50 Years of Foyt........

[mlittle]

Being from the American South, it's very nice to find a familiar drawl in the IndyCar Series paddock, that deep drawl that lets ya' know there's a son of Dixie out there....and NA motorsports has a couple of them, including probably the most famous of 'em, one of a select number of open-wheel legends, Anthony Joseph(A.J.) Foyt, Jr. Over the course of the 2007 season, this thread will attempt to shine the lights on the legend, one who could scare the ever-living lights out of anyone.....it's even said that Il Commendatore himself, Mario Andretti, would look back more if Foyt was behind him during a race....

Here is a brief timeline of Foyt's accomplishments in the motorsports world....
~~16 Jan. 1935--Anthony Joseph Foyt, Jr. is born in Houston, Tx.
~~1953--wins first race, a midget feature at Playland Pk., Texas
~~12 May 1957--wins first USAC race in Kansas City
~~17 August 1957--competes in first USAC National Championship race at Springfield, Ill..
~~30 May 1958--competes in his first Indianapolis 500
~~5 Sept. 1960--wins first of 67 open-wheel races at DuQuoin, Ill.
~~1960}[1]wins first USAC National Championship Series title; [2]wins USAC Sprint Car Championship/Eastern Region
~~1961}[2]wins first of his four Indy 500 races; [2]wins second USAC National Championship Series title
~~25 Feb. 1962--wins USAC stock car race at Ascot Park, Ca.
~~1963}[1]competes in his first NASCAR event at Riverside, Ca., [2]wins third USAC National Championship Series title; [3]wins first sportscar race at Nassau, Bahamas
~~1964}[1]wins second of his four Indy 500 races; [2]wins fourth USAC National Championship Series title; [3]wins a record 10 open-wheel races in just 13 starts; [4]wins first NASCAR race, the Fireworks 400 at Daytona Intl. Speedway
~~1965}[1]suffers broken back injury during NASCAR race; [2]recovers from injuries to win a record 10 open-wheel poles during season
~~1966}sustains severe burns following crash at the Milwaukee Mile
~~1967}[1]wins third Indy 500 race; [2]wins fifth USAC National Championship Series title; [3]wins the 24 Hours of LeMans with Dan Gurney in a Ford GT40 Mk. IV
~~1968}wins USAC stock-car championship
~~1972}wins NASCAR's Daytona 500; [2]wins USAC dirt-car championship; [3]suffers broken leg and burns following a crash at DuQuoin, Ill.
~~1976}[1]wins 6th USAC National Championship Series title; [2]wins International Race of Champions(IROC III)
~~1977}[1]wins a fourth Indy 500, becoming the first of three drivers to accomplish the feat(Rick Mears and Al Unser, Sr. are the other two); [2]wins International Race of Champions(IROC IV)
~~1978}wins USAC stock-car championship
~~1979}wins seventh USAC National Championship Series title; [2]wins USAC stock-car championship(only driver in USAC history to accomplish both feats)
~~1981}suffers serious arm injuries following crash at Michigan International Speedway
~~1983}wins Rolex 24 at Daytona
~~1985}[1]wins second Rolex 24 at Daytona; [2]wins 12 Hours of Sebring
~~1988}inducted into Motorsports Hall of Fame
~~1990}sufferes leg injuries following crash during CART race at Road America
~~1991}qualifies on front row for the 75th running of the Indy 500, his 8th front-row start
~~1992}competes in his 35th Indy 500
~~15 May 1993}retires from open-wheel competition on Pole Day at the Brickyard
~~1994}competes in the inagurual running of NASCAR's Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
~~1995}competes in the series debut of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Phoenix Intl. Raceway
~~1996}wins first IndyCar Series title as a team owner w/driver Scott Sharp
~~1998}wins second IndyCar Series title as a team owner w/driver Kenny Brack
~~1999}wins Indianapolis 500 as a team owner w/driver Kenny Brack
~~2007}celebrates 50th anniversary in IndyCar racing