly unexpected.

“It was a big surprise; walking up there to the podium, I didn’t know what was going on,” Julian told RACER. “I’m very honored to receive it, and you immediately think about all your crew guys who put you in that position to be considered for an award like this. It’s nice to have everyone’s work on the No. 9 car recognized, and to be recognized individually.”

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Julian takes pride in all his predecessors achieved at the Indy 500, especially during the eras that produced talents like Brawner.

“It’s cool to learn about the history of it, and love to understand the innovation they brought to the track, to have ideas and put them on the car and make it work,” he said. “It’s a little bit different these days with the rules and restrictions, but on the other side, getting all the little details right makes the difference. Having a good team around you makes it easier for Scott, or any of our drivers, to go out there and look good. I certainly don’t think of myself anywhere near like Clint Brawner, but it’s cool to be mentioned in the same breath.”

Clint Brawner, Indy 500, IndyCar

 

Inside Arie Luyendyk's 1990 Indy 500 win

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emailBy Marshall Pruett | August 22, 2020 8:05 AM

Looking back 30 years, Arie Luyendyk takes us inside the 1990 Indianapolis 500 where the Dutchman scored his first of two victories at the Speedway. And there were other milestones recorded that day in his No. 30 Shierson Racing Lola-Chevy, which he discusses, that make his first appearance on the BorgWarner Trophy rather special.

 

RETRO: The day Milwaukee took some scalps

Foyt, Ward and George Bignotti. Robin Miller Collection
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emailBy Robin Miller | 24 hours ago

Considering the economy, purses and affect the pandemic has had on spectator sports, the fact 22-24 cars have started every IndyCar race outside of Indianapolis is pretty damn impressive.

But there was an anomaly 60 years ago at Milwaukee that left Indy 500 winners on the sidelines, and more cars on the trailer than in the Rex Mays Classic.

A week after the great duel between Jim Rathmann and Rodger Ward at Indianapolis, the USAC championship trail pitched its tent at State Fair Park for the first of two annual 100-mile shows with an entry list that was hard to comprehend.

Forty-seven cars showed up to compete for 22 spots, and the drivers that wound up missing the show were almost as accomplished as the starting lineup.

While Lloyd Ruby nipped Johnny Thomson for the pole position, A.J. Foyt qualified fourth-fastest, Jim Hurtubise was seventh, Tony Bettenhausen eighth, Ward 11th and a new kid named Parnelli Jones was 13th. But Jimmy Bryan, Troy Ruttman and Rathmann weren’t fast enough, and neither were Eddie Sachs, Dick Rathmann, Roger McCluskey, Duane Carter, Bud Tinglestad, Jimmy Davies and Jim Packard. Yet stock car veteran Nelson Stacy somehow managed to secure the last automatic berth (20th).

Promoter Tom Marchese added a 20-lap consolation race so two of the 27 would transfer into the main event, and Milwaukee historian Steve Zautke documents what happened in the ‘Hooligan’:

“Packard was on the pole in Lindsey Hopkins’ dirt car and midget champ Davies was outside of Row 1 in Harry Turner’s roadster. Sachs started sixth in the Dean Van Lines Special but was in the lead by lap 14, and Dick Rathmann slotted into second at the same time. That’s how they finished with Ruttman fifth, Bryan sixth and Rathmann seventh in the Ken-Paul Special that was a week removed from Victory Lane.

“Sachs earned $200 for his efforts while the younger Rathmann, who earned $110,000 at Indy for his team, pocketed a $20 bill.”

In the race, Ward took the lead from Foyt held off the soon-to-be national champion for the final 19 laps.

“Making the show back then was a bear, especially at a dirt track where there might be 30-35 cars going for 18 spots and if you drew a bad number forget it,” recalled Super Tex, who joins Jones as the only surviving participants in that 1960 Milwaukee race. “But I remember Milwaukee and all those great drivers that missed the race. They talk about the competition today; well I got news for you, it was damn tough back then too, and a lot of guys got sent home.”

AJ Foyt, Milwaukee, IndyCar

 

Vintage Indy notches successful weekend at WWT Raceway

Image by Mark Schwigen
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emailBy Vintage Motorsport | 10 hours ago

After initially registering 30 cars for its Aug. 28-30 event at Worldwide Technology Raceway, Vintage Indy welcomed 25 race cars representing 72 years of Indianapolis racing history.
“It was a highly successful event,” said Vintage Indy co-founder Michael Lashmett. “The 25 cars dated from 1932-2004, and were on track for nearly three hours over the course of two days.”The weekend also featured a first with two women drivers piloting iconic Offy roadsters — Stephanie Campeau in the 1961 Leader Card Special and Theresa Lynch in the former Tony Bettenhausen Dowgard Special.
Photo: Vintage IndyTwo-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser Jr. drove the official Miles Ahead Mini John Cooper Works hardtop Vintage Indy pace car throughout the weekend. The Mini sported a special livery honoring the 50th anniversary of Al Unser Sr.’s 1970 Indianapolis victory in the famed Johnny Lightning Special.

Vintage Indy paddock guests included Indy 500 winners Arie Luyendyk and Bobby Rahal, as well as Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Doug Boles and the former manager of SCRAMP Tim McGrane.

 

MILLER: Saluting an IndyCar feel-good story

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emailBy Robin Miller | 3 hours ago

In 2017 he was walking through the pits at Long Beach with a headset and microphone, giving reports and observations for the IMS radio network. Two years later, at the same track, he hustled to fourth place for Michael Andretti in the crown jewel of street races for IndyCar, finishing ahead of Graham Rahal, Marco Andretti, Josef Newgarden, Tony Kanaan and James Hinchcliffe.

That was the highly unlikely and even more enjoyable ascension of Zach Veach.

Veach was in the news this past week after being evicted from his ride with three races remaining in the 2020 NTT series. Of course, immediate reaction has been anger or sorrow, but let’s apply another emotion.

Be happy for the plucky 25-year-old, because nobody gave him much of a chance of ever making it to full-time status in IndyCar and he pulled it off for three years with perseverance and the connection almost every driver needs nowadays.

At 5’5” and 125 pounds and looking more like Malcolm in the Middle than Jud Larson, it was hard for the Ohio native to be taken seriously even though he won races all the way the ladder system. During practice at Indianapolis in 2017, he was standing in A.J. Foyt’s pit box and I pointed to Veach and told Tex that kid was going to be in his third car for the race. “B******, he ain’t old enough to drive a passenger car, and he’s too small to drive an IndyCar. Quit yankin’ my chain.”

Of course Veach did qualify 32nd in the Foyt entry and dropped out with mechanical problems after 166 laps. His career had “Indy 500 only” written all over it until the pastor at his church in Zionsville hooked him up with Dan Towriss of Gainbridge, a financial services platform and CEO of Group 1001, a billion-dollar insurance holding company.

Towriss instantly liked Veach (how could you not?) and a three-year contract with Andretti was struck, with Gainbridge also signing on for four years at the title sponsor for the Indianapolis 500. All thanks to a little divine guidance and hungry kid looking for a backer.
Veach achieved his career-best IndyCar finish three races after joining Andretti when he finished fourth at Long Beach in 2018, and he repeated that result at Texas in June (pictured). IMS image

But racing is one of the cruelest bottom-line endeavors where even money sometimes can’t override results. Veach had such a promising rookie year in 2018 with a fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh before taking a step backwards in 2019. Aside from qualifying at Indy and the last race at Mid-Ohio, this season had been a disaster for everyone at Andretti Autsport except for Colton Herta. Ryan Hunter-Reay is ninth in the point standings, Alexander Rossi is 12th, Veach 20th and Marco Andretti 21st.

Now there is nothing fair about Veach being bumped before his contract is up, especially considering all the good things he brought to Andretti, IndyCar and IMS. We all understood that without Gainbridge he wouldn’t have wound up with the Big 3, and we figured he was likely gone after 2020 if Gainbridge didn’t re-up.

As Marshall Pruett reported last week, we hear Gainbridge was given an option – stay with Veach but you’re not welcome back at Andretti, or stay with that team and be paired with Hinch or Herta for 2021. For Michael it’s nothing personal, just business – a mean business for sure, but sponsorship figures to be tougher than ever next year.

We don’t know the status of DHL, which obviously directly affects Ryan Hunter-Reay, but I did hear that Santino Ferrucci was approached about the No.28 car if he could bring money. It says a lot if RHR isn’t secure with his body of work, and he wants to keep racing for Andretti but five cars is an expensive proposition with only one car (Rossi with NAPA and AutoNation) seemingly having solid sponsorship locked up for 2021.

Andretti threw Hunter-Reay a lifeline 10 years ago and was rewarded with a championship and an Indy 500 win, and he fielded cars for Veach all through the Road to Indy until giving him a seat in the big time. Nobody was under the illusion that he was going to win races or contend for a championship, but I think Veach performed a lot better than anyone imagined. He’s a personable young man with a lot of heart, and covering his Walter Mitty ride was fun while it lasted. His was a feel-good story, and we felt good telling it. Now he’s exploring sports cars and we’ll see him in May, but he’s likely done as a full-timer.

Still, he ran with the big boys for three years and should be proud of the fact that he fit right in.

 

IMS Museum Opens Unser/Rutherford Anniversary Exhibit

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EmailThe positioning of Johnny Rutherford’s 1980 winner (left) and Al Unser Senior’s from 1970 illustrates the advances in aerodynamics over a decade. Photo: Fritz FrommeyerIndianapolis, IN — Two dominant drivers from the 1970s and 1980s at Indianapolis — Al Unser Sr. and Johnny Rutherford — are being commemorated for the 50th and 40th anniversaries of their victories in the 500-Mile Race with their winning cars on display in the IMS Museum.

Both cars won from the pole and were powered by V8s: Unser’s 1970 Johnny Lightning P.J. Colt with a turbo Ford and Rutherford’s 1980 Chaparral by a Cosworth. There are rudimentary aerodynamics on Unser’s car versus ground effects on Rutherford’s “Yellow Submarine,” giving him a qualifying advantage over Unser, 192.526 mph to 170.221. The winners’ shares of the purses grew from Unser’s $271,698 for his first victory to Rutherford’s $318,820 a decade later when he won his third Indy 500.

Together, these two Hall of Famers won seven 500s, with Unser taking four of those races. Their cars and memorabilia will be on display through Nov. 30.

 

IMS Museum Unveils Restored Gurney Lotus 29/1

by Cyndi Paceley

lIndianapolis, IN — After receiving the tub of Dan Gurney’s 1963 Lotus 29/1 Indianapolis 500 car late last week, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum shared of the restored bodywork — now with the historically-correct livery, along with replica decals — that Gurney carried in the 1963 Indy 500.
Photo: IMS MuseumThe Lotus is on display at the museum through Sunday, July 19.

IMS Museum’s Restoration department has invested thousands of hours over the last two years to restore the engine and transmission, chassis and other key components on the Lotus 29/1, but relied on auto restoration expert George Lyons’ painting expertise. Lyons owns Contemporary Motorcar in Erie, Pa. See videos of the entire restoration process.
Photo: IMS MuseumThe three Lotus 29s that company founder Colin Chapman brought to IMS in 1963 — including one for Gurney and another for teammate Jim Clark (an Indy 500 rookie that year) — represent a pivotal moment in oval racing history. Jack Brabham drove a rear-engine Cooper in the 1961 race and Gurney drove a rear-engine car for team owner Mickey Thompson in 1962, but it was Gurney’s No. 93 and Clark’s No. 92 Lotuses of 1963 that initiated the “rear-engine revolution” at IMS, sparking technological breakthroughs that drive IndyCar design to this day.

Clark started fifth with Lotus chassis 29/3 and finished 2nd. Gurney crashed his primary car, the Lotus 29/2, in practice. He switched to the 29/1 and qualified 12th (with the car still painted in British Racing Green), then finished the race 7th after white and blue colors were quickly applied during race week.

 

MILLER: Beloved Bill Marvel, 92, in Stage 4 cancer battle

Image by by John Mahoney
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emailBy Robin Miller | November 16, 2020 12:24 PM

Too often after somebody dies, we regret that we didn’t get to say goodbye properly or thank them for their friendship and all the contributions they made. So consider this a living tribute to a man who’s made a positive impact on auto racing as we know it for seven decades.

Bill Marvel has Stage 4 cancer and the clock is ticking, so it seems like the right time to thank him and tell him what he’s meant to USAC, IndyCar, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the NBA Indiana Pacers, and all the hundreds if not thousands of people he’s helped in his 92 years.

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Marvel (photo above, with Mario and AJ at the 1966 Hoosier Hundred) has been a public relations dynamo, a race promoter, a general manager, a publisher, and a vital part of a program for injured racers.

He worked in the IMS press room for 30 years; started the Charger newspaper; helped get Pocono up and running; worked at the Houston Astrodome; served as GM for Texas World Speedway, and ran the USAC Benevolent Fund.

He promoted the inaugural Hoosier Grand Prix at Indianapolis Raceway Park; helped pack Pocono its first couple years; staged USAC midget racing in the AstroDome; and put on USAC sprint races around the Midwest.

He was also the Indiana Pacers’ first PR man; helped with the Indianapolis Racers for a couple seasons; and beat the PR drum for the Indiana Loves in World Team Tennis.

If you needed to get the word out about a race, a team, a driver or a sponsor, it was always wise to contact Marvel ASAP. He’s still the best PR man I’ve ever known.



I met him in 1966 on top of the tower at IRP. I was stealing a Valvoline banner and he was collecting them after the race. But, instead of busting my chops, Marvel thanked me for helping and our friendship was launched.

I spent many nights following my shift at the Indianapolis Star going to his Sports Headliners’ office to work on flyers or releases for his latest project – a great education in learning how to treat people the right way.

His energy level was off the chart. He’d work a shift at Indiana Bell and then head for the Speedway to assist Bob Laycock and Bill York. Or, he’d split his day selling ads for Charger while working for Sports Headliners.

In his Pacer days, he’d write releases following the games and, complete with the box score, would then drive around Indy to every TV and radio station and drop them off, finishing about 3:00 a.m.

He put together most of the 1969 Indianapolis starting lineup to a USAC midget show at the Houston Astrodome that drew 35,000 fans and merited a story in Sports Illustrated.
Credit Marvel for a heroic effort which led in no small part to the success of Pocono’s inaugural 500-miler.

The thrash to get Pocono finished in time for its inaugural 500-miler in July of 1971 required Marvel to write press releases, take drivers to TV and radio stations, give the media tours of the track and even help put up fencing. He averaged working 18 hours a day and Sports Illustrated’s coverage of the race sported the headline: “Captain Marvel Presents” (photo above).

He suffered a heart attack not long after that, recovered and then moved on to Texas World Speedway in College Station where he planned a fourth 500-mile race for Indy cars before the fuel crisis shut it down.

Marvel dabbled in the “real” business world in the late 1970s, opening Bill’s Unclaimed Freight; but it turned out it was just a front to sponsor midgets and sprints. He was always involved with the USAC Benevolent Fund and made sure that drivers, widows and children were given financial assistance.

He had his own personal tragedy in 1983 when his oldest son, Billy, was killed in a sprint car at Putnamville. He gave him a final lap around IMS on his way to the cemetery, but never held any animosity towards racing and then watched No. 2 son Brad develop into a winning sprint driver.

Indianapolis meant everything to Bill. His dad, Clem, was a longtime USAC official and, together with York, they formed a lifetime friendship that all began in that little media center at IMS.

When the pandemic forced Roger Penske to run Indy this August with no fans, Marvel called and wondered if I could put in a good word with The Captain so he could attend his 80th consecutive Indy 500. R.P. (whose team had won that first Pocono 500 with Mark Donohue) was immediately receptive to the idea, and Bill got to see the action from the media center. You’d have thought he won the lottery.

It’s hard to believe he’s not in the USAC Hall of Fame because he should have his own wing; but my understanding is that it’s a work in progress.

York, who ran the IMS, Pacers and Colts press rooms for decades, is dealing with his own health issues, but gets a big smile when he remembers all the good old days with his pal.

“Bill Marvel was thinking 100 percent racing all of his life,” said York. “He deserves the adulation of every race fans in the country for all his contributions, and he spent his whole life helping people with the USAC Benevolent Fund. He’s been one of my best friends for 60 years, and I love him and for what he did for all of us.”

IndyCar, Vintage Motorsport / Historic

 

Chuck Hulse 1927–2020

Image via Indianapolis Motor Speedway
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emailBy Robin Miller | July 13, 2020 12:54 PM

Chuck Hulse, a four-time Indy 500 starter whose sprint-car injury in 1964 opened the door for Mario Andretti to step into one of the premier rides of the day, has died at age 93.

Known as “The Pepsi Kid” for his love of the soft drink, Hulse had been the oldest living driver to have run a roadster and rear-engine car at Indianapolis. He finished 21st in 1962 and eighth in ’63, both in front-engine roadsters; and 20th in ’66 in and seventh in ’67 wheeling rear-engine cars.

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“He was a great guy, a good racer, and also a helluva midget and sprint racer,” recalled veteran crew chief Phil Casey. “I remember when he crashed on the last lap at Indy in 1967. He walked past me on the way to the garage and said, ‘This is it,’ and was going to retire…”
Hulse suffered a severe eye injury in this sprint car crash, and missed much of the next two season. Image via Robin Miller Archives

Hulse made 60 starts in Champ Cars, twice finishing second at Phoenix and Sacramento; but his best chance for success was derailed by a violent flip at New Bremen during a 1964 USAC sprint show. The Californian suffered severe eye trauma and missed the ’64 and ’65 seasons while he was recovering.

Prior to his accident, Hulse was set to drive the Dean Van Lines Special with master mechanic Clint Brawner. His replacement was an aggressive rookie from Nazareth, Pa., named ‘Andretti’ who began running the famous Champ Car in the summer of ’64 and then went on to capture the 1965 USAC title on his way to a Hall of Fame career.

Chuck Hulse, IndyCar