Foyt’s Texas Scuffle Shows That Boors Will Be Boors

A.J. Foyt’s explanation of smacking Arie Luyendyk and wrestling him to the ground in a victory circle debacle Saturday night at Texas World Speedway: “I guess you’d have to say, ‘That’s A.J.’ ”

That might have been OK for a hot-tempered young driver in his 20s or 30s, but certainly not for a 62-year-old car owner.

The scene: Foyt was high-fiving his drivers, Billy Boat and Davey Hamilton, for apparently finishing 1-2 in the True Value 500-kilometer race when Luyendyk arrived, claiming he was the winner.

This was a doubleheader for Super Tex. First, he doesn’t cotton to foreign drivers anyway, and second, he doesn’t like party crashers, especially when he’s parading in front of his Texas buddies.

His response, in front of TV cameras and a crowd estimated around 90,000, was to belt the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner from behind, then shove him to the ground.

But the Dutchman was correct, as U.S. Auto Club officials discovered, to their embarrassment, during an audit of the scoring tapes. They had twice missed Luyendyk, causing him to complete 210 laps, not the required 208. The problem, they said, was caused by faulty telemetry.

Foyt, who called Luyendyk the next day to apologize for his actions, still maintained his driver had won, and said he would appeal.

It was the second USAC gaffe in as many races. On the final lap at Indianapolis, the flagman at the start-finish line waved the green flag, while at the same time yellow caution lights were flashing around the track.

Luyendyk ignored the lights and raced to a close victory over teammate Scott Goodyear, who feared he might be stung again. Only two years ago, Goodyear was leading the race when he passed the pace car. He continued on to finish in front, but was penalized and the victory was awarded to Jacques Villeneuve.

But even USAC’s puzzling errors can’t match Foyt’s tirade.

And now, what will USAC and the IRL do to their highest-profile member? USAC is still reviewing the post-race scuffle and is expected to announce any penalties today or early next week. If there is any penalty for Foyt, it probably won’t amount to much. If Foyt is suspended, the IRL would lose three of its best cars, and cars have not been easy to come by for Tony George’s struggling new circuit.

Of course, Foyt has always prevailed when it comes to USAC.

There was the time in 1963 when he smacked fellow racer Johnny White for allegedly having cut him off on the track. Foyt was suspended, but appealed.

There were witnesses to the assault, but Foyt, who claimed he hadn’t hit White, brought along Roger McCluskey as a character witness.

“He couldn’t have hit him,” McCluskey said. “If he had, he would have tore his head off.”

That did it. A.J. was reinstated.

ANOTHER SIDE OF IRL

Lost, or at least overlooked in the hubbub over USAC’s inability to get things right and Foyt’s tantrum, is that a significant portion of the IRL driver pool is sidelined because of crippling injuries:

* Davy Jones, second-place finisher in the 1996 Indianapolis 500, is out for the season because of head injuries suffered in a crash during practice at Walt Disney World for the January race.

* Scott Sharp, co-champion of the IRL’s inaugural season, has been sidelined since before the Indy 500, also with head injuries, after hitting the wall in Foyt’s No. 1 car during practice. Sharp has been cleared to drive and is expected to return for a test drive next week at Charlotte.

* John Paul Jr., a veteran of 15 Indy 500s, is in a wheelchair with casts on both legs, the result of a crash while practicing for Indy.

* Johnny O’Connell, a replacement for Sharp, suffered a broken foot in another accident while testing for Indy.

* Paul Durant, who subbed for O’Connell, who was subbing for Sharp, suffered a broken pelvis and a concussion in an accident during the Indy 500. He is not expected back his season.

* Mike Groff, IRL standings leader at the time he broke one leg and punctured the other while practicing at Texas Motor Speedway for last week’s race, will be sidelined another month.

All of which prompts the question: Are the newly designed and manufactured G Force and Dallara chassis crash-worthy?

Groff, recuperating at home in Pasadena, said he believes there are areas in need of improvement, but added, “I haven’t seen a car break apart that looked unsafe. When you pancake a wall with a front wheel, the front end wants to come at you, and all those suspension pieces are like having a box of swords in there.”

The left front suspension penetrated the foot area of Groff’s G Force. One rod pierced one leg, another shattered his shinbone.

“Something in that area failed, pieces got halfway through the car,” he said. “G Force engineers have already improved the penetration area, but the bottom line is that any car can always be made safer. These cars are completely new, so they are still in the testing stage. The same is true of the Swift, another car in its first year, in CART.”

Christian Fittipaldi, in a Swift, had both feet shattered in a crash at the start of CART’s opening race in Australia last April. Although he tested Tuesday for the first time since the accident, he will remain on crutches for another month.

“I won’t be completely 100% until a year and a half, when they take the rod and the last screws out,” Fittipaldi said. “But I can’t wait until then. The doctors say the only thing that could limit me was the amount of pain I could take. If I can stand the pain, I’ll drive in the next race.”

CART’s next race is next weekend at Portland, Ore.

NASCAR

Robby Gordon, still recuperating from burns suffered in a freak accident shortly after the second-day start of the Indy 500, will miss Sunday’s Miller 400 at Michigan Speedway. However, he expects to be back in time for the California Speedway opener next week. In addition to the Winston Cup race on June 22, he is in the International Race of Champions on June 21.

“Greg Sachs will sit in for Robby at Michigan,” car owner Felix Sabates said. “I’m sure Robby will be ready for Fontana because he’s only a few points out of the IROC lead with two races left. That’s $260,000 if he wins it.”

Gordon suffered deep burns on his right thigh and lesser ones on his hands, which have healed enough for him to drive.

“I’m glad I did it so I can say I did it, but I’ll never do it again,” Sabates said of his Indy 500 experience. “It’s just not my cup of tea. People are more friendly here [in NASCAR]. Plus, this is high-bucks, low-tech. That over there is high-bucks, high-tech. I like wheel-to-wheel, door-to-door racing, beating and banging, pushing guys out of the way. They move over at Indy, and to me, that’s not racing.”

MOTORCYCLES

Speedway riders will take their first step toward the 1998 World Speedway Grand Prix when they race Saturday in the Toyota American Speedway Final at Costa Mesa Speedway, on the Orange County Fairgrounds. Former world and two-time national champion Sam Ermolenko heads a contingent of American riders from the British Speedway League who must qualify against local riders.

Others are former U.S. champion Chris Manchester, Charlie Venegas, Charles Ermolenko, Josh Larsen, Ronnie Correy and Brent Werner.

Four riders will qualify for the semifinal round of the world championship series.

Two other Southern Californians, world champion Billy Hamill and third-place finisher Greg Hancock are automatically qualified.

Among the Costa Mesa favorites are national champion Steve Lucero and former champions Brad Oxley, Bobby Schwartz and Mike Faria.

This is the first American Speedway Final to be held at Costa Mesa, the world’s smallest speedway track, measuring only 190 yards.

NHRA

McDonald’s, one of the most visible and successful teams in drag racing, has withdrawn its sponsorship for car owners Joe Gibbs and Jim Yates after the 1997 season.

Gibbs, who has Cruz Pedregon in a funny car and Cory McClenathan in a top-fuel dragster, and Yates, who drives his own pro stock car, both said they would look for new sponsors for next season.

McClenathan is fifth, Pedregon fourth and Yates first in points. Yates is also defending pro stock champion.

LE MANS

Mario Andretti may be retired from Indy car racing, but he’ll be at the wheel of a Porsche-powered Courage C36 prototype this weekend in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Sharing the ride will be his son, Michael, who has a week off from CART after finishing second last week in Detroit.

Favored are two Porsche factory GT1 entries, driven by Hans Stuck-Thierry Boutsen-Bob Wollek and Ralf Kelleners-Emmanuel Collard-Yannick Dalmas. Last year’s winner was a Porsche prototype driven by Manuel Reuter, Davy Jones and Alexander Wurz.

LAST LAPS

Twenty crew chiefs and mechanics from NASCAR’s Winston Cup series will try their hand at driving during halftime of a Sprint Car Racing Assn. program June 21 at Perris Auto Speedway. They will be driving limited stock cars. Proceeds will go toward “Make A Wish Foundation,” which grants last wishes to terminally ill children. The SCRA will also run this Saturday night at Perris.

Frank Adamo of Maricopa, winner of two of eight races at Mesa Marin Raceway, is second among Pacific Coast drivers in the Winston Racing Series, a program designed to determine a national champion among competitors at weekly short ovals. The leader is Robert Hogge IV, 20, of Salinas, who has won seven of nine races at Watsonville Speedway. Fifth is Gary Tamborelli of Escondido, winner of two of nine races at Cajon Speedway.