Throwback Thursday: AJ Foyt's sports car racing credentials - Racer
He won 91 additional races in USAC’s stock car, sprint car, midget and dirt champ cars. The following year, he raced John Mecom’s Scarab Mk IV to a pair of victories in Nassau’s Bahama Speed Week, in addition to a second-place finish in that car at Riverside, California. In 1967, Foyt joined Gurney in winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Ford GT40 Mk IV, driving nearly 18 of the 24 hours. The pair co-drove earlier that year in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, with Gurney winning the pole in a Ford GT40 Mk II that was retired with transmission trouble. Foyt and two-time Daytona winner Lloyd Ruby co-drove that year at Sebring, finishing second in a Ford GT40 Mk II. But fate – in the form of Porsche T-Bird Swap Shop car owner Preston Henn – intervened. Prior to the race, Foyt teased Henn that he would someday like to race a Porsche 935. Henn took him at his word. Lead driver Bob Wollek’s wasn’t happy with Foyt’s late addition to their race-leading car, but the car owner’s wishes prevailed. He added a lap to their lead on his first shift in the car, and later drove a four-hour, 10-minute shift in the rain, setting the fastest lap of the race (126 mph) in the wet conditions. Source: www.racer.com
