Oilpressure

Heading into the weekend, I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to write about for today. It was Friday night, and I wanted to get something done, since I had a full weekend planned for Saturday and Sunday. Saturday morning was to be spent stacking firewood; an annual ritual that is necessary, but one that I absolutely despise. I had yard work planned for Saturday afternoon, before getting cleaned up in time for the Florida-Tennessee football game. Sunday was to be spent watching the Titans hosting the visiting Colts (you have to be a fan to watch a game that bad). The Vols won an unexpected nail-biter in overtime, while the Titans did their usual late-game collapse.

With my weekend planned out, I didn’t want to have an unwritten post still hanging over me by Sunday night. As Susan was watching something on television, I was scrolling through my iPad to see what racing news I had missed from Friday’s second day of a two-day IndyCar test on the IMS oval.

Nolan Siegel passed his Rookie Orientation for the second time in six months on Thursday, and four cars also ran a total of 495 uneventful laps in a Firestone tire test that afternoon. Friday featured one car from every team, except PREMA, for hybrid testing. The day was incident-free and it seemed like it was an enjoyable two days between teams, drivers and fans alike. After all, it had been almost four weeks since cars have been on track at all.

But it wasn’t track activity that caught my eye, except for a last minute driver change at Dale Coyne that saw Rinus VeeKay in the car instead of the planned Sting Ray Robb. I’m not sure what that signals, if anything – but that’s a post for another day.

What caught my eye was a photo from Friday, that represented the past, present and future in one shot. It was a photo featuring AJ Foyt; sitting on a golf cart with his arm around his current driver for the past two seasons, Santino Ferrucci. On the other side of Foyt in the golf cart is his future driver starting next season, David Malukas.

Foyt drove in his first Indianapolis 500 in 1958. I was born in the same year, just a few months later. He drove in 35 consecutive Indianapolis 500s, a record that I think will never be broken. He was the first four-time winner. Three more drivers have now tied that mark. He last drove in the 1992 Indianapolis 500, and finished ninth. Foyt abruptly retired from driving Indy cars in May of 1993, on the morning of Pole Day. His team won its last Indianapolis 500 in 1999 – one year after Santino Ferrucci was born.

Ferrucci is 26 years-old and is just entering the prime of his career. Malukas just turned 23 a couple of weeks ago and has most of his career in front of him. Assuming both of these young drivers are still racing four years from now – this photo represents a span of 70 years.

AJ Foyt will turn 90 in January. He appears to be mentally and physically fit. He has been cheating death for most of those 90 years, and some say he will continue to do so, long after we are all gone. He appeared at a book-signing at the Foyt Wine Vault in Speedway on Thursday. He was mobile, chatty and seemed to be having a good time – as much of a good time one can have at a book signing. Friday he was at the track, following Ferrucci driving the famous No. 14. Malukas was there to observe and to get acclimated with the team.

While I was kidding about Foyt continuing to cheat death, we all know that his time will come up at some point – as it does for all of us. His team is in a long-awaited resurgence. Ferrucci finished ninth in points this past season. Adding a hot shoe like Malukas can only strengthen this storied team. I’m glad that Foyt is not only still around, but is active enough to be able to see and enjoy this resurgence. Although he will be more than four months past his 90th birthday next May, can you imagine a greater way to celebrate turning 90 than to see one of his cars in Victory Lane for the Indianapolis 500?

I don’t think Foyt has a lot in common with his two drivers. Ferrucci has the same brash personality that Foyt had coming up. Malukas seems much more reserved than either of the other two. But there is one thing all three have in common – speed. All three know how to go fast – especially on ovals.

The above photo I found on Twitter from the AJ Foyt Racing page spoke volumes to me. By the time I attended my first 500, Foyt had already won the race twice. He was my favorite driver growing up. After I became an adult and had kids of my own, he was still my favorite driver – even though he was no longer winning. For a while, my son Trey followed racing. Who was his favorite driver? AJ Foyt. Here he is in 1994, in front of the Foyt transporter at Indianapolis.

Foyt has continued to field teams through today, now that I am an old man myself. I am so happy to see this team on the rebound, knowing that AJ Foyt is still there to see it.

Thanks for indulging me as I get nostalgic and go down memory lane, but when I saw the photo from Friday – it dawned on me the generations that it spanned. Is it May yet?

George Phillips

This entry was posted on October 14, 2024 at 4:03 am and is filed under IndyCar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.