That man on the left is about the only driver AJ thought his equal when it came to driving. He called Parnelli his toughest competitor in a recent nbc interview. This video could easily be flipped around for all three here but Parnelli Jones was a true legend to any young race fan of the '60s and '70s.
Sitting on the pit wall at Indy post practice. And I look over and Parnelli is sitting next to me. As a 17 year old Ford lover I nearly fell off the wall. We had a friendly chat (i’m sure he didn’t think I knew who he was being as young as I was). But I’ll never forget meeting the Indy/Boss 302 legend.
Well let me brag a little bit. I am a friend of AJ . I work on his water wells. He always treats me with respect and I, him. He is not scared of anything. Tough tough man. Go Super Tex!
I saw Parnelli Jones and A.J. Foyt in 1963 at a motel in MT. Vernon, IL the day before they raced at the DuQuoin State Fair track. I asked Parnelli if he thought he could win tomorrow. His answer to me was I won the won that counts. He had won the Indianapolis 500 that year. I went to the DuQuoin race the next day and A. J. won it. Back in those days the drivers pulled their cars on a trailer back of a pickup truck. Racing was dangerous back in those days too. They stayed at a Mt. Vernon motel each year when they raced at DuQuoin. One time outside the motel A.J. told me he was hungry. He gave me a $20 bill and I went in my car and got him a bucket of Colonel Sanders Fried chicken. I got other stories about some of those drivers but it is staying with me! LOL We were all young back then.
My favorite Foyt story. At one time both Steve McQueen and Paul Newman were playing with racing and Paul was in the pits at Indy and sitting in on a driver's meeting. AJ wrapped the meeting up and on turning to go said to the boys: "see ya later fellas, ... you too Steve."
Lets see -- Bobby Unser never drove a turbine car at Indianpolis, Parnelli retired after the 1967 season and never drove the Lotus turbine, which only ran in 68 and Salt Walther's crash was on the opening lap of the first try of the 73 race which was subsequently rained out and postponed twice. Savage was killed on the 59th lap and Gordon Johncock won when the race was called on account of rain on lap 133. Other than that, your memory is perfect
@Don I see what you mean. However I believe that Bobby thinks AJ should thank him because, after all, it is a race and nice guys finish last. While AJ did save Bobby, AJ also kept himself in the race too; like Bobby said he was gonna spin all on his own and take out AJ too. But hey thats racing. After AJ saved Bobby, Bobby could have taken him on the straight and possibly won, but Bobby knowing what AJ did he let up. Get it?
It's a great story. In a print interview some years ago Bobby said that he went to congratulate AJ in victory lane and AJ said, "Saved your ass up there, didn't I?"
So what I'm hearing is that AJ pretty much saved Bobby Unser from wrecking at Michigan and Unser thinks Foyt should THANK HIM! Bobby fails to mention at his brother and his nephew each drove for Foyt at Indy. Al Jr. may have teamed with AJ at the Rolex 24 in Daytona. AJ is such a bad guy that others actually WANT to drive for him.
I remember when A.J. went from 180, to ZERO, like, NOW, during an Indycar race at MIS, I believe in 1981. His right front tire got tucked into a cutout in the wall (a walkthrough), maybe from another car hitting his--I don't recall--sorry. I DO remember TWO THINGS---living just off the SW corner of Wampler's Lake, I was watching the race on ABC--As the MedFlight chopper lifted off the ground, I went to my kitchen window, on the West side of my house, to see it, making a beeline for U-M Hospital, in Ann Arbor. The 2nd thing I remember is a guy named Penske, reaching into his OWN budget, and putting up 6600 feet MORE of wall befote the next racing season, for the safety of the racers. THAT project cost $$, people, even back THEN...
I was really sorry to hear about Al Unser," Foyt, 86, said. "We were able to catch up in July at the 4-time winners deal [photo shoot] we did at Indy and I'm glad for that. I always thought a lot of Al, even when he first came to Indy. That's why I was happy to give him his first ride there. He was a nice person and well-respected because he was a cool, smart race driver. Always knew what he was doing, knew how to take care of a car. He was very smart and when he was winning you had to be because racing was a lot more dangerous back then. I always had a lot of respect for Al. It's a sad day."
