DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A.J. Foyt has always done it his way, including in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
The 81-year-old owner of AJ Foyt Racing, who still holds the record for most Indy car race wins with 67, is at Daytona International Speedway this weekend to be honored as one of just two drivers to win the track’s two most prestigious events – the Rolex 24 endurance sports car race and the Daytona 500 stock car race. He will wave the green flag to start today’s 54th annual Rolex 24 At Daytona.
In an interview with IndyCar.com, Foyt recalled the first of his two Rolex 24 wins in 1983. Foyt started the 24-hour race in an Aston Martin with NASCAR driver Darrell Waltrip. That car retired early, so Foyt jumped into a Porsche 935 he had never driven – much to the chagrin of lead driver Bob Wollek.
“The first one I won here, the car blowed up and (owner/co-driver) Preston Henn put me in the Porsche,” Foyt said. “Bob Wollek was a French driver and I guess he got mad when they put me in it because I’d never been in a Porsche. They kept us apart because they knew that, after what he said about me, if I heard what he said, I’d probably slap the hell out of him.
“I didn’t know it and then after the race, all the press kept asking him, ‘What do you think of A.J. Foyt now?’ He said, ‘I guess he’s the champ they said he was. I didn’t believe it until I saw him race.’
“I didn’t know all that was going on but I guess he was raisin’ hell all through the night and I was going faster than he was. I even broke the track record in the rain. It was good. We became very good friends and raced again together.”
Watch the complete interview with Foyt below:
Foyt and Wollek indeed raced together again, winning the 1985 Rolex 24. Also on that team was another eventual four-time Indianapolis 500 winner, Al Unser. Wollek died tragically in 2001 when struck by a van while riding his bike to Sebring International Raceway.
Barrichello won’t seek Rolex 24 advice from ‘brother’ Kanaan
Rubens Barrichello, the Formula One great who drove the 2012 Verizon IndyCar Series season as a teammate with his good friend Tony Kanaan, was added this week as a fourth driver for the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette in the Prototype class.
With less than an hour behind the wheel heading into today’s race, Barrichello laughed when asked if he could count on his pal for sound advice.
“We’re pretty much brothers, but when we’re brothers racing, you might as well not ask him,” Barrichello said. “TK, it’s better not to ask him anything. He’s going to do his own thing and I hope I can beat him at the track.”
Watch the interview with Barrichello and DeltaWing Racing driver Katherine Legge below:
Karam added to Lexus sports car lineup
Sage Karam, who has started 13 Verizon IndyCar Series races in his blossoming career and last week was named to drive a Dreyer & Reinbold – Kingdom Racing entry in the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 this May, will drive a Lexus RC F GT3 for F Performance Racing in select IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Daytona class events this season.
Karam, 20, will team with former Indy car driver and longtime sports car standout Scott Pruett. The two drivers have worked together before with Chip Ganassi Racing’s sports car efforts.
"I'm really excited to be a part of the F Performance team, it's a great opportunity for me," Karam said. "I have worked alongside Scott Pruett for a few years, so we have a good relationship and I'm really looking forward to driving alongside him. We like to work with each other and we push each other to each other's limits."
Ganassi named Bob Snodgrass Award of Excellence recipient
Chip Ganassi was named the 2015 winner of the Rolex Bob Snodgrass Award of Excellence during the Jan. 29 Grand Marshal dinner that precedes the Rolex 24 At Daytona. The award, presented by Gorsline Company, is based on a sports team's success on track during the race season and chosen by a panel of motorsports professionals.
Ganassi’s sports car team collected its record sixth Rolex 24 win in 2015. Other owners under consideration were Kevin Buckler, Bobby Rahal and Bill Riley. Ganassi will receive a specially engraved Rolex Stainless Steel and Platinum Yacht-Master timepiece to commemorate the honor.
Earlier in the day, Ganassi also learned he will be a 2016 inductee into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in the Open Wheel category.