Foyt vs. Andretti

Wow, if that's all it takes, there's about 200 drivers that should be banished for life !

 

Only at LeMans. In a Porsche.

 

I have a friend (who actually drives a Porsche 993) who still believes that A. J. Foyt WON THE INDY 500 in 1967 in the turbine car!!!

There is nothing I can do to explain that it was not A. J. driving it, and that the turbine car did not even finish the race.

Nor do I bother to go into who actually won the race, and why.

Like they said in "The man who shot Liberty Valence" - "when the facts fade into legend, then print the legend."

 

+2 Phil Hill was one of the greatest. He did it back when the cars were crude and the racing was real tuff.

 

You could say the same about Gurney, he even used a car of his own design built in the good old USA to win at SPA in 67. Jim Clark told his father, the only driver he feared in a car was Dan Gurney and he mean't it in a positive way, not that Gurney would crash him out (like so many of the drivers today).

 

Another case of "do you just like someone for how they appear, or for what they have accomplished?" Both have won alot of races, but I'd argue that Foyt has done more based on different types of racing, series championships, total wins in all series run, longevity, and yes, overall driving skill. Go back to the mid-fifties when Foyt began and just the fact that he managed to out-live many of his contemporaries is a great testament--or else he was incredibly lucky! Foyt was also the first to win Indy 4 times, and he could jump into just about any old "Sh7tbox" racecar and make it do what he wanted. The fact that he doesn't suffer fools gladly is an anachronistic carry-over from the days when men were men and doesn't play well today with all the corporate image stuff that younger and less-accomplished drivers have to go along with to succeed, and that is part of his and Andretti's legends--they both earned their rides--they didn't have to buy them. Andretti's personality is certainly more subdued (at least publicly), and to many that is enough to tip the scale in his favor. I have seen both race in person on dirt tracks (where it all started) and Foyt had everybody covered most of the time...and can still jump into a Champ car and run with the fastest-at least on an oval. Andretti also crashed a lot in the last few years of his career for no good reason, which really made me wonder about why he was still even out there...

 

The only American to ever win an F1 race in an American car, the Gurney Eagle Weslake. This is in 2002. They returned to Spa with the car. It is signed by Mr. Gurney. IMO it is one of the most beautiful race cars ever built.
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No Question... Mario Andretti all the way. Foyt won 4 Indy's and LeMans... he was a good driver, but not even close to Mario as far as actual performance. I think Foyt drove 1 or 2 F-1 races in the late 60's but never made a comitment to anything other than Stock Cars, dirt track and Indy Cars. I think he could have been a great F-1 driver, but for what ever reason just never went for it.

I think Andretti only has LeMans left... and given an Audi I think he could win that too!

 

They are both nice guys......

Mario coached me in karts, but I was sponsored by AJ Foyt Enterprises..........and cashing checks from Newman/Haas, for track design......

I'll bet not many people have picked up a paycheck from Newman/Hass with an AJ Foyt Racing sticker on the bumper!

 

I bet not, how long ago was this?

 

Texaco Grand Prix of Houston, during CART days....

I started my Child Advocates kart racing in '98, but to rise above the CART/IRL split painted them as Ferraris!

I received a lot of good advice from Jack Starnes as he prepped AJ IV karts and Mrs Nancy Foyt (Anthony's Mom) was great also......Texaco was the sponsor of the Child Advocates Mayor's Cup races and brought Mario in to teach class and offer wise one liners!

Newman/Haas brought in a Manager from the Milwalkee Mile to oversee race track developement, Peter Kozura and somehow I ended up on the Track Team as consultant at a good rate of pay, doing AutoCad and such....long story short I could see the track on my inside eyelids I'd stared at the image so much.

They were real tickled when I started from the Pole ('98 and '99) and won the Inagural event....

AJ Foyt was very offended when Mayor Lee Brown invited Sir Striling Moss in the present an award to Mario as Driver of the Century or something like that...pointing out rightly that Nazareth PA had never feted HIM with a gig like that! LOL!

Anyway I stole a 1:18 model of Bobby Rahal's car from the floral centerpiece on the table, for an autograph and all He11 broke loose at the Party........I thnk my date and the President of Texaco Marketing's wife were the only ones to successfully leave the Ballroom with them! The caterer was very upset I'd started that trend!

 

So they are both very gracious when taken one at a time.............not so much, in the same room together!

You'll recall AJ was ejected from CART's Board when the split occured and lost Texaco sponsorship to Andretti...he sued CART for damages and won, IIRC........so I rarely wore THAT cap around him......

As noted above they both raced when men were men, not all this PC stuff!

Micheal is growing a lot I feel, into the Team Owner role and AJ is passing the same torch to Larry Foyt, who is also very nice when I stop into the Shop, although he doesn't remember me from the Toledo Street days....he was too young! LOL!

I once mistook Kenny Brack for a Shop hand, when he first started, and apologized years later when he signed a cap for me after winning the Indy 500..............

So I am afraid I cannot pick between these two! Sir Moss is always very gracious and funny to chat with, as well!

 

That is a great story, wow Sir Stirling Moss, must have been quite a conversation with him.