![]() ![]() First, he gives a history lesson before he reveals what he REALLY thinks about F1. Them days are gone.”įoyt was asked his thoughts about Formula 1 making inroads in traditional Ind圜ar territory, with three races this year in the U.S. “Whereas before, you had things like the Offenhauser motor where after you qualified, you had to rebuild it and race with that motor. But they've taken that all away from the mechanic because you have the factories in with a Chevrolet and Honda motor. I mean, you had rules before you had to live by, but you could do your own stuff. You have certain rules you have to live by. “The only difference I don’t like is where you used to be able to build your own cars and do a lot of stuff your own way, where nowadays you can’t. “The good thing about the cars today are they’re about 1,000% safer than they were back when I started in the roadster days. “Ind圜ar is still a good racing (series),” Foyt said. Bettmann - Getty Imagesīut in hindsight, Foyt isn’t upset that he didn’t win that year because eventually, things kind of evened out: “I probably won one or two that I shouldn’t have, and I probably lost three or four that I should have won,” he chuckled.įoyt has always been a big supporter of the various versions of Indy car racing, from USAC to CART to the Indy Racing League to the modern-day Ind圜ar, and remains that way today. Foyt, left, talks with Gordon Johncock at indianapolis in 1976. “I just told them, ‘Give me one more lap’ and I probably would have won it.”Ī.J. “I led (nearly 30 laps) and came in for fuel and they called it a race (after just 102 of the scheduled 200 laps due to rain), and my good friend Johnny Rutherford won it,” Foyt said. Otherwise, right now he’d be the only five-time winner of the biggest race in the world. Yet to this day, Foyt still can’t forget the one 500 that got away from him. Three years later, Foyt would become an Indy 500 champion for the first of four times. After flirting with the top 10 for a good chunk of the race, he ultimately finished 16th. He managed to avoid the big early wreck, and things were going pretty smoothly until a water hose broke going into Turn 1 on Lap 148 of the 200-lap race. The only down thing I remember, they didn't tell me going down the back straightaway (early in the race) that everybody's gonna pile up going into Turn 3, some end-over-end.” Then he adds with a touch of humor, “I remember it was very thrilling. “I was one of the fastest rookies and I started on the outside of the fourth row (12th)-and I'm probably the only man that's never missed the race all of the years since,” he said. Even when I’ve been down, they’ve still been with me, so that’s why I’ve fought so hard to come back (every year).”įoyt still remembers his first 500 in 1958 as if it was yesterday. “The fans, I love ‘em and they’ve supported me all these years. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |