Foyt

A.J. Foyt. One of the very best drivers who ever turned a wheel.

By the time he took this Coyote-a Riley design built by A.J., his dad and their team-to Indy in 1977, he had nothing to prove. He was already the Indy car champion several times over, he was already a 3-time Indy winner (1961, 1964 & 1967), and he was the only man who had ever won the Indy 500, Daytona 500 (1972), and 24 Hours of Le Mans (teamed with Dan Gurney in 1967, just a couple of weeks after his Indy win that year). He was in his 40s. He had already done as much or more in his career as any driver before him.

But nobody had ever won Indy 4 times. Injury, retirement, age, or death had caught all who had tried before. After a bit of a low period in the early 1970s, A.J.-"Super Tex"-was resurgent in 1977, and knew going to Indy that he had a legitimate shot at becoming the sport's first 4-time Indy winner.

The car was actually a couple of years old, but it was good to begin with, and he believed in it. It put him back in the winner's circle, back up front most places he went....it was powered by a turbocharged V8 derived from the vaunted Ford Indy V8s of the 1960s. When Ford backed out of Indy racing in the early 1970s, A.J. took over the engine program (including development and sales to other teams), and by 1977, instead of saying "FORD" on the valve covers, they said, "FOYT." (You only had to change two letters.)

A.J. started the year by winning the 200-mile Indy car half of the Datsun Twin 200 at Ontario Motor Speedway in California, which was basically an Indianapolis clone with a few minor changes. (The other half of the card that day was a 200-mile USAC Stock Car race won by Jimmy Insolo.) It was a great way to start the season, and by the way, a great way to tune up for The Big One....Foyt added to that by finishing second to his friend Johnny Rutherford at Phoenix International Raceway three weeks later.

In April, a bad day at Texas World Speedway and then skipping Trenton to get ready for Indy cost A.J. the point lead, but he knew he wanted to be ready for Indy no matter what.

A.J wasn't the fastest qualifier at Indy that May, starting 4th behind pole winner Tom Sneva (who became the first driver to turn an official 200 MPH lap at Indy that year) and the Unser brothers, Bobby and Al.

The race was led by Al Unser, Gordon Johncock, A.J., George "Ziggy" Snider, and Billy Vokuvich; the race also featured Rutherford, Janet Guthrie (the first woman ever to qualify for the race), F1 veteran Clay Regazzoni, and Mario Andretti (who was also running F1 that year). But it looked like 1973 winner Johncock's race, as he kept taking the lead and walking away with it.

UNTIL.....his Offy-derived DGS engine popped a valve spring on lap 148. After he coasted to a stop on this hot day, he climbed out of the car and jumped in a creek in the infield to cool off.

Who was in second place, and came storming into the lead?

Foyt!

He beat Sneva to the line by nearly 28 seconds.

And became the first-and, for a decade to come, the only-driver to win Indy 4 times. Since then only the likes of the great Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears have been able to match that feat-but none of A.J.'s others.....and he also went on to win Indy a 5th time (this time as a car owner) with Kenny Brack in 1999!

Ol' A.J. Foyt wasn't finished yet, literally or figuratively. Although he missed Milwaukee on June 12 (reportedly with the flu), he took the pole at the next race he entered, the 500-miler at Pocono, and then won the road race at Mosport Park in Canada. That gave him second place in the points. Then he rounded out the year with another second place at the fall 500-miler at Ontario, and despite missing several races, finished third in the 1977 championship.