Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt underwent successful coronary bypass surgery in Houston after being diagnosed with blockages.

Foyt, 79, had been admitted to the Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center on Nov. 7 with intermittent chest pains but initial testing results were inconclusive. However, a cardiac catheterization procedure performed Nov. 10 revealed blockages in arteries where Foyt had several stents from past procedures, most recently in March 2010.

The triple bypass surgery was performed by renowned cardiothoracic surgeons Dr. O.H. "Bud" Frazier, director of Cardiovascular Surgery Research at Texas Heart Institute and Chief of Transplant Service, St. Luke's Medical Center, and Dr. William Cohn, director of Minimally Invasive Surgical Technology at THI. Both men trained under artificial heart pioneer Dr. Michael DeBakey while Dr. Frazier also worked with Dr. Denton Cooley, a former partner of DeBakey's and founder of the Texas Heart Institute. Foyt is expected to remain in the hospital through Nov. 17.

Foyt and his son Larry recently announced the expansion of their Verizon IndyCar Series team from one car to two for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Jack Hawksworth was named as driver of the No. 41 ABC Supply car; Takuma Sato will drive the No. 14 ABC Supply car.

Foyt has had a number of stays in various Houston hospitals in recent years, most of which were related to injuries stemming from his 1990 Indy car accident at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. Last year, he underwent back surgery and had his left hip and right knee replaced in separate surgeries, and in 2012, he battled back from a life-threatening staph infection after surgery to remove bone spurs in his artificial left knee, which had been replaced in 2006.