May 1, 2017

Seth and Sutton Sharp

No matter what kind of car A.J. Foyt sat behind the wheel of, he could normally be found at the front of the pack. The open-wheel star made his NASCAR debut in 1963 and attempted at least one race in almost every season until the late 1990s.

Between 1964 and 1972, Foyt won seven races, highlighted by the 1972 Daytona 500. For all the success Foyt found in all forms of auto-racing, the 1988 Winston Select 500 probably stands out as one Foyt would like to forget.

The 1988 Winston Cup season didn’t start out well for Foyt. A mid-race crash left him with a 33rd place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500. Three weeks later, Foyt started sixth at Atlanta but his hopes were dashed early when his engine expired. He finished 34th. Foyt was looking for better luck at Talladega, a track that saw him finish 30th or worse in four of his previous five races.

He didn’t find too any magic in qualifying, as he put his No. 14 Copenhagen Oldsmobile in 21st. Foyt stayed quiet and in the middle of the pack for most of the race until tempers flared with less than 10 laps left.

On lap 180 of 188, Ricky Rudd’s No. 26 Quaker State Buick lost an engine, bringing out the caution flag and re-setting the field.

While the field was still under yellow, Foyt drove up through the pack trying to voice his displeasure with the No. 7 of Alan Kulwicki for a previous incident. Foyt swerved up into the field, nearly making contact with two cars before door slamming Kulwicki. After the two made contact, Foyt blended back into line on the backstretch before Kulwicki eyed the No. 14.

As Kulwicki started to drive back up to Foyt’s car, A.J. pulled away and passed the entire field. Kulwicki continued his pursuit of Foyt down the backstretch until NASCAR black-flagged both drivers for one-lap.

After serving their penalties, Foyt left pit-road but not before nearly running into the side of Kulwicki’s parked car. Once again, Foyt was brought back into the pits to sit in the penalty box for a second time.

Foyt then blazed down pit road and swerved at several NASCAR officials along the way. He never stopped in his pit box and was black flagged for a third time. When Foyt came back around, he slammed on his brakes, causing his car to spin around before being parked for the rest of the day by NASCAR.

One day after the incidents, Foyt was fined $5,000 and suspended by NASCAR for six months. The suspension would run until early November, all but ending his season. Eight days later NASCAR’s vice president of competition Les Richter reviewed the incident and lowered the penalty on Foyt. His six month suspension was lifted, although his fine was increased to $7,500.

Foyt went on to drive four more races in 1988, capped off by a 12th place finish in his return to Talladega.