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Never a dull moment

Posted August 04, 2007 11:00 pm

Jane Miller

It's no secret that A.J. Foyt was almost unbeatable in a race car. But it seems he's close to invincible off the track, too.

Foyt cheated death one more time Thursday when a bulldozer he was operating plunged into a lake and landed upside down, forcing the 72-year-old with damaged legs to extricate himself from the cage.

"I came awful close this time," said Foyt. "It scared me."

The incident is one of a string of near-death experiences Foyt has survived. Many of them occurred when he wasn't racing.

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He nearly drowned when a boat he was on capsized in 1950. Foyt, who was wearing a life jacket, clung to a buoy for eight hours. His companion drowned.

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In 1965, he was pronounced dead after a sprint car accident, but was revived when dirt which had been suffocating him was removed from his mouth. He suffered a bruised aorta in that crash.

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He twice had to escape burning race cars, in one incidence being run over by the flaming vehicle as he tried to escape.

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He nearly lost an arm in a crash in Michigan in 1981 and suffered devastating injuries to his legs at Road America in 1990.

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Perhaps the oddest incident occurred in the late 1960s, when he was attacked by a lion on the infield of the DuQuoin fairgrounds track after the cat broke away from his tether. He was bruised and scratched but raced later in the day.

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Despite Thursday's accident, Foyt traveled to Michigan on Friday for his IndyCar team's race. He's celebrating his 50th anniversary in racing this year.

"There's never a dull moment in my life," Foyt said.

Two years ago, again on his bulldozer, he stirred up a swarm of Africanized Killer Bees and was stung more then 200 times. That time, as with his most recent incident, he refused hospitalization.

STILL GOING STRONG:

Anna's mom, Phyllis, called recently with an update.

"This is the third season she's been with Team Australia," said Chatten. "She's the gear-box girl."

Not only does she work on the gear box, she's part of the over-the-wall pit crew, running the air jack. She's the only female crew member in Champ Car to go over the wall.

"It scares me to death," said her mother, "but they do really well."

Chatten, now 27, went to the Jim Russell Racing School in Sonoma, Calif., to train as a racing mechanic and was its first female graduate.

She lives in the Indianapolis area when she's not traveling with the team.

Her parents went to the Las Vegas race in April and plan to attend next weekend's race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

Pagenaud is sixth in the Champ Car standings. Teammate Will Power, who has won twice this season, is third.

Periodically, we like check in on Metamora High School graduate Anna Chatten, who is now working with driver Simon Pagenaud of Team Australia in the Champ Car Series.

NHRA NEWS:

Top Fuel driver Cory McClenathan is breaking off to form his own team, which will debut next weekend at Brainerd, Minn. McClenathan will retain sponsor Fram and will lease equipment from Don Schumacher.

Additional drivers who have made the Countdown are Tony Schumacher and Brandon Bernstein (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car), Allen Johnson and Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Bike).

Mike "Zippy" Neff, currently the crew chief for Gary Scelzi's Funny Car team, has been tabbed to be the fourth driver at John Force Racing next season. In the past few days, Neff has had his crew chief duties reduced considerably at Don Schumacher Racing.

TYPICAL:

Kevin Harvick, who is unhappy with Tony Stewart, starts next to him in the race at Pocono today.

Who says the racing gods don't have a sense of humor?

Jane Miller is the Journal Star motorsports columnist. Write her at 1 News Plaza, Peoria, IL 61643, call (309) 686-3207 or e-mail jmiller@pjstar.com.

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