Although A.J. Foyt has endured a series of health issues in recent years, he remains as feisty as ever.
Foyt’s return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway last weekend to be grand marshal of the Red Bull Air Race started out with a Saturday visit to the hangar of fellow Texan Kirby Chambliss, a two-time world champion.
Foyt, the first four-time Indianapolis 500 winner and all-time Indy car victory leader, among other legendary accomplishments, gave the “Smoke on!” command to pilots for Sunday’s race.
Foyt, 83, made the trip from the Lone Star State despite undergoing back surgery in July and having to recover from a staph infection. He has previously overcome two staph infections, two heart surgeries, including being in an induced coma in 2014 after a triple-bypass procedure, as well as three knee replacements.
“The older you get, the more time you spend with doctors,” he said. “I hate to go to doctors because they always find something. I guess I’m still lucky to be here.
“I feel pretty good. I’m getting better every day. It’s been a long road; it’s really been a long road back. I’ve got to go back to the doctor on Wednesday, the infection doctor. They’ve got me on so much antibiotic, I don’t know how I could catch anything anymore.”
“Super Tex” has also had two much-publicized run-ins with African killer bees on his ranch in Del Rio, Texas. After an initial battle in 2005, he had a more serious encounter in March, when he was stung about 200 times. He killed the bees by setting them on fire.
“The EPA probably didn’t like me using diesel (fuel), but I wasn’t going to use no soap and water,” Foyt said. “They just had 80,000 bees over by where I live. I couldn’t believe it. A guy told me, ‘It looks like they’re following you.’ They did a big vacuum of those bees.”
Foyt is the only driver to win the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500, the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but he repeated what he has said so many times over the years: The most defining moments of his record-setting racing career have come at Indy, where he won the 500 in 1961, 1964, 1967 and 1977.
“The way I look at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, my biggest dream was being good enough to qualify for the race,” he said. “To be fortunate enough to win it, what else can you ask for? I’ve won a lot of races, but everybody knows this is like the Kentucky Derby: You win this and everybody knows it.
“I’ve lived here in Indianapolis (during May) probably as much as Texas. It’s just something you look forward to and try to live to go back every year. I’ll be coming back every year until they plant me.”
Foyt enjoyed interacting with Chambliss, who explained how his aerobatic airplane works. The Texans have another thing in common: Chambliss tops out at about 230 mph in his airplane, about the same speed Foyt was doing in an Indy car on the IMS front straightaway at the end of his career before retiring in 1993.
Foyt joked that he was “chicken” when asked if he would hop into a plane for a two-seater ride with Chambliss. Foyt said he is not “healed up enough” for that, but he admitted he would have done it years ago when he enjoyed flying himself.
“The biggest thing I’ve had trouble with lately is getting my balance back,” Foyt said. “But it’s coming back. We’ll make it.”
On a bright, sunny day where a larger-than-life icon genuinely appreciated being back at his favorite track, Foyt smiled and offered a parting perspective for the ages.
“I’ve had a lot of fun over the years,” he said. “Talking to you now, if I fell dead, I’ve had a wonderful life.”