[h=2]Foyt, Gurney, Fittipaldi honored by RRDC[/h] Friday, 07 April 2017
By RACER Staff / Images by Marshall Pruett, Paul Pfanner
A.J. Foyt has been honored with numerous awards for the accomplishments from his legendary racing career. He received another Thursday night. The four-time Indianapolis 500 winner and current Verizon IndyCar Series team owner was presented with the Spirit of Ford Award in a ceremony at the Road Racing Drivers Club dinner held in conjunction with the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
The Spirit of Ford Award is Ford Motor Company's highest honor in auto racing, recognizing lifetime achievement and contribution to the industry both on and off the racetrack. Foyt becomes the 26th recipient, joining an international list of honorees from all forms of racing and racing media.
"It's a great honor and Ford has always been good to me," said Foyt, who was on hand for the dinner along with Dan Gurney as part of an event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the duo's victory at the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans, the first and only Le Mans victory by an all-American team featuring all-American drivers.
"After 50 years, who would have thought that Gurney and I would be around to be honored?" said Foyt, 82. "It means an awful lot. It's a big honor for Ford to do this for us."
Foyt, the only driver in history to win the Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500, 24 Hours of Le Mans and 24 Hours of Daytona, was presented the award during the RRDC dinner by Edsel B. Ford II, great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford and a member of the company's board of directors. He and Gurney were also given a lifetime membership into The ACO's Club de Pilotes for legends of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
"A.J. was one of my heroes in racing when I first followed the sport," said Ford. "When looking back at his magnificent career, the question isn't what did A.J. drive, but more what didn't he drive and win in? His passion for driving and his commitment to the sport since his retirement have made him more than worthy for all the halls of fames he is part of."
Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi was the featured honoree at the RRDC event that drew luminaries from around the racing world. As Gurney said, all the notables "were here to see Emmo." The Brazilian legend told stories about how his love of racing was evident throughout his career. He included stories of his 1989 Indy 500 win, his Indy car debut in a pink car and racing suit and stories from his championship-winning career as a Formula 1 driver.
Earlier Thursday, Fittipaldi was inducted into the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame. The Brazilian raced at Long Beach 13 times from 1984-96 with a best of finish of second twice (1985, 1990). He also raced on the streets of Long Beach five times in F1 from 1976-80. He and Mario Andretti are the only Indy car and F1 season champions to race at Long Beach in both series.
Fittipaldi won the 1972 F1 and 1989 Indy car season championships. His 22 career Indy car wins include the two at the Indianapolis 500 (1989, '93) and tie him for 20th on the all-time list with Tony Bettenhausen.
Fittipaldi was honored for career that took him from being the youngest F1 World Champion at age 25 to the third-oldest Indy 500 winner 21 years later.
Ford commemorated its historic 1967 victory at the 24 Horus of Le Mans by reuniting AJ Foyt and Dan Gurney with their winning Ford Mark IV, 50 years after their record win.
Previous honorees include Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, Roger Penske, Jim Hall, Brian Redman, Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser and George Follmer.
The event marked RRDC's ninth annual banquet, which honors auto racing's most influential leaders and champions.
Proceeds benefit RRDC's young driver initiatives, including its SAFEisFAST program and the Team USA Scholarship.