Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt couldn’t have been more dissimilar but they were also so much alike.

Gurney was the son of a Metropolitan Opera singer and one of the glamour names of international racing as he represented the United States in the Formula One World Championship from 1959-1970. Foyt was the son of a mechanic and car builder from Houston, who gained fame from racing on the bullrings of the United States before conquering the Indianapolis 500 a record four times.

Both Gurney and Foyt were versatile. Gurney won four Formula One Grand Prixs along with five races in NASCAR’s premier division – all on the road course in Riverside, Calif. Gurney battled Foyt and others in the Indianapolis 500 from 1962-70, finishing second in 1968, ’69 and third in 1970. He became a legendary car builder with the famed Eagle, winning 78 races including three Indianapolis 500s – with Bobby Unser in 1968 and 1975 and with Gordon Johncock in a Pat Patrick-owned Eagle in 1982.

Foyt, Gurney, Parnelli Jones, Mario Andretti and Lloyd Ruby were drivers that could drive anything.

“A.J. did a great deal of successful NASCAR racing and he became a great road racer and he was terrific in Indy car racing,” Gurney said from his Santa Ana, Calif., office. “In those days when you were driving midgets, sprint cars, dirt cars and Indy cars you had to adapt to the conditions of a very mixed recipe of racing. With A.J., he was an outstanding politician. He was able to pat Frankie DelRoy on the back and all the guys that were important like Clarence Cagle. A.J. just had a special relationship with Tony Hulman. He was pretty free to get down to business there at the Speedway.

"We have to give him credit for if a situation cropped up where things were going to go for or against if A.J. was involved the rule would come down in his favor. I think it came down to the fact he was charming and his politics and he was so popular with the fans. He was a lot of fun to be with.

"On the racetrack, he was exceptional good yet he was fair. You could trust him in really close racing.”

Both were fierce competitors at the Indy 500, but in 1967 the two legendary names teamed up to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans – just one month after Foyt had won his third Indianapolis 500.

“That was my 10th attempt and felt as though I was the elder statesman,” Gurney recalled. “I had been on the pole the year before. Briggs Cunningham was beating me every single, time. I was running like the tortoise and the hare and in those days the tortoise was a pretty good bet. When the Ford people thought A.J. and Dan would be a good combination they expected us to like the rabbit and go out there I explained to A.J. my experience in the previous nine attempts. I’m not sure he believed me at first but what I had learned was it’s an endurance contest much more than a race.

"It’s still a race but you have to apply different things to it and in this case historically Briggs could manage to be ahead of me much more often at the end of the race more than I liked because his approach was better than mine.

“Once A.J. realized I was really giving him good info we ended up being a terrific combination. They expected us to burn the car down and the actual fact is we got in front the first hour and were in front the rest of the way. Looking back, historically, it was tremendous. He is a great Texan and a great American. It was a great privilege that we got to work together.”

At 83, Gurney remains active with All-American Racers. Foyt celebrates his 80th birthday Jan. 16 and continues to be involved with A.J. Foyt Racing in the Verizon IndyCar Series.