A.J. Foyt Will Attend the Daytona 500 To Support Tony Stewart’s Debut As Sprint Cup Team Owner of No. 14


Stewart on brink of one triumph Foyt can't match


HOUSTON February 5, 2009—A.J. Foyt will attend the 51st running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in support of Tony Stewart, who will be making his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut as a driver/owner with Stewart-Haas Racing and his No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala SS in the season-opening race.


When Stewart announced his plans to carry the No. 14 in honor of A.J. Foyt, the four-time Indianapolis 500 champion and 1972 Daytona 500 winner did an interview with Stewart on his SIRIUS Satellite Radio show, “Tony Stewart Live.” During the course of the interview, Stewart invited Foyt to be in the No. 14 team’s pits during the Daytona 500. Foyt accepted the invite and is making good on his word to attend.


“Naturally, I’m going to be pulling for the No. 14 to win the Daytona 500. I think Tony will do a good job as an owner or he’ll have one angry driver on his hands, and I’m not talking about Newman,” said Foyt, alluding to Stewart’s teammate, reigning Daytona 500 champion Ryan Newman.


“Seriously though, I’m looking forward to seeing Tony again. I’m hoping he can join me as a 500 winner at Daytona. I always tease him that he has won at Daytona but he hasn’t won ‘The Race’ at Daytona. Maybe after this year I won’t be able to tease him anymore. Actually, nothing would make me prouder than to see Tony win the 500 with the No. 14--I never did that.”


“After I won my first Sprint Cup championship in 2002, I called A.J. up and said, ‘Check the record books big boy,’ because that’s what he always told me about him winning Indy and Daytona,” said Stewart, who won the 1997 IRL IndyCar Series title. “I finally had something on A.J., and that was a championship in NASCAR. I’d love to join him as a Daytona 500 winner, especially with the car number that he made famous. Then we could both say, ‘Check the record books.’”


Foyt attended last year’s Daytona 500 as a guest of NASCAR while the sanctioning body helped celebrate the event’s 50th running. Prior to 2008, Foyt only attended the race when he had an active role as either a driver or team owner. His last race as a driver in the Daytona 500 was in 1992, while his last race as a team owner came in 2004.


Foyt will also be watching his son Larry Foyt compete in both the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Series events at Daytona that weekend. Young Foyt is driving the No. 74 Blu Frog Energy Dodge truck Friday, Feb. 13 and the No. 56 Blu Frog Energy Chevrolet on Saturday, Feb. 14th.