Larry Foyt recently was named president of A.J. Foyt Enterprises.
"I really enjoy the business side of racing,” said Foyt, 38, who had been team director of the Verizon IndyCar Series team since 2006. “I think all of my past experience has helped me get to this point -- whether it was at TCU as a student, or managing our stock car team while I competed in NASCAR. My time behind the wheel has helped me relate to the drivers and understand their needs as well.”
The No. 14 ABC Supply Co. car driven by Takuma Sato and the No. 41 ABC Supply Co. entry driven by Jack Hawksworth sampled the Honda aerodynamic bodywork road/street and short oval package for the first time March 14 at NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, La.
The team will join others again March 16-17 at Barber Motorsports Park for the initial Promoter Test of the year. The March 16 sessions are free and open to the public.
Team manager Mitch Davis, who joined A.J. Foyt Racing over the winter, will be the race strategist for Hawksworth. Raul Prados, who has been with the team since 2012 as performance engineer, is the chief engineer on the No. 41 entry driven by the second-year driver.
Briefly back on the bulldozer
A.J. Foyt is becoming more active as he continues to recuperate from triple bypass surgery in November.
“I’m doing a lot better; every day I’m doing a little bit more,” the four-time Indianapolis 500 champion said. “I’m getting more of my strength back and I’m eating a better than I was when this first happened. I’ve been on my bulldozer a couple times. Nothing to brag about, I was very weak and very tired but I have done some stuff with it. I probably should keep that quiet because I’m not sure the doctor would enjoy hearing that."
Foyt made a cameo appearance at the Verizon IndyCar Series team test March 14 at NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, La.
“I think the new cars look pretty nice. The engineers are going to have their hands full with all of the trick stuff they came up with on the new aero kit," he said.
Stars align for Long Beach charity race
Actors Alfonso Ribeiro, Robert Patrick and Mekhi Phifer, Olympian Dara Torres and musicians Mark McGrath and John Rzeznik are among the 18 participants in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Pro/Celebrity Race on April 17 that is part of the Verizon IndyCar Series race weekend.
See all the competitors get race weekend tickets HERE.
Of note
Auto Club Speedway is installing about 600 feet of tire barrier inside Turn 1 of the 2-mile oval, and the track will place lengths of SAFER Barrier on the frontstretch and backstretch in time for 2016 races. The Verizon IndyCar Series MAVTV 500 is June 27. … The Drive a Firestone tour will take the No. 14 ABC Supply show car to Firestone retail locations conducting promotions primarily in the West over the next eight months.